Maud caught up the words.
"Wouldn't you? Perhaps that is part of the change in him since you knew each other. I've known him ever since they settled at Friars' Moat, and he always struck me as being very cold and reserved. No doubt he's fond of Milly in his way, though. They're always together. That I envy her."
Terry did not answer. She was not hungry, but she was wondering if dinner would never be announced.
"You knew each other awfully well in India, didn't you?" asked Maud.
"Only for a few weeks."
"Norman believed that Sir Ian was desperately in love with you. Oh, you don't mind my saying that, do you? Norman told me that everybody thought so."
"Everybody! I suppose one person said that."
"I think it was Major Smedley, among others."
"That horror! The worst gossip and tabby-cat who ever lived."
"Perhaps. But there's no harm in saying a man's in love with a girl. Sir Ian wasn't married then."
"I should think not! He hadn't even seen Milly—that is, not since they were both children. He fell in love with her at once, when he was ordered back from India to England, and they met in some romantic way, I suppose. They were engaged a few weeks after, and married within three or four months."
