She could detect the underlying note of resentment in his voice,
and she entered the house meditating thoughtfully upon the amazing
short-sightedness evinced by elderly gentlemen in regard to the upbringing
of their heirs.




CHAPTER II

THE BRABAZONS OF LORNE


"Ann's the best pal Tony could possibly have, so, for goodness' sake, be
content with that and don't get addling your brains by trying to marry her
off to him. Match-making isn't a man's job. A female child of twelve could
beat the cleverest man that's hatched at the game."

Lady Susan Hallett fired off her remarks, as was her wont, with the vigour
and precision of a machine-gun. There was always a delightful definiteness
both about her ideas and the expression of them.

The man she addressed was standing with his back to the open French window
of the pretty salon, angrily oblivious of the blue waters of Lac Leman
which lapped placidly against the stone edges of the _quai_ below. He was a
tall, fierce-looking old man, with choleric blue eyes and an aristocratic
beak of a nose that jutted out above a bristling grey moustache. A single
eyeglass dangled from a broad, black ribbon round his neck. "One of the
old school" was written all over him--one of the old, autocratic school
which believed that "a man should be master in his own house, b'gad!" By