“It’s a pity the world ever should know anything about it, don’t you think so?” she went on.
“I’m very impatient to claim my countess,” he answered.
She liked the “countess,” but the “my” jarred slightly in her sensitive ear--she was “acquiring” an earl, not he a countess.
“Not too long,” he remonstrated. It was all very well for her to be romantic--he wouldn’t have liked it if he had not inspired some romance. But why should either of them wish to delay ratifying the bargain that was the real purpose in view? Certainly he wished no delay. And there was much to be arranged--settlements, a trousseau, a host of time-consuming preliminaries. Not a day should be lost in getting under way. His creditors, impatiently awaiting the event of his American adventure, might become ugly. He hated ugly letters and cablegrams almost as much as he hated ugly “scenes.” No, he felt strongly on the subject of long engagements.
His heart was full of her beauty--he had drunk a good deal at supper half an hour before. His head was full of her dowry--he never drank so much that he forgot business. “How could I evade if anyone should congratulate me?” he asked. And then he wished he had not said it, but had made that the excuse for not obeying her.
“You must deny it, as I shall. You know, we’re not really fully engaged until I’m ready to have it announced. Besides, as Joe Wallingford says, a lie in self-defence isn’t a lie. And self-defence isn’t either a crime or a sin, is it? I think self-defence against prying is a virtue, don’t you?”
A man came to claim her for a dance. She smiled sweetly at him, plaintively at Frothingham, and went back to the ballroom. Frothingham stood in the doorway watching her for a few minutes, then went away from the dance to walk and think and enjoy. But his mind was depressed. “Too much supper,” he grumbled. “I ought to be tossing my hat. I don’t deserve her and my luck. Her cash will put us right for the first time since my great-grandfather ruined us by going the Prince Regent’s gait. We shall restore Beauvais House and take the place in Carlton Terrace again. Gad! what a relief it will be to feel free in my mind about cab fares, and not to claim commissions from my tailor when I send him customers. I shall be able to live up to the title and the traditions----” He painted vividly, but in vain. He caught himself looking away from the glowing pictures and sighing. “Yes, she’s pretty--devilish pretty--and a high stepper, but--Gwen would be so comfortable, so _d----n_ comfortable!”