“Well, I must say I never have had such a collection of bad material!” Henrietta declared, looking from Isabel to Lord Warburton and from this nobleman to his sister and to Ralph. “There’s something the matter with you all; you’re as dismal as if you had got a bad cable.”
“You do see through us, Miss Stackpole,” said Ralph in a low tone, giving her a little intelligent nod as he led the party out of the gallery. “There’s something the matter with us all.”
Isabel came behind these two; Miss Molyneux, who decidedly liked her immensely, had taken her arm, to walk beside her over the polished floor. Lord Warburton strolled on the other side with his hands behind him and his eyes lowered. For some moments he said nothing; and then, “Is it true you’re going to London?” he asked.
“In a few days; but probably for a very short time. I’m going to Paris with my aunt.”
“Not for a good while,” said Isabel. “But some day or other, I hope.”
He went a few steps in silence; then he stopped and put out his hand. “Good-bye.”
Miss Molyneux kissed her again, and she let the two depart. After it, without rejoining Henrietta and Ralph, she retreated to her own room; in which apartment, before dinner, she was found by Mrs. Touchett, who had stopped on her way to the salon. “I may as well tell you,” said that lady, “that your uncle has informed me of your relations with Lord Warburton.”
Isabel considered. “Relations? They’re hardly relations. That’s the strange part of it: he has seen me but three or four times.”
“Why did you tell your uncle rather than me?” Mrs. Touchett dispassionately asked.
Again the girl hesitated. “Because he knows Lord Warburton better.”
“I’m not sure of that,” said Isabel, smiling.
“Neither am I, after all; especially when you give me that rather conceited look. One would think you were awfully pleased with yourself and had carried off a prize! I suppose that when you refuse an offer like Lord Warburton’s it’s because you expect to do something better.”
“Ah, my uncle didn’t say that!” cried Isabel, smiling still.
It had been arranged that the two young ladies should proceed to London under Ralph’s escort, though Mrs. Touchett looked with little favour on the plan. It was just the sort of plan, she said, that Miss Stackpole would be sure to suggest, and she enquired if the correspondent of the _Interviewer_ was to take the party to stay at her favourite boarding-house.