Lessingham slipped very easily into the
pleasant little circle. If a trifle subdued, his quiet manners,
and a sense of humour which every now and then displayed itself,
were most attractive.
"Wish you'd come and dine with us and meet our colonel, sir,"
Harrison asked him. "He was at Magdalen a few years after Major
Felstead, and I am sure you'd find plenty to talk about."
"I am quite sure that we should," Lessingham replied. "May I come,
perhaps, towards the end of next week? I am making most strenuous
efforts to lead an absolutely quiet life here."
"Whenever you like, sir. We sha'n't be able to show you anything
very wild in the way of dissipation. Vintage port and a decent
cigar are the only changes we can make for guests."
Philippa drew her visitor on one side presently, and made him sit
with her in a distant corner of the room.
"I knew there was something I wanted to say to you," she began, "but
somehow or other I forgot when I met you. My husband was very much
struck with Helen's improved spirits. Don't you think that we had
better tell him, when he returns, that we had heard from Major
Felstead?"
Lessingham agreed.
"Just let him think that your letters came by post in the ordinary
way," he advised. "I shouldn't imagine, from what I have seen of
your husband, that he is a suspicious person, but it is just possible
that he might have associated them with me if you had mentioned them
the other night.
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