“Oh, that I am sure you haven’t, my dear,” said Lady Wyndover. “He must have been only too delighted to chaperon a charming young girl.”
“He didn’t seem very delighted sometimes,” said Esmeralda in her downright fashion.
Lady Wyndover gracefully glided away from the subject.
“And did you have a pleasant journey?” she asked.
“Oh, yes, very,” said Esmeralda. “It was great fun on board the ship.”
“It must have been,” said Lady Wyndover, suavely, and with a little twitch of the corners of her carmine lips, as she remembered Mr. Pinchook’s moaning. “And what do you think of London?—but how ridiculous of me! You’ve not seen it yet!”
“No; only just as we drove through from the docks,” said Esmeralda. “It seems very big, and looks very dirty, until we came here. Are the trees always black, like those outside? And is it always as smoky as this, or has there been a big fire somewhere near?”
Lady Wyndover leaned back and laughed.
“How fresh you are!” she said. “You will be delightful—too delightful—I can see!”
“Why?” asked Esmeralda.