As she had two protectors against a fifth proposal of
marriage, she stood her ground.
"I expected you to come over yesterday," she said.
"No, did you really?" he exclaimed, a flush rising to his pale cheeks.
"If I had thought that I should have come."
"You've made up for it by arriving early to-day, at any rate," said
Viviette.
"And I'm making up for it further by coming to dinner to-night. Dick
asked me," he added, seeing the polite questioning in her eyes.
"That will be very nice," she said. "You can talk to mother. You see,
Dick talks to Mrs. Holroyd, who is staying with us, Austin talks to me,
so poor mother is left out in the cold. She'll enjoy a nice long talk
with you."
When Banstead took the chorus out to supper he had the ready repartee of
his kind. In such a case he would have told the lady not to pull his
leg. But the delicate mockery in Viviette's face seemed to forbid the
use of this figure of speech, and as his vocabulary did not readily
allow him to formulate the idea in other terms he said nothing, but
settled his stock, and looked at her adoringly.
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