She，however，availedherselfofthatprivilegetheeveningafterherarrival。\"Who’dhavethoughtofmeetingYOUhere？\"shesaid，sweepingherskirtsawaytomakeroomforhimonasofa。\"It’sacoon’sagesinceIsawyou——notsinceyougaveusthatlettertothosegenealogicalgentlemeninLondon。\"
Theconsulhopedthatithadprovedsuccessful。
\"Yes，butmawguessedwedidn’tcaretogobacktoHengistandHorsa，andwhentheyletloosealotof’Debboroughs’and’Daybrooks’uponus，mawkicked！We’vegotadrawingtenyardslong，thatlookslikeasourappletree，withlotsofDesboroughshanginguponthebrancheslikelastyear’spippins，andIguessaboutasworm-eaten。Wetookthatwellenough，butwhenitcametogivingusamapofstraightlinesanddasheswithnameswrittenunderthemlikeanoldMorsetelegraphslip，struckbylightning，thenmawandIguessedthatitmadeustired。
\"Youknow，\"shewenton，openinghercleargrayeyesontheconsul，withacharacteristicflashofshrewdgoodsensethroughherquainthumor，\"weneverreckonedwherethisthingwouldlandus，andwefoundwewerepayingahundredpounds，notonlyfortheDesboroughs，butallthepeoplethey’dMARRIED，andtheirCHILDREN，andchildren’schildren，andtherewerealotofoutsiderswe’dneverheardof，norwantedtohearof。Mawoncethoughtshe’dgotonthetrailofaPlantagenet，andfolloweditkeen，untilshefoundshehadbeenreadingthedreadfulthingupsidedown。Thenweconcludedwewouldn’ttakeanymorestockinthefamilyuntilithadrisen。\"
Duringthisspeechtheconsulcouldnothelpnoticingthat，althoughherattitudewasplayfullyconfidentialtohim，hervoicereallywaspitchedhighenoughtoreachtheearsofsmallergroupsaroundher，whowerenotonlyfollowingherwiththeintensestadmiration，buthadshamelesslyabandonedtheirownconversation，andhadevenfacedtowardsher。Wasshereallyposinginhernaivete？Therewasacertainmischievous，evenaggressive，consciousnessinherprettyeyelids。Thenshesuddenlydroppedbotheyesandvoice，andsaidtotheconsulinagenuineaside，\"I