Talboys or Mr. Hardie."
"She will take neither, I am afraid."
"Oh, yes, she will."
"Which?"
"Ah! the one she dislikes the least."
"By Jove, you are right--you are an angel." And the old gentleman in
his gratitude to her who was outwitting him, and vice versa,
kissed Mrs. Bazalgette's hand with great devotion, in which act he was
surprised by Lucy, who floated through the folding-doors. She said
nothing, but her face volumes.
"Sit down, love."
"Yes, aunt."
She sat down, and her eye mildly bored both relatives, like, if you
can imagine a gentle gimlet, worked by insinuation, not force.
Then the favored Fountain enjoyed the inestimable privilege of
beholding a small bout of female fence.
The accomplished actress of forty began.
The novice held herself apparently all open with a sweet smile, the
eye being the only weapon that showed point.
"My love, your uncle and I, who were not always just to one another,
have been united by our love for you."
"So I observed as I came in--ahem!"
"Henceforth we are one where your welfare is concerned, and we have
something serious to say to you now. There is a report, dearest,
creeping about that you have formed an unfortunate attachment--to a
person beneath you."
"Who told you that, aunt? Name, as they say in the House."
"No matter; these things are commonly said without foundation in this
wicked world; but, still, it is always worth our while to prove them
false, not, of course, directly--_'qui s'excuse s'accuse'_--but
indirectly.
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