“Have you got back your appetite, sir,” said the Fair to Avenant, “for dressed meats?”
“And ladies?” whispered Sir Richard’s friend.
“O, fie!” said madam.
“I will return the question on you,” said Sir Richard, in a low voice.
The Fair lifted her brows.
“Why, I am told, madam,” said Avenant, “that you feed on raw hearts; but I am willing to believe that the one lie is as certain as the other.”
The imperious beauty bit her underlip, and laughed.
“I perceive, Sir Richard,” she said, “that you do not court by flattery.”
“I do not court at all, madam,” he answered.
“Ah, true!” she replied. “You buy in the open market. It must be simpler; though, in the plain lodging where I hear you lie at present, the disposal of so responsible an establishment must exercise your diplomacy.”