"_Peut-être_," was again Lady Tenderden's brief reply.
Lady Tilney proceeded. "Now, I think there is one, and only one, way in which it can be managed; and your assistance will be vitally important for its success."
"Oh _de graces_! do not involve me in any of dese troublesome _rôles_: I am not at all de _personne_ to play dem well; and _l'inconduite de la petite en question_ makes me quite _frissonné_ to think of any thing of the kind."
"Oh! but, my dear Lady Tenderden, for Glenmore's sake, you know, for all our sakes, you will not let this affair terminate as it must do if something is not done to put it on a right footing? You will not surely let the _scandale_ of such a common-place _dénouement_ attach to our society, as the infallible issue of the affair must cause, unless we attempt to save appearances, and settle the _marche du jeu_ in _better taste_ at least?"
Lady Tenderden's countenance relaxed, as if she was pleased at the idea of holding an influence over Lord Glenmore; and Lady Tilney was satisfied that she had done wisely in condescending to flatter her _amour-propre_, by confessing herself secondary in influence; a point which she was never very willing to yield: but she felt it was the surest way of securing Lady Tenderden's co-operation, and proceeded to say,
"Now listen, I entreat you, to what I have to propose; and if you do not approve my idea, then suggest something better. The only thing that remains to be done, in my opinion, then," continued Lady Tilney, "is to get Georgina out of England. You know Glenmore cannot move; but that is no reason why _she_ may not be absent for a few months. The advantage of your company, her health, a thousand excuses may be found: and if she is not as deeply involved as we suspect with Winyard, _this_ will break off the affair; while, if she is, absence, and distance, and the chances of time and place, _que sais-je enfin_----a million things may turn away the tide of observation from _us_: at all events, the _éclat_ will be less offensive abroad than at home. Now, could you not propose to her a little tour to Spa, or _Les Eaux de Barèges_, when the season comes round for leaving London?"
Lady Tenderden seemed half inclined to acquiesce, but, like most people who make sudden changes of opinion, she did not know exactly how to give as ready an assent as she was willing in her heart to do; while, at the same time, there was a little demur at the idea of being made the tool of Lady Tilney, as well as of being mixed up in an affair in which, if it ended wrong, she would regret to have been implicated.