CHAPTER 21Walking with Mrs. Merridew that afternoon, Miss Silver saw Miss Cunningham turn out of the drive of Crewe House. She was swathed in her usual quota of scarves, one of which she held closely muffled up about her in a manner to suggest that she might be suffering from toothache. To Mrs. Merridew’s solicitous enquiries, however, she replied that there was nothing the matter, thank you—oh, no, nothing at all—it was just that the wind was chilly, and that a warm scarf was always comfortable. As she went on her way, Mrs. Merridew said in a mildly indignant tone,
“I suppose Lydia has been bullying her again. Poor Lucy, I can’t think why she puts up with it.”
Lucy Cunningham sometimes wondered herself. But it isn’t easy to break an old yoke. Lydia Crewe had dominated her for thirty yea
