“Seriously, do you think, if I made a raid on Manchester Square some morning, I could coax back her old feeling for me?”
“I think you will be quite safe in calling, at all events. Tell me what day you intend to venture. I know my mother will not oppose me if I shew that I wish you to be kindly received.”
“Most disinterested of you. Thank you: I will fail or succeed on my own merits, not on your recommendation. You must not say a word to her about me or my project.”
“If you command me not to——”
“I do command you.”
“I must obey. But I fear that the more submissive I am, the more imperious you will become.”
“Very likely. And now look along that avenue to the left. Do you see a man in a brown suit, with straw hat to match, walking towards us at a regular pace, and keeping in a perfectly straight course? He looks at everybody he passes as if he were counting them.”
“He is looking back at somebody now, as if he had missed the number.”
“Just so; but that somebody is a woman; doubtless a pretty one, probably dark. You recognize him, I see. There is a frost come over you which convinces me that you are preparing to receive him in your old ungracious way. I warn you that I am accustomed to see Ned made much of. He has caught sight of us.”
“And has just remarked that there is a man talking to his wife.”