“Am I very much like a little bird?” said Lady Despard. “I told him, Doris, dear; you said I might.”
“Yes, dear Lady Despard has told me!” he said, spreading his napkin over his knee and smiling upon them both. “And I hasten to express my best and most heartfelt wishes. Lucky Percy! I must confess that I envy him! He is such a dear fellow! I have known him since he was, oh, quite a boy, and he was always, oh, quite too charming! But I never dreamed he would be so fortunate as to win so great a prize as the beautiful Miss Doris!”
Doris took her place in silence. Lady Despard laughed.
“That’s a very nice speech and hits them both,” she said.
“And it is such a strange coincidence,” he went on. “They say that good luck always comes in showers! Do you know I am the bearer of a very good offer for our dear Percy? I won’t give you the particulars, but will only say that it will make him almost a rich man. Really, the dear fellow is in favor with the gods.”
The door opened and Percy Levant walked in. He bowed to Lady Despard, and to Spenser Churchill, then went to Doris, took her hand and raised it to his lips, and, as a matter of course, seated himself next to her.
He held a couple of small bouquets in his hand, and, placing one beside Lady Despard’s plate, laid the other against Doris’.
“Oh, thanks,” said Lady Despard, talking quickly to cover the little embarrassment. “You have been flower-gathering this morning? And you met Mr. Spenser Churchill last night? I am so glad he has come, for I want to hear all the news—all the London news, I mean! We seem to be quite at the other end of the world here.”
Mr. Spenser Churchill shrugged his shoulders amusedly.
“One comes here to learn the news,” he said, with a significant smile at Doris and Percy Levant.