Her eyes lit with laughter. She swallowed the bread-and-butter, and said: ‘Oh, I’m sorry! I am so hungry, you see.’
‘Have an apple,’ he suggested.
She twinkled responsively. ‘No, thank you, I will have some of that ham. Dear sir, what in the world do you suppose that wretched girl did?’
‘I have no idea,’ said Sir Richard, carving several slices of the ham.
‘Why, she told her Papa that she had gone into the spinney last night to meetme!’
Sir Richard laid down the knife and fork. ‘Good God, why?’
‘Oh, for such an idiotic reason that it is not worth recounting! But the thing is, sir, that her Papa is coming to see you about it this morning. She hoped, you see, that if she said she had been in the habit of meeting me clandestinely in Bath –’
‘In Bath?’ interrupted Sir Richard in a faint voice.
‘Yes, she said we had been meeting for ever in Bath, on account of her Great-Aunt Augusta, and not wishing to be sent there again. I quite understandthat,but –’
‘Then your understanding is very much better than mine,’ said Sir Richard. ‘So far I have not been privileged to understand one word of this story. What has her Great-Aunt Augusta to do with it?’
‘Oh, they sent Lydia to stay with her, you see, and she did not like it! She said it was all backgammon and spying. I could not but feel for her over that, for I know exactly what she means.’
‘I am glad,’ said Sir Richard, with emphasis.
‘The thing is, that she thought if she told her Papa that she had met me clandestinely in Bath, he would not send her there again.’
‘This sounds to me remarkably like mania in an acute form.’
‘Yes, so it did to me. But there is worse to come. She says that instead of being angry, her Papa is inclined to be pleased!’
‘The madness seems to be inherited.’
‘That is what I thought, but it appears that Lydia told her Papa that my name was Wyndham, and now he thinks that perhaps she is on the brink of making a Good Match!’
‘Good God!’
‘I knew you would be surprised. And there is another circumstance too, which turns everything topsy-turvy.’ She glanced up fleetingly from her plate, and said with a little difficulty: ‘I discovered something which – which quite took me aback. She told me whom she went to meet in the wood last night.’
‘I see,’ said Sir Richard.
She flushed. ‘Did you – did you know, sir?’
‘I guessed, Pen.’
She nodded. ‘It was stupid of me not to suspect. To tell you the truth, I thought – However, it doesn’t signify. I expect you did not like to tell me.’
‘Do you mind very much?’ he asked abruptly.
‘Well, I – it – You see, I had it fixed in my mind that Piers – and I – So I daresay it will take me just a little while to grow accustomed to it, besides having all my plans overset. But never mind that! We have now to consider what is to be done to help Piers and Lydia.’
‘We?’ interpolated Sir Richard.
‘Yes, because I quite depend on you to persuade Lydia’s Papa that I am not an eligible suitor. That is most important!’
‘Do you mean to tell me that this insane person is coming here to obtain my consent to your marriage with his daughter?’
‘I think he is coming to discover how much money I have, and whether my intentions are honourable,’ said Pen, pouring herself out a cup of coffee. ‘But I daresay Lydia mistook the whole matter, for she is amazingly stupid, you know, and perhaps he is coming to complain to you about my shocking conduct in meeting Lydia in secret.’
‘I foresee a pleasing morning,’ said Sir Richard dryly.
