"No," he replied; "I am tired of proposing."
"Well, I don't think she would accept you," said Lady Fitzharford, "she
has had the most wonderful offers; she has refused Lord Edwin, the
Bannerdales' son and heir, and, I believe, the Duke of Glarn--"
"I know, I know!" said Howard, more quickly than usual. "I can hear her
on the stairs. Oh, vanish, my dear lady, an' you love me!"
Lady Fitzharford had scarcely left the room, laughing, and not a little
puzzled, before the servant admitted Ida. She was pale, and the look of
sadness in her eyes was even more palpable than on the preceding night.
She blushed for an instant as she gave her hand to Howard.
"Lady Fitzharford has gone to get her music, Miss Heron," he said; "she
bade me make her excuses; she will be here presently. It is so good of
you to remember our appointment! When I came to think it over, I was
quite ashamed, do you know, at the obtrusive way in which I pressed the
subject of my friend, Lord Highcliffe's condition, upon you. But mind,
though, I do think you would feel interested in his letter. He has a
knack, unintellectual as he is"--Ida rose readily to the fly again and
flashed a momentary glance of indignation at him from her violet
eyes--"a child-like way of describing scenes and incidents in a kind of
graphic style which--What an idiot I am!" he broke off to exclaim, he
had been feeling in his pocket; "I have actually left the letter at
home! Please forgive me. But perhaps you will regard my lapse of memory
as affording you a happy escape."
Ida's lips trembled and her eyes became downcast. Disappointment was
eloquently depicted on her face.
"No, I am sorry," she said. "I--I should have liked to have seen the
letter."
"Would you really?" he purred, penitently, as she turned away to the
window. "Then I will go and get it; my rooms are only a short
distance."
"Oh, pray, don't trouble," she said, so faintly that Howard found it
difficult not to smile.
"Not at all," he said, politely, and left the room.
As he went down the stairs he glanced at his watch, and muttered: "Now, if the young idiot isn't up to time--"
At that moment there was a knock at the hall-door, the servant opened
it, and Stafford entered with a gloomy countenance and a reluctant
gait.