Part 29 (1/2)
”Captain Harold? ” she cried incredulously
”The same”
”Oh, Bob!” Impulsively she withdrew her hand fro it to the Colonel's ”I must see him at once! To think he is returned after all these years! Quick, Julian, dear ladgo and find himand tell him 'tis I, Lavinia, ant hiht you did Send hi his ith the Goddess thus cut short, but he had perforce to kiss her hand and to obey
”Yes I thought you would be pleased,” remarked Lord Robert, and chuckled ”Allow me to point out to you that there is a chairtwo chairsin fact, quite a number of chairs i excitedly
”Why, 'tis nigh on five years since I saw Harry! Has he changed? Lud! but he will dee, I wonder?Dear me, Bob, look at the two ladies over behind that seat!Gracious! what extraordinary coifs, to be sure!
And cherry ribbons, too!Tell me, Bob, where did you meet Harry Lovelace?”
The Colonel, who, far frolances across to a palpably eentleaze reluctantly back to his sister
”What's that you say, Lavvy?”
”How provoking of you not to listen to me! I asked where you met Harold”
”Where I met him? Let me seewhere did I ht since”
”And he is altered?”
”Not in any way, dear sister He is the same mad, reckless rake-hell as ever And unlad to see hiain!”
”You must present him to Richard,” sneered the Colonel, ”as an old fla over her head ”Oh, I see hirass!”
She rose toGuards as only Lady Lavinia could curtsy, with such stateliness and coquetry
”Captain Lovelace!”she put forward both her hands
Lovelace caught them in his, and bent his head over the fell all about his face
”Lady Lavinia!Enchantress!I can find no words! I am dumb!”
”And I!”
”In that case,” drawled the Colonel, ”you are not like to be very entertaining coive me leave!” He bowed and sauntered away down the path with a peculiarly malicious smile on his lips
Lavinia and Lovelace found two chairs, slightly apart froerly
”Captain Lovelace, I believe you had forgot me?” she rallied hih you well-nigh broke my heart!”
”No, no! I did not do that I never ly
”You rejected me to marry sohty Harry!You never married yourself?”
”I?” The delicate features expressed a species of hurt horror ”I marry? No! I was ever faithful toit delightedly
”Oh! Oh! Always, Harold? Now speak the truth!”
”Nearly always,” he areeable man! You admit you had lapses then?”
”So very trivial, my dear,” he excused hi to London was to call at Wynchaloo already dropped a thousand at faro) when I found the shell void, and Venus-”
She stopped him, her fan held ready for chastisement
”Sir! You said your first action was to call uponback his curls
”I should have said: my first action of any iuineas important?” she asked wistfully
”Wellhardly One must enjoy life, and what's a thousand, after all? I had my pleasure out of it”
”Yes!” she breathed, her eyes sparkling ”That is how I think! What pleasure can one get if one neither hazards nor spends one'sthe subject
”Have you seen Tracy of late?”
”He was at a court ball I attended at Versailles, but I did not have a chance of speaking with him I heard he was very popular at Paris”
”Ay!” she said proudly ”He has the French airI so desire to see hi I knoas proobefore even the date was fixed, she so dotes on hihed and druround with her diamond-buckled shoe ”Harry, I aand dicky will be there”
”dicky?” he repeated ”dicky! Lavinia, do not tell me there is another claimant to your heart?”
”Wicked, indelicate creature! 'Tis my husband!”
”Your husband! Enfin-”