“Oh，Crikey！”saidmyaunt，readingaletterbehindhercoffee-machine。“HERE’Sayoungwoman，George！”
WewerebreakfastingtogetherinthebigwindowbayatLadyGrovethatlooksupontheirisbeds；myunclewasinLondon。
Isoundedaninterrogativenoteanddecapitatedanegg。
“Who’sBeatriceNormandy？”askedmyaunt。“I’venotheardofherbefore。”
“Shetheyoungwoman？”
“Yes。Sayssheknowsyou。I’mnohandatoldetiquette，George，butherlineisabitunusual。Practicallyshesaysshe’sgoingtomakehermother——“
“Eh？Step-mother，isn’tit？”
“Youseemtoknowalotabouther。Shesays’mother’——LadyOsprey。They’retocallonme，anyhow，nextWednesdayweekatfour，andthere’sgottobeyoufortea。”
“Eh？”
“You——fortea。
“H’m。Shehadrather——forceofcharacter。WhenIknewherbefore。”
Ibecameawareofmyaunt’sheadstickingoutobliquelyfrombehindthecoffee-machineandregardingmewithwidebluecuriosity。Imethergazeforamoment，flinched，coloured，andlaughed。
“I’veknownherlongerthanI’veknownyou。”Isaid，andexplainedatlength。
Myauntkepthereyeonmeoverandroundthecoffee-machineasIdidso。Shewasgreatlyinterested，andaskedseveralelucidatoryquestions。
“Whydidn’tyoutellmethedayyousawher？You’vehadheronyourmindforaweek。”shesaid。
“ItISoddIdidn’ttellyou。”Iadmitted。
“YouthoughtI’dgetaDownonher。”saidmyauntconclusively。
“That’swhatyouthought“andopenedtherestofherletters。
Thetwoladiescameinapony-carriagewithconspicuouspunctuality，andIhadtheunusualexperienceofseeingmyauntentertainingcallers。Wehadteaupontheterraceunderthecedar，butoldLadyOsprey，beinganembitteredProtestant，hadneverbeforeseentheinsideofthehouse，andwemadeasortoftourofinspectionthatremindedmeofmyfirstvisittotheplace。InspiteofmypreoccupationwithBeatrice，Istoredaqueerlittlememoryofthecontrastbetweenthetwootherwomen；
myaunt，tall，slenderandawkward，inasimplebluehomekeepingdress，anomnivorousreaderandaveryauthenticwit，andtheladyofpedigree，shortandplump，dressedwithVictorianfussiness，livingattheintellectuallevelofpalmistryandgenteelfiction，pinkinthefaceandgenerallyflusteredbyasenseofmyaunt’ssocialstrangenessanddisposedunderthecircumstancestobehaveratherlikeanimitationofthemorequeenlymomentsofherowncook。Theoneseemedmadeofwhalebone，theotherofdough。Myauntwasnervous，partlythroughtheintrinsicdifficultyofhandlingtheladyandpartlybecauseofherpassionatedesiretowatchBeatriceandme，andhernervousnesstookacommonformwithher，awiderclumsinessofgestureandanexacerbationofherhabitualoddityofphrasewhichdidmuchtodeepenthepinkperplexityoftheladyoftitle。Forinstance，IheardmyauntadmitthatoneoftheStuartDurganladiesdidlookabit“balmyonthecrumpet“；shedescribedtheknightsoftheageofchivalryas“korvortingaboutontheoff-chanceofadragon“；sheexplainedshewas“alwaysoldmuckingaboutthegarden。”andinsteadofofferingmeaGaribaldibiscuit，sheaskedmewiththatfaintlispofhers，to“havesomesquashedflies，George。”IfeltconvincedLadyOspreywoulddescribeheras“amosteccentricperson“ontheveryfirstopportunity；——“amosteccentricperson。”Onecouldseeher，aspeoplesay，“shaping“forthat。
Beatricewasdressedveryquietlyinbrown，withasimplebutcourageousbroad-brimmedhat，andanunexpectedqualityofbeinggrown-upandresponsible。Sheguidedherstep-motherthroughthefirstencounter，scrutinisedmyaunt，andgotusallwellinmovementthroughthehouse，andthensheturnedherattentiontomewithaquickandhalf-confidentsmile。
“Wehaven’tmet。”shesaid，“since——“
“ItwasintheWarren。”
“Ofcourse。”shesaid，“theWarren！Iremembereditallexceptjustthename。Iwaseight。”
Hersmilingeyesinsistedonmymemoriesbeingthorough。I
