“I have not had a chance to talk to you until now,” Sir Roderick said. “While Crowhurst has intimated clearly that he desires to marry you, Temple Coombe is still hanging fire.”
He had called Petula into the library after she and Mrs. Warren had returned to the house from shopping.
Petula stood just inside the door looking, although she was unconscious of it, extremely lovely in a new gown of pale green which made her look like spring itself.
She did not speak and after a moment Sir Roderick suggested reflectively,
“Perhaps you should give him a little more encouragement, although your recent quiet, rather detached attitude has been, I admit, extremely effective.”
He walked across the room while speaking as if it encouraged him to think and he went on,
“So many people have congratula
