In his confusion he hurled the last two demands straight in Lady Maria's face, who, with all the indignation of outraged virtue, exclaimed in her deepest note:
"Vile slanderer, I deny it!"
Here Mistress Bellairs deemed the moment ripe for her delicate interference.
"My lovely Standish," she cried, "you look sadly. Indeed I fear you will swoon if you do not sit. Pray Mr. Stafford, conduct my Lady Standish to the arm-chair and make her sip a glass of cordial from the bowl yonder."
"Oh, Kitty!" cried Lady Standish, and devoured the widow's face with eager eyes to see whether friend or enemy was heralded there.
"My dear," whispered Kitty, "nothing could be going better. Sit down, I tell you, and I promise you that in ten minutes you will have Sir Jasper on his knees."
Then running up to Sir Jasper and speaking with the most childlike and deliberate candour:
"Pray, Sir Jasper," said she, "and what might you be prating of letters and red curls? Strange now," she looked round the company with dewy, guileless eyes, "I lost a letter only a day or two ago at your house—a," she dropped her lids with a most entrancing little simper, "a rather private letter. I believe I must have lost it in dear Julia's parlour, near the sofa, for I remember I pulled out my handkerchief——"
"Good God!" said Sir Jasper, hoarsely, and glared at her, all doubt, and crushed the letters in his hand.
"Could you—could you have found it, Sir Jasper, I wonder? Mercy on me! And then this morning ... 'tis the strangest thing ... I get another letter, another rather private letter, and after despatching a few notes to my friends, for the life of me, I could not find the letter any more! And I vow I wanted it, for I had scarce glanced at it."