who had turned his horse and who was going now down the Row at a canter, that a legitimate opportunity had presented itself for the exercise of the comic spirit.
"I should really like my wife to see them," said the great Proconsul. "Such splendid fellows; the picture of health."
"Oh, yes, by all means," said Mr. Wingrove, with a rather sly smile at the proud young mother.
No time like the present. If Mrs. W. didn't mind bringing along these infant phenomena as far as Grosvenor Square, which is hardly ten minutes' walk from the Achilles statue as the crow flies, he was sure that Lady S. would be enchanted.
The gracious young matron would be delighted to take them round to Grosvenor Square for the inspection of the wife of this most agreeable elderly gentleman, whose name, by the way, she had not the pleasure of knowing. All the same, the mention of Grosvenor Square and the demeanor of Mr. Wingrove combined to give the young madam a pretty shrewd suspicion.
As for Arminius Wingrove, he was amazed at the resource and the boldness of Providence, which, of course, he was quite entitled to be. And in that, to be sure, he was by no means singular. Many first-rate minds have been similarly occupied for some little time past.
