Armour. The visitor was received by Mrs. Francis Armour. The visitor
knew that Mrs. Armour was not at home. She had by chance seen her and
Marion in Bond Street, and was not seen by them. She straightway got
into her carriage and drove up to Cavendish Square, hoping to find Mrs.
Francis Armour at home. There had been house-parties at Greyhope since
Lali had come there to live, but this visitor, though once an intimate
friend of the family, had never been a guest.

The visitor was Lady Haldwell, once Miss Julia Sherwood, who had made
possible what was called Francis Armour's tragedy. Since Lali had come
to town Lady Haldwell had seen her, but had never met her. She was not
at heart wicked, but there are few women who can resist an opportunity of
anatomising and reckoning up the merits and demerits of a woman who has
married an old lover. When that woman is in the position of Lali, the
situation has an unusual piquancy and interest. Hence Lady Haldwell's
journey of inquisition to Cavendish Square.

As Richard passed the drawing-room door to ascend the stairs, he
recognised the voices.

Once a sort of heathen, as Mrs. Francis Armour had been, she still could
grasp the situation with considerable clearness. There is nothing keener
than one woman's instinct regarding another woman, where a man is
concerned. Mrs. Francis Armour received Lady Haldwell with a quiet
stateliness, which, if it did not astonish her, gave her sufficient
warning that matters were not, in this little comedy, to be all her own
way.

Thrown upon the mere resources of wit and language, Mrs. Francis Armour
must have been at a disadvantage. For Lady Haldwell had a good gift of