If she had had a moment granted her for
reflection she would have behaved, as she afterwards explained,
with considerable dignity. It was probably the sickle which
decided her, but anyway she followed the lead that Clovis had
given her through the French window, and ran well and far across
the lawn before the eyes of her astonished retainers.
. . . . . . . . .
Lost dignity is not a possession which can be restored at a
moment's notice, and both Lady Bastable and the butler found the
process of returning to normal conditions almost as painful as a
slow recovery from drowning. A jacquerie, even if carried out
with the most respectful of intentions, cannot fail to leave some
traces of embarrassment behind it. By lunch-time, however,
decorum had reasserted itself with enhanced rigour as a natural
rebound from its recent overthrow, and the meal was served in a
frigid stateliness that might have been framed on a Byzantine
model. Halfway through its duration Mrs. Sangrail was solemnly
presented with an envelope lying on a silver salver. It contained
a cheque for forty-nine shillings.
The MacGregor boys learned how to play poker-patience; after all,
they could afford to.
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