‘Yes, my dear! how foolish, and how wicked!’ assented Miss Marrable. ‘I feel it my duty to prevent the carrying out of this mad plan, and also to make Amy suffer for her folly. I shall therefore send her this letter; and allow the hare-brained pair to mature their schemes.—And what, Lucy dear, do you think that I propose to do? You will never guess. Listen! Amy and I are of much the same height. I shall personate her by concealing—ahem—my face, and drive away with this vile young man; and then, when he believes that he has left me far behind, I shall overwhelm him with shame and confusion.’
Lucy could not help laughing. ‘That would really be good fun, aunt,’ she said. ‘Yes, send the letter to Amy; and by all means let matters take their course for the present.’
Miss Marrable did send the letter; and Amy duly received it, unsuspectingly; but five minutes later, Lucy revealed the whole plot to her, and threw her into the deepest trepidation.
Here, however, Lucy’s superior coolness came in most usefully. ‘You need not despair,’ said the elder cousin. ‘If aunt thinks of having fun with you and Mr Jellicoe, why not turn the tables, and have fun with her? You must find some other way of carrying on your correspondence; but at the same time answer this letter by the old medium. Your answer will of course fall into aunt’s hands. You must mislead her, and then’——
‘But,’ objected Amy, ‘how am I to make matters turn out properly?’
‘Listen!’ said Lucy. ‘Aunt proposes to personate you. Very well. Put off the time of your elopement, say, for half an hour; and meantime Mr Jellicoe must find some one to personate him. My idea is for aunt to elope with the billiard-marker, and so give you time to get away. Do you see?’
Amy could not at first grasp the significance of this bold proposition; but when she succeeded in doing so, she was delighted with it.
‘I shall tell Mr Rhodes,’ said Lucy, when she had sufficiently explained the plan; ‘for I know that he will gladly help you; and Mr Jellicoe can talk it all over with him and have the benefit of his advice.’
‘But what will aunt say when she discovers how we—how you—have deceived her?’ asked Amy.
‘Ah!’ said Lucy slily, ‘I must talk about that too with Mr Rhodes. But never fear!’ And she went off to rejoin Miss Marrable, who was still much flurried.