“Malcolm and I are great friends,” I said, demurely. “He walks me
round the golf course in the park, and gives me advice.”
“Confounded impertinence!” said Lord Robert.
“He thinks I ought not to go to Claridge’s alone when I leave here,
in case some one made love to me. He feels if I looked more like his
sisters it would be safer. I have promised that Véronique shall stay at
the other side of the door if I have visitors.”
“Oh, he is afraid of that, is he! Well, I think it is very probable his
fears will be realized, as I shall be in London,” said Lord Robert.
“But how do you know,” I began, with a questioning, serious air; “how
do you know I should listen? You can’t go on to deaf people, can you?”
“Are you deaf?” he asked. “I don’t think so, anyway I would try to cure
your deafness.” He bent close over to me, pretending to pick up a book.
Oh, I was having such a nice time!
All of a sudden I felt I was really living, the blood was jumping in my
veins, and a number of provoking, agreeable things came to the tip of
my tongue to say, and I said them. We were so happy!
Lord Robert is such a beautiful shape, that pleased me too; the perfect
lines of things always give me a nice emotion. The other men look thick
and clumsy beside him, and he does have such lovely clothes and ties!
We talked on and on. He began to show me he was deeply interested in
me. His eyes, so blue and expressive, said even more than his words.
I like to see him looking down; his eyelashes are absurdly long and
curly, not jet black like mine and Mr. Carruthers’, but dark brown and
soft, and shaded, and oh! I don’t know how to say quite why they are
so attractive. When one sees them half resting on his cheek it makes
one feel it would be nice to put out the tip of one’s finger, and touch
them. I never spent such a delightful afternoon. Only alas! it was all
too short.
“We will arrange to sit together after dinner,” he whispered, as even
before the dressing gong had rung Lady Katherine came and fussed
about, and collected every one, and more or less drove them off to
dress, saying, on the way upstairs, to me, that I need not come down if
I had rather not!
I thanked her again, but remained firm in my intention of accustoming
myself to company.
Stay in my room, indeed, with Lord Robert at dinner--never!
However, when I did come down, he was surrounded by Montgomeries,
and pranced into the dining-room with Lady Verningham. She must have
arranged that.
I had such a bore! A young Mackintosh cousin of Mary’s husband, and
on the other side the parson. The one talked about botany in a hoarse
whisper, with a Scotch accent, and the other gobbled his food, and made
kind of pious jokes in between the mouthfuls!
I said--when I had borne it bravely up to the ices--I hated knowing
what flowers were composed of, I only liked to pick them. The youth
stared, and did not speak much more. For the parson, “yes” now and then
did, and like that we got through dinner.
Malcolm was opposite me, and he gaped most of the time. Even he might
have been better than the botanist, but I suppose Lady Katherine felt
these two would be a kind of half mourning for me. No one could have
felt gay with them.
After dinner Lady Verningham took me over to a sofa with her, in
a corner. The sofas here don’t have pillows, as at Branches, but
fortunately this one is a little apart, though not comfortable, and we
could talk.
“You poor child,” she said, “you had a dull time. I was watching you!
What did that M^cTavish creature find to say to you?”