shouldn’t be difficult!”
A chuckle escaped her. “Don’t be so absurd!” she admonished him. “I may not be stricken in years, but I am no longer of an age when I need chaperonage. I don’t care to let Fanny go out alone, though I know several mothers who see no objection to it here .Not in London, of course.” She paused, and said, after a moment: “May I request you, sir, to take care what you say to Fanny? Since you have seen fit to inform her that you knew her mother very well ,she may try to talk to you about Celia, and she is sufficiently needle-witted to add two and two together. I’m aware that you did it to put me in a quake, but, having succeeded, pray be satisfied!”
He laughed. “No, no! just bantering you a little! You were looking such daggers at me that I couldn’t resist!”
“Chivalrous!” she remarked.
“Not a bit! I warned you that there’s no virtue in me.”
“Then why do you insist on escorting me home?”
“Because I want to escort you home, of course. What a bird-witted question!”
Her eyes began to dance, and her lips to quiver. “You know, you are the most provoking creature I ever encountered!” she told him.
“Oh, come, now, that’s doing it rather too brown!” he expostulated. “Remember, I was acquainted with your brother Rowland! I never saw much of James, but I shouldn’t wonder at it if he’s as bad. Or don’t you find consequential bores provoking?”
“If I didn’t believe you to be dead to all proper feeling,” said Abby, in a shaking voice, “I should endeavour to point out to you that that is a—an abominable thing to say!”
“Well, thank God you do realize it!” he replied. “Now we shall go on much more comfortably!”
“No we shan’t. Not until you stop trying to hoax me into thinking you are uniformly odious! Pray, did you bring Oliver Grayshott home because you wanted to?”
“Yes, I like the boy. Don’t you?”
“Yes, I daresay, but—”
“Now, don’t run away with the notion that I came back to England on his account!” he admonished her. “Nothing could be farther from the truth! All I did was to take charge of him on the voyage: no very arduous task!”
“And subsequently put yourself to the trouble of bringing him down to Bath,” said Abby pensively.
“Oh, that was because—” he checked himself, but continued blandly, after an infinitesimal pause: “—because his uncle is a man of vast interests, and one never knows when the favour of such a man might stand one in good stead.”
“How quickly you made a recover!” said Abby admiringly. “You were within an ace of telling me that you came to Bath to see your nephew, too!”
“Ah, I did tell you that I didn’t know he was here! I rather thought I did,” he said, quite unperturbed. “I hope he means to return: according to Lady Weaverham, he is a perfect paragon, and I should like to meet a Calverleigh who fitted that description.”
“You won’t meet him in the person of your nephew!”
“How do you know? You’ve never clapped eyes on him!”
“No, but—”
“Furthermore, Selina likes him,” he pursued. “You told me that yourself, and I have the greatest respect for her judgment.”
“Oh, have you indeed?” she said wrathfully. “When you have never clapped eyes on her —!”
“Not to my knowledge,” he admitted. “However, I understand her to be your eldest sister, and there’s no saying but what I may have met her—before I was excluded from polite circles, of course. If I didn’t, I look forward to making her acquaintance.”
They had reached the corner of Bridge Street, and Abby came to an abrupt halt. “ No! ”she said forcefully. “I don’t wish you to make her acquaintance! She knows nothing of what you disclosed to me—she doesn’t even know that I met you yesterday! And I have no intention—none whatsoever!—of introducing you to her!”
“Haven’t you? But you’ll be made to look no-how if you don’t,
A chuckle escaped her. “Don’t be so absurd!” she admonished him. “I may not be stricken in years, but I am no longer of an age when I need chaperonage. I don’t care to let Fanny go out alone, though I know several mothers who see no objection to it here .Not in London, of course.” She paused, and said, after a moment: “May I request you, sir, to take care what you say to Fanny? Since you have seen fit to inform her that you knew her mother very well ,she may try to talk to you about Celia, and she is sufficiently needle-witted to add two and two together. I’m aware that you did it to put me in a quake, but, having succeeded, pray be satisfied!”
He laughed. “No, no! just bantering you a little! You were looking such daggers at me that I couldn’t resist!”
“Chivalrous!” she remarked.
“Not a bit! I warned you that there’s no virtue in me.”
“Then why do you insist on escorting me home?”
“Because I want to escort you home, of course. What a bird-witted question!”
Her eyes began to dance, and her lips to quiver. “You know, you are the most provoking creature I ever encountered!” she told him.
“Oh, come, now, that’s doing it rather too brown!” he expostulated. “Remember, I was acquainted with your brother Rowland! I never saw much of James, but I shouldn’t wonder at it if he’s as bad. Or don’t you find consequential bores provoking?”
“If I didn’t believe you to be dead to all proper feeling,” said Abby, in a shaking voice, “I should endeavour to point out to you that that is a—an abominable thing to say!”
“Well, thank God you do realize it!” he replied. “Now we shall go on much more comfortably!”
“No we shan’t. Not until you stop trying to hoax me into thinking you are uniformly odious! Pray, did you bring Oliver Grayshott home because you wanted to?”
“Yes, I like the boy. Don’t you?”
“Yes, I daresay, but—”
“Now, don’t run away with the notion that I came back to England on his account!” he admonished her. “Nothing could be farther from the truth! All I did was to take charge of him on the voyage: no very arduous task!”
“And subsequently put yourself to the trouble of bringing him down to Bath,” said Abby pensively.
“Oh, that was because—” he checked himself, but continued blandly, after an infinitesimal pause: “—because his uncle is a man of vast interests, and one never knows when the favour of such a man might stand one in good stead.”
“How quickly you made a recover!” said Abby admiringly. “You were within an ace of telling me that you came to Bath to see your nephew, too!”
“Ah, I did tell you that I didn’t know he was here! I rather thought I did,” he said, quite unperturbed. “I hope he means to return: according to Lady Weaverham, he is a perfect paragon, and I should like to meet a Calverleigh who fitted that description.”
“You won’t meet him in the person of your nephew!”
“How do you know? You’ve never clapped eyes on him!”
“No, but—”
“Furthermore, Selina likes him,” he pursued. “You told me that yourself, and I have the greatest respect for her judgment.”
“Oh, have you indeed?” she said wrathfully. “When you have never clapped eyes on her —!”
“Not to my knowledge,” he admitted. “However, I understand her to be your eldest sister, and there’s no saying but what I may have met her—before I was excluded from polite circles, of course. If I didn’t, I look forward to making her acquaintance.”
They had reached the corner of Bridge Street, and Abby came to an abrupt halt. “ No! ”she said forcefully. “I don’t wish you to make her acquaintance! She knows nothing of what you disclosed to me—she doesn’t even know that I met you yesterday! And I have no intention—none whatsoever!—of introducing you to her!”
“Haven’t you? But you’ll be made to look no-how if you don’t,
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