"I have never said or implied," said Horatio, "that he was not to come
and dine."

With that he left them.

"The beautiful thing about Horatio," said Fanny, "is that he never bears
a grudge against people, no matter what he's done to them. I've no doubt
that Ralph was excessively provoking and put him in the wrong, and yet,
though he was in the wrong, and knows he was in it, he doesn't resent
it. He doesn't resent it the least little bit."


2

Barbara wondered how and where she would be expected to spend her
evenings now that Fanny's husband had come home. Being secretary to Mr.
Waddington and companion to Fanny wouldn't mean being companion to both
of them at once. So when Horatio appeared in the drawing-room after
coffee, she asked if she might sit in the morning-room and write
letters.

"Do you want to sit in the morning-room?" said Fanny.

"Well, I ought to write those letters."

"There's a fire in the library. You can write there. Can't she,
Horatio?"

Mr. Waddington looked up with the benign expression he had had when he
came on Barbara alone in the drawing-room before dinner, a look so