She did not, she said, want Millicent to be a sort of red rag to Sir John, and there was no necessity to publish abroad the lamentable fact that a quarrel had resulted from a very natural and convenient attachment.

Sir John was a faddist, and, like the rest of his kind, eminently pig-headed.

It was more than likely that in a few months he would recall his son, and, in the meantime, it never did a girl any good to be quarrelled over.
Lady Cantourne was too clever a woman to object to the engagement.

On the contrary, she allowed it to be understood that such a match was in many ways entirely satisfactory.

At the same time, however, she encouraged Guy Oscard to come to the house, knowing quite well that he was entirely unaware of the existence of Jack Meredith.
"I am," she was in the habit of saying, "a great advocate for allowing young people to manage their affairs themselves.