"I should be perfectly satisfied"—she was not to be put off—"with any route, provided I go with you."
"You are very kind, Mrs. Wilders," he said, more stiffly, but visibly embarrassed. "I think, however, that as I shall travel day and night I had better—"
"In other words, you decline the pleasure of my company," she said, in a voice of much pique.
It was very plain that she had no longer any influence over him.
"But why are you in such a desperate hurry, Lord Lydstone?" she went on.
"I have had letters, urging me to hurry home. My father and mother are most anxious to see me; and now, after what has happened, it is right that I should be at their side."
"You are a good son, Lord Lydstone," she said, but there was the slightest sneer concealed beneath her simple words.
"I have not been what I ought, but now that I am the only one left I feel that I must defer to my dear parents' wishes in every respect." He said this with marked emphasis.
"They have views for you, I presume?" Mrs. Wilders asked, catching quickly at his meaning.
"My mother has always wanted me to settle down in life, and my father has urged me—"