lookedupandmetthemsquarely，alittleatalossforwhatI
shouldsay。
“Igaveyouawayprettycompletely。”shesaid，meditatinguponmyface。“AndafterwardsIgavewayArchie。”
Sheturnedherfaceawayfromtheothers，andhervoicefelleversolittle。
“Theygavehimalickingfortellinglies！”shesaid，asthoughthatwasapleasantmemory。“AndwhenitwasalloverIwenttoourwigwam。Yourememberthewigwam？”
“OutintheWestWood？”
“Yes——andcried——foralltheevilIhaddoneyou，Isuppose。
I’veoftenthoughtofitsince。”。
LadyOspreystoppedforustoovertakeher。“Mydear！”shesaidtoBeatrice。“Suchabeautifulgallery！”Thenshestaredveryhardatme，puzzledinthemostnakedfashiontounderstandwhoI
mightbe。
“Peoplesaytheoakstaircaseisrathergood。”saidmyaunt，andledtheway。
LadyOsprey，withherskirtsgatheredfortheascenttothegalleryandherhandonthenewel，turnedandaddressedalookfullofmeaningoverflowingindeedwithmeanings——athercharge。
Thechiefmeaningnodoubtwascautionaboutmyself，butmuchofitwasjustmeaningatlarge。IchancedtocatchtheresponseinamirroranddetectedBeatricewithhernosewrinkledintoaswiftandentirelydiabolicalgrimace。LadyOspreybecameadeepershadeofpinkandspeechlesswithindignation——itwasevidentshedisavowedallfurtherresponsibility，asshefollowedmyauntupstairs。
“It’sdark，butthere’sasortofdignity。”saidBeatriceverydistinctly，regardingthehallwithserenetranquillity，andallowingtheunwillingfeetonthestairstowidentheirdistancefromus。Shestoodastepup，sothatshelookeddownalittleuponmeandovermeattheoldhall。
Sheturneduponmeabruptlywhenshethoughtherstep-motherwasbeyondear-shot。
“Buthowdidyougethere？”sheasked。
“Here？”
“Allthis。”Sheindicatedspaceandleisurebyawaveofthehandathallandtallwindowsandsunlitterrace。“Weren’tyouthehousekeeper’sson？”
“I’veadventured。Myunclehasbecome——agreatfinancier。HeusedtobealittlechemistabouttwentymilesfromBladesover。
We’repromotersnow，amalgamators，bigpeopleonthenewmodel。”
“Iunderstand。”Sheregardedmewithinterestedeyes，visiblythinkingmeout。
“Andyourecognisedme？”Iasked。
“Afterasecondorso。Isawyourecognisedme。Icouldn’tplaceyou，butIknewIknewyou。ThenArchiebeingtherehelpedmetoremember。”
“I’mgladtomeetagain。”Iventured。“I’dneverforgottenyou。”
“Onedoesn’tforgetthosechildishthings。”
Weregardedoneanotherforamomentwithacuriouslyeasyandconfidentsatisfactionincomingtogetheragain。Ican’texplainourreadyzestinoneanother。Thethingwasso。Wepleasedeachother，wehadnodoubtinourmindsthatwepleasedeachother。
Fromthefirstwewereatoureasewithoneanother。“Sopicturesque，soverypicturesque。”cameavoicefromabove，andthen：“Bee-atrice！”
“I’veahundredthingsIwanttoknowaboutyou。”shesaidwithaneasyintimacy，aswewentupthewindingsteps。
Asthefourofussatatteatogetherunderthecedarontheterracesheaskedquestionsaboutmyaeronautics。Myaunthelpedwithawordorsoaboutmybrokenribs。LadyOspreyevidentlyregardedflyingasamostindesirableandimpropertopic——ablasphemousintrusionupontheangels。“Itisn’tflying。”I
explained。“Wedon’tflyyet。”
“Youneverwill。”shesaidcompactly。“Youneverwill。”
“Well。”Isaid，“wedowhatwecan。”
Thelittleladyliftedasmallglovedhandandindicatedaheightofaboutfourfeetfromtheground。“Thusfar。”shesaid，“thusfar——ANDNOFARTHER！No！”
Shebecameemphaticallypink。“NO。”shesaidagainquiteconclusively，andcoughedshortly。“Thankyou。”shesaidtoherninthortenthcake。Beatriceburstintocheerfullaughterwithhereyeonme。Iwaslyingontheturf，andthisperhapscausedaslightconfusionabouttheprimordialcurseinLadyOsprey’smind。
“Uponhisbellyshallhego。”shesaidwithquietdistinctness，“allthedaysofhislife。”
