Having written so far she laid down her pencil and went in search of tea. Miss Merriman and Lady Pomfret were not there so Mrs. Rivers, putting resolutely from her the thought of that Miss Barton having tea with them in a select way, was able to take command of the teapot and hot water, and felt like a chatelaine. Professor Milward, a little weary from a day’s work on the Pomfret papers, sat beside her and relaxed himself by leading her on to talk of her own books, so that nothing could have been nicer or more comfortable.
After tea some of the younger men went off to the billiard-room where a bright fire was now burning, but most of the party gathered in the green drawing-room. Mrs. Rivers brought out her tapestry work and compared it with the work of other ladies, and they all spoke at
