But in a lady's mouth the effect was prodigious. Lord
Grosville frowned sternly and walked away; Eddie Helston smothered a
burst of laughter; the Dean, startled, broke off a conversation with a
group of archaeological clergymen and came to see what he could do to
keep Lady Kitty in order; while Lady Tranmore flushed deeply, and began
a hasty conversation with Lady Edith Manley. Meanwhile Kitty,
quite unconscious, "went on cutting"--or rather, dispensing
"bread-and-butter"; and Lord Parham changed the subject.
"What a charming house!" he said, unwarily, waving his hand towards the
Haggart mansion. He was short-sighted, and, in truth, saw only that it
was big.
Kitty looked at him in wonder--a friendly and amiable wonder. She said
it was very kind of him to try and spare her feelings, but, really,
anybody might say what they liked of Haggart. She and William weren't
responsible.
Lord Parham, rather nettled, put on his eye-glass, and, being an
obstinate man, still maintained that he saw no reason at all to be
dissatisfied with Haggart, from the aesthetic point of view. Kitty said
nothing, but for the first time a gleam of mockery showed itself in her
changing look.
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