"I don't see why you want it," she persisted. The slight embarrassment in Southend's manner stirred the old lady's curiosity. "It's rather odd to reward a man for his mother's——. There, I don't say a word about Addie. I took her to her first ball, poor girl."
"Disney used to know her as a girl."
"If you're relying on Robert Disney's romantic memories——" But she stopped, adding after a pause, "Well, one never knows. But again, why a viscounty?"
Driven into a corner, but evidently rather ashamed of himself, Southend explained.
"The viscounty would be more convenient if a match came about between him and the girl."
"What, the new Lady Tristram? Well, George, romance has taken possession of you to-day!"
"Not at all," he protested indignantly. "It's the obviously sensible way out."
"Then they can do it without a viscounty."
"Oh, no, not without something. There's the past, you see."