“Then let’s be mad together for just a little while,” he suggested. “Come now, you’re finding this enjoyable?”
“What will Willie be feeling—and thinking?” She gave a light laugh. “Oh, I’m glad mamma’s gone to bed!” she added the next moment.
“She is beginning to enjoy herself,” the Duke decided.
“You will take me back?”
The Duke looked at his watch. “You shall be at the vicarage not later than half-past ten.”
“Oh, but that’s very late!”
“Earlier, if you wish, but in no case later. After all, Mrs Hordern has gone to bed—and Captain Anderson is probably very busy.”
Angela looked at him; her eyes twinkled a little—or maybe that was only an impression of the Duke’s.
“I’ve always heard that it’s dangerous to thwart mad people,” she said.
The Duke has been heard to say that this young lady, whom he entertained that night in a manner which may be termed purely fortuitous, was one of the most agreeable companions whom it had ever been his fortune to meet. The praise, coming from him, is high. There can be little doubt that Miss Angela Hordern, in her turn, felt the attraction which the Duke’s good-breeding and intellectual alertness seldom failed to arouse.