The Colonel's Lady

All this happened two or Three years Before the outbreak of the war. The Peregrines were having breakfast. Though they were alone and the table was long they sat at opposite ends of it. From the walls George Peregrine's ancestors, painted by the fashionable painters of the day, looked down upon them. The butler brought in the morning post. There were several letters for the colonel, business letters, <i>The Times,</i> and a small parcel for his wife Evie. He looked at his letters an then, opening <i>The Times</i>, began to read it. They finished breakfast and rose from the table. He noticed that his wife hadn't opened the parcel.