And why not, Miss Lovejoyce—​I mean Awabella? You must let me call you Awabella—​you weally must. Miss Lovejoyce seems so stiff and formal.”

“Well, call me Arabella if that pleases you better.”

“It does please me, and so it’s a bargain.”

“What’s a bargain?”

“That I am to call you by your Christian name.”

“Agreed then. It is a bargain.”

And now about the wring? You must—​you will accept it.”

“I have not said so.

“Not as yet, but you intend to do so.”

“You are arriving at a hasty conclusion, my lord.”