47
A PAIR OF BLUE EYES. laoe witli
curate,
tlie
and Elfride
too
felt
nervous to await their visitors arrival in the drawing-room with Mrs. Swancourt.
So that vrhen the elder lady entered, Elfride
made some
pretence
of perceiving a
variety of crimson geranium, "behind
among
new
and lingered
the flower-beds.
There was nothing gained by
this, after
she thought; and a few minutes after
all,
boldly came into the house side-door.
by the
She walked along the corridor,
and entered the drawmg-room. was
glass
Nobody
there.
A
window
at
the
angle of the
room
opened directly into an octagonal conservatory, enclosing the corner of the building.
From
the conservatory came voices in con-
versation
—Mrs.
Swancourt's and the stran-
ger's.
She had expected him to talk
To her
surprise he
brilliantly.
was asking questions
in
quite a learner's manner, on subjects con-
nected with the flowers and shrubs, that
