‘Dodo wasn’t divorced,’ said Poppy, ‘she divorced her husband, who was a perfect brute to her.’
‘I am surprised that you should think it makes any difference. “Till death us do part”, is the vow. If her husband was cruel to her she could apply for a separation and live in decent retirement for the rest of her life. Pray, my dear, do not interrupt me. Here we have Mr John Shipton, grandson of a man who was publicly accused, in his clubs, of cheating at billiards. I well remember the incident, which caused a great deal of unpleasantness at the time; he was, of course, obliged to leave the country. Now, although it is not the fault of this Mr Shipton that he was born into such a family, and although he may be most respectable himself, I cannot risk inviting him here. Bad blood usually comes out sooner or later, and it is impossible to be over careful where a young girl like dearest Eugenia is concerned. Sir Archibold and Lady Faircombe, poor things, have a divorced daughter who runs a dress-shop in London – not very nice, is it? Major Montgomerie’s son was expelled from Eton – in my day when such a disgrace fell upon a family it was usual for them to go and settle in some colony. Mr Newman’s mother was half German and my husband very rightly refuses to have anyone of German extraction inside the house. Lord George Fairbrother is a well-known drunkard and people say that General Parsley had to leave his regiment on account of gambling debts. I won’t bore you with any further accounts of such dreadful people, there are dozens of them on this paper and I can assure you that it is one long sordid tale of vice, drunkenness and gaming too terrible to think about. I’m sure I don’t know what it is that has come over this unfortunate neighbourhood; anybody might suppose it had been cursed.’
It was now quite evident to Poppy and Jasper that Lady Chalford could not be right in the head; her long seclusion, they supposed, had affected her sanity. She must be humoured.
Poppy said, gently, ‘What a dreadful state of affairs, Cousin Maud. Now, you must tell us what you would like us to do about the pageant and garden party on the sixteenth.’
‘That is exactly what I have been so worried about,’ said Lady Chalford, pathetically. ‘After all the trouble you have taken I don’t wish you to be disappointed, and Eugenia, poor child, has set her heart on this pageant. I think her Scouts or Guides or Comrades or whatever she calls them have all been working very hard too, and I am particularly glad to see that she is doing something for the village at last. I never used to be able to make her feel the smallest interest until she joined this Movement, whatever it is. So, taking all that into consideration, I have decided that, although it would be out of the question now to entertain my neighbours at a garden party, there is no reason why the pageant should not take place. We will throw open the park on that day, charging a small sum for charity, and like this your time will not have been wasted, and my little Eugenia will not be disappointed.’
‘That is much the best plan,’ said Poppy, soothingly.
‘But, alas! now I am as far as ever from solving the future of my poor little grandchild.’
‘She is very young,’ said Jasper, ‘and I expect you will find that her future will arrange itself quite satisfactorily.’
Lady Chalford gave him a searching look. She seemed about to say something, but refrained.
As he walked home with Poppy through Chalford Park, Jasper said: ‘The poor old female is evidently as stupid as an owl and as blind as a bat. She thinks I’m going to marry Eugenia and what’s more she likes the idea. Somehow I shouldn’t have imagined, from what I know of her moral standards, that I was at all her dish, quite the contrary.’
‘Perhaps her estate agent doesn’t know much about you yet.’
‘Maybe. I’m bound to say I think she has some exceedingly odd views on the subject of social relationships. She ostracizes all the chaps that have had tough luck, like being caught out cheating at billiards or having lousy husbands, whereas one knows she wouldn’t mind a scrap if they did really wicked things like grinding down the poor. I believe that our generation has far better ethical values than hers had; we see the chaps we like, even if they are hell, and avoid the ones we don’t. It’s the only sensible criterion, don’t you agree, Miss Smith?’
‘You can’t talk about ethical values and moral standards,’ said Poppy, bitterly, ‘because you don’t know the meaning of such things.’
‘I’m a nicer guy than you seem to think,’ said Jasper, carelessly. ‘I never do anybody much harm, and I’m loyal to my friends when it comes to the point.’
‘I don’t notice you being specially loyal to the wretched Noel.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong. Nobody understands about me and Noel; ours is a very complicated relationship which began nearly twenty years ago when we were new boys together at our private. It is chiefly based on the fact that Noel expects a certain type of treatment from me, he would be very much put out if he got any other. The truth is that
