"Never mind," says Sir Edward calmly. "If you do I can fish you up again."
Presently the Mr. Talboys come up to Doris full of hearty congratulations, as do also most of the guests in the room that night, who have not known the true state of affairs any more than Doris herself. Molly, indeed, is reduced to such a state of surprise and wonder, that Honor thinks it well to whisper that her present partner, a youth of tender age, will be frightened if she continues to stare in that vacant manner.
The Mr. Talboys, who, after their usual custom had been amongst the first arrivals, have been immensely gratified and pleased by all the attention their three favourites have been receiving. The little surprise of Lancelot turning out to be Sir Edward, they take quite as a matter of course.
"Doubtless he had very excellent reasons, my dear Ben," observed Mr. Ned. "You see, no one knew him down here, not a soul, excepting the Merivales and ourselves, and I should say Mr. Ferrars—I mean Sir Edward—is an unobtrusive sort of man. O yes, very, I should think."
To Lady Woodhouse Doris is at the same moment saying, "Aunt, how could you and mother play me such a trick? It was too bad of you both."
"Tut, child!" says Aunt Sophia with a little toss of her head, "it was for your own good. If young Ferrars had really been a pauper and was pretending to be a prince, I might have thought twice about it, perhaps. Here he comes for you. Dear me, how tired I am getting!" and the poor lady tries to stifle a yawn behind her fan.
By and by, in one of the pauses in their waltz, Sir Edward suddenly says, "You will have to call me 'Edward' now, you know. You can't go on with Lancelot: no one would know whom you were talking about. Of course it must be Edward."
"Well, I suppose it must," says Doris, taking little sniffs at her flowers. "But I don't like it half so well. It is so formal too. I shall have to call you 'Ned' for short, shall I?"
"You can't do that, because Mr. Talboys will always think you are speaking to him when he is present. Ted might do, though. It sounds so romantic and pretty, doesn't it? Honor and Molly are getting lots of attention, aren't they? Poor Horton, I wish he was here. Shall we have another turn, Doris?"
Not long after this there is a general move amongst the guests who are still left, and while Lady Woodhouse and her three nieces are waiting together in a little group, Sir Edward, his cousins, Lord Hinton, and John Sinclair being in close attendance, Mrs. Cunnyngham, Sir Edward's aunt, says a few kind, courteous words to her nephew's promised bride, finally kissing her affectionately when saying "good-night."