“Do you know, Mrs Archibald, that we are thinking of introducing an innovation in our households?” This was Lord Somerville. “We are going to do away with locks, keys, and bolts.”
“My dear Lionel, what on earth are you saying?” exclaimed Mrs Archibald, raising herself suddenly on her couch. “What about these dreadful people who intrude, beg, or—steal?”
“Let them go out again,” replied Gwen merrily. “I do not think you could find any beggars or thieves at the present moment, for there is nothing to steal, but what we all should feel glad to give.”
“Wait for the final collapse,” interrupted Mrs Archibald. “I am afraid you are living in a fool’s paradise; and for your sakes I dread the awakening. In any case, I shall have warned you. What has pained me to the quick, has been Lady Carey’s desertion. Mowbray told me that she had actually mounted the platform last week to propose some awful reform.”
“My mother took my place that day, as I was unable to attend the meeting,” explained Eva Sinclair; “but, although she did it to please me, she is not yet won over to our cause, and she grieves sadly over memories of the past.”
“Thank God! I have neither kith nor kin to influence me. In a great crisis like this one feels thankful to be alone in the world.”
“Unloved—and unloving,” murmured Eva, as she looked up at Sinclair, who was leaning against the mantelpiece.
“Here is Temple coming in with tea. He is the only indoor servant we keep now,” and Lionel instinctively came forward to help him to arrange the tea-table. Temple, instead of retiring, dallied with the cups and saucers. There was something in the valet’s mind, but he did not know how to put it into words.
“Now, Temple, there’s something you want to say. What is it?” Gwen turned gracefully on to her side and poured out tea.
“Yes, my lady; and as you are so kind as to allow me, I shall speak. It’s about the groom, Wiggles, my lord.”
“What about him?” asked Lionel. “He cannot surely complain that he receives no wages? We none of us get any wages nowadays.”
“Ah! it isn’t that, my lord. But the children have been ailing for years, and now that the factories in which the eldest ones worked are closed, they would like to go back to the country. But Wiggles doesn’t want you to think he is complaining. He only wants a whiff of fresh air, and he asked me to beg your lordship’s advice.”