‘That is what Jimmy Yarde calls the Nubbing Cheat.’
‘I daresay it is, but I beg you won’t.’
‘Oh, very well! Where was I?’
‘With your tutor.’
‘To be sure. Well, I was so troublesome that my Mama sent you to bring me home. I expect you are a trustee, or something of that nature. And you may say all the horridest things about me to Major Daubenay that you like. In fact, you had better tell him that I amverybad, besides being quite a pauper.’
‘Have no fear! I will draw such a picture of you as must makehim thankful that his daughter has escaped becoming betrothed to such a monster.’
‘Yes, do!’ said Pen cordially. ‘And then I must see Piers.’
‘And then?’ asked Sir Richard.
She sighed. ‘I haven’t thought of that yet. Really, we have so much on our hands that I cannot be teased with thinking of any more plans just now!’
‘Will you let me suggest a plan to you, Pen?’
‘Yes, certainly, if you can think of one. But first I should like to see Piers, because I still cannot quite believe that he truly wishes to marry Lydia. Why, she does nothing but cry, Richard!’
Sir Richard looked down at her enigmatically. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Perhaps it would be better if you saw Piers first. People – especially young men – change a great deal in five years, brat.’
‘True,’ she said, in a melancholy tone. ‘ButIdidn’t change!’
‘I think perhaps you did,’ he said gently.
She seemed unconvinced, and he did not press the point. The waiter came in to clear away the covers, and hardly had he left the parlour than Major Daubenay’s card was brought to Sir Richard.
Pen, changing colour, exclaimed: ‘Oh dear, now I wish I weren’t here! I suppose I can’t escape now, can I?’
‘Hardly. You would undoubtedly walk straight into the Major’s arms. But I won’t let him beat you.’
‘Well, I hope you won’t!’ said Pen fervently. ‘Tell me quickly, how does a person look depraved?DoI look depraved?’
‘Not in the least. The best you can hope for is to look sulky.’
She retired to a chair in the corner, and sprawled in it, trying to scowl. ‘Like this?’
‘Excellent!’ approved Sir Richard.
A minute later, Major Daubenay was ushered into the parlour. He was a harassed-looking man, with a high colour, and upon finding himself confronted by the tall, immaculate figure of a Corinthian, he exclaimed: ‘Good Gad! YouareSir Richard Wyndham!’
Pen, glowering in the corner, could only admire the perfection of Sir Richard’s bow. The Major’s slightly protuberant eyes discovered her. ‘Andthisis the young dog who has been trifling with my daughter!’
‘Again?’ said Sir Richard wearily.
The Major’s eyes started at him. ‘Upon my soul, sir! Do you tell me that this – this young scoundrel is in the habit of seducing innocent females?’
‘Dear me, is it as bad as that?’ asked Sir Richard.
‘No, sir, it is not!’ fumed the Major. ‘But when I tell you that my daughter has confessed that she went out last night to meet him clandestinely in a wood, and has met him many times before in Bath –’
Up came Sir Richard’s quizzing-glass. ‘I condole with you,’ he said. ‘Your daughter would appear to be a young lady of enterprise.’
‘My daughter,’ declared the Major, ‘is a silly little miss! I do not know what young people are coming to! This young man – dear me, he looks no more than a lad! – is, I understand, a relative of yours?’
‘My cousin,’ said Sir Richard. ‘I am – er – his mother’s trustee. She is a widow.’
