CHAPTER XXIMiss Silver spent a not unprofitable afternoon. Unlike so many country houses, Vineyards was provided with an up-to-date system of heating which kept the whole house at a comfortable temperature. The drawing-room, so spacious, so well proportioned, would have been quite on the chilly side without it. As it was, she was able to enjoy a seat in the sofa corner and get on very well indeed with little Josephine’s vest, whilst encouraging Lady Dryden to talk and receiving a great deal of information about everyone and everything—Lila’s history from the time when her improvident young parents had been killed together in a motor accident—‘And what would have happened to her, I can’t imagine, if my husband hadn’t come forward. They were quite distant cousins, and he was under no obligat
