“Lady Ogram is in town,” he announced.  “I lunch with her to-morrow.”

The news agitated Mrs. Woolstan.

“Will she be alone?”

“I suppose so—­except for her secretary, who of course is always with her.”

Iris desired to know all about the secretary, and Lashmar described a neutral-tinted, pen-wielding young woman, much interested in social reform.

“Perhaps I shall come to know Lady Ogram,” said Iris, modestly.  “I may meet her at Mrs. Toplady’s.  That would be delightful!  I should be able to follow everything much better.”

“To be sure,” was the rather dry response.  “But I shall be surprised if the old lady stays long, or sees many people.  Her health is of the shakiest, and London life would be a dangerous experiment, I should say.  I don’t at all know why she’s coming, unless it is to see doctors.”

“Oh, I do hope she’ll be careful,” panted Iris.  “What a terrible thing it would be if she died suddenly—­terrible for you, I mean.  She ought to have some one to look well after her, indeed she ought.  I wish”—­this with a laugh—­“she would take me as companion.  Oh, wouldn’t I have a care of her precious health!”

When he drove to Bunting’s Hotel, he had no thought of seeing anyone but Lady Ogram and Constance; the possibility that there might be other guests at luncheon did not enter his mind.  Conducted to a private drawing-room on the first floor, he became aware, as the door opened, of a handsome girl in animated conversation with his two friends; she seemed so very much at home that he experienced a little shock, as of the unaccountable, the disconcerting, and his eyes with difficulty turned from this new face to that of the venerable hostess.  Here again a surprise awaited him; Lady Ogram looked so much younger than when he took leave of her at Rivenoak, that he marvelled at the transformation.  Notwithstanding her appearance she spoke in a strained, feeble voice, often indistinct; one noticed, too, that she was harder of hearing.  Having pressed his hand—­a very faint pressure, though meant for cordial—­Lady Ogram turned a look upon the bright young lady near her, and said, with a wheezy emphasis: 

“Let me introduce you to my niece, Miss Tomalin.”

Never had Lashmar known her so ceremonious; never had she appeared so observant of his demeanor during the social formality.  Overcome with astonishment at what he heard, he bowed stiffly, but submissively.  The autocrat watched him with severe eyes, and only when his salute was accomplished did the muscles of her visage again relax.  Mechanically, he turned to bow in the same way to Miss Bride, but she at once offered her hand with a friendly, “’low do you do?”