For a moment Lady Drewitt eyed Beresford severely.
"I shall have to consult Drewitt and your cousin, Edward Seymour," she announced.
"I beg of you not to," he said. "Poor Drewitt is fully occupied in dodging the heiresses you hurl at his head, and as for Edward, I never could place any reliance in the opinion of a man with extravagant tastes and no chin. Besides, he is an echo of his wife, who is a reflection of you."
"What do you mean?"
"They neither of them have a will of their own," said Beresford, "and always reflect your opinions."
"I shall consult Drewitt," announced Lady Drewitt.
"I'm afraid it's of no use. I consulted him myself yesterday afternoon."
"And what did he say?"
"He suggested that I might take a sort of reversionary interest in the heiresses that were produced for his approval. He thought I might begin on Miss Ida Hopkins; but he was frankly pessimistic. He doubted if I could refrain from trying to count her freckles."
"Don't be flippant, Richard." Lady Drewitt was annoyed. "You have your career to consider. You are young."
"But I was a failure at Whitehall," he added.
"If you don't like the Foreign Office," persisted Lady Drewitt, "why don't you do something else?"
