That Mrs. Durlacher was in search of
a suitable sister-in-law was obvious to the most untrained eye. It
was no capable deduction on Coralie's part to have made certain of
that. But she hesitated when she came to the wondering of whether
she was considered suitable to fill that position herself. The
hesitancy was of but little duration. The first time she had seen
Traill, he had attracted her; now the attraction was increased a
thousandfold. She had often stayed at Apsley Manor. Once her father
had gone down for the shooting and had returned glowing with
enthusiasm.
"Place I should like to have," he had grunted, "place I should like
to have." And after dinner he sat over his port and amused himself
with breaking the tenth commandment.
But there was no certainty in Coralie's mind that Mrs. Durlacher,
with all her outward show of friendship, would consider her to be
the eligible one. Yet here the chance offered. She determined to take
it--hand open, ready for the gift.
From the moment then, that he arrived, she began the outset of her
campaign. The social manner she knew he hated. That she cast off.
The astute woman of the world, he despised. Mrs.
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