Crowley gave her a nod of welcome. She was fond
of her fantasies and would not easily interrupt them. She noted that
Lucy had just that frank look of _Diana of the Uplands_, and the
delicate, sensitive face, refined with the good-breeding of centuries,
but strengthened by an athletic life. Her skin was very clear. It had
gained a peculiar freshness by exposure to all manner of weather. Her
bright, fair hair was a little disarranged after her walk, and she went
to the glass to set it right. Mrs. Crowley observed with delight the
straightness of her nose and the delicate curve of her lips. She was
tall and strong, but her figure was very slight; and there was a
charming litheness about her which suggested the good horse-woman.

But what struck Mrs. Crowley most was that only the keenest observer
could have told that she had endured more than other women of her age. A
stranger would have delighted in her frank smile and the kindly sympathy
of her eyes; and it was only if you knew the troubles she had suffered
that you saw how much more womanly she was than girlish. There was a
self-possession about her which came from the responsibilities she had
borne so long, and an unusual reserve, unconsciously masked by a great
charm of manner, which only intimate friends discerned, but which even
to them was impenetrable. Mrs. Crowley, with her American impulsiveness,
had tried in all kindliness to get through the barrier, but she had
never succeeded. All Lucy's struggles, her heart-burnings and griefs,
her sudden despairs and eager hopes, her tempestuous angers, took place
in the bottom of her heart. She would have been as dismayed at the
thought of others seeing them as she would have been at the thought of
being discovered unclothed. Shyness and pride combined to make her hide
her innermost feelings so that no one should venture to offer sympathy
or commiseration.

'Do ring the bell for tea,' said Mrs. Crowley to Lucy, as she turned
away from the glass. 'I can't get Mr. Lomas to amuse me till he's had
some stimulating refreshment.'

'I hope you like the tea I sent you,' said Dick.

'Very much. Though I'm inclined to look upon it as a slight that you
should send me down only just enough to last over your visit.'

'I always herald my arrival in a country house by a little present of
tea,' said Dick. 'The fact is it's the only good tea in the world. I
sent my father to China for seven years to find it, and I'm sure you
will agr