I say--you've heard of the secretary ?' It seemed to Beryl that he was fencing with her--delaying their real talk.

But she accepted his lead.
'Yes, Desmond seems to like her.

I don't gather that Pamela cares very much about her.' 'Oh, Pamela takes time.

But what do you think the secretary did last night ?' 'What ?' They had paused under a group of limes clad in a glory of yellow leaf, and she was looking up in surprise at the unusual animation playing over the features of the man beside her.
'She refused to sign a codicil to my father's will, disinheriting me, and came to tell me so this morning! You should have heard her! Very formal and ceremonious--very much on her dignity! But such a brick!' Mannering's deep-set eyes under his lined thinker's brow shone with amusement.

Beryl, with the instinctive jealousy of a girl in love, was conscious of a sudden annoyance that Miss Bremerton should have been mixed up in Aubrey's personal affairs.
'What _do_ you mean ?' Aubrey put an arm round her shoulder.