He paused for Lady Cumnor to speak.'Oh, well! if my lord asked her, I suppose she must come, but I wish he was not so amazingly hospitable! Not but what the little girl will be quite welcome; only, you see, he met a younger Miss Browning the other day, of whose existence I had never heard.' 'She visits at the school, mamma,' said Lady Agnes.'Well, perhaps she does; I never said she did not.I knew there was one visitor of the name of Browning; I never knew there were two, but, of course, as soon as Lord Cumnor heard there was another, he must needs ask her;so the carriage will have to go backwards and forwards four times now to fetch them all.So your daughter can come quite easily, Mr.Gibson, and I shall be very glad to see her for your sake.She can sit bodkin with the Brownings, I suppose? You'll arrange it all with them; and mind you get Nanny well up to her work next week.' Just as Mr.Gibson was going away, Lady Cumnor called after him, 'Oh! by-the-bye, Clare is here; you remember Clare, don't you? She was a patient of yours, long ago.' 'Clare!' he repeated, in a bewildered tone.'Don't you recollect her? Miss Clare, our old governess,' said Lady Agnes.
'About twelve or fourteen years ago, before Lady Cuxhaven was married.' 'Oh, yes!' said he.'Miss Clare, who had the scarlet fever here; a very pretty delicate girl.But I thought she was married!' 'Yes!' said Lady Cumnor.'She was a silly little thing, and did not know when she was well off; we were all very fond of her, I'm sure.She went and married a poor curate, and became a stupid Mrs.Kirkpatrick; but we always kept on calling her 'Clare.' And now he's dead, and left her a widow, and she is staying here; and we are racking our brains to find out some way of helping her to a livelihood without parting her from her child.