"Miss Hale, they have been telling you something about me. They have, haven't they?"
A faint flush rose to her face.
"Would that matter in the slightest, my lord?"
"By George, yes!" he said. "Look here! there is an old proverb that says: 'Don't believe more than half you see, and less than half you hear.' I should like to know what they have been telling you about me!"
"What should 'they' say, my lord?" said Margaret. "Except that you are a very high-principled and serious-minded gentleman, doing all the good you could find to do, and setting a high example to your friends and companions?"
He leaned forward so that he might see her face, then broke into the musical and contagious laugh.
"It's too bad!" he said. "Miss Hale, I give you my word that the dev—, that nobody is quite as bad as he is painted——"
"It is to be hoped not, or, judging from the portraits one sees at the Academy, there must be a great many ugly people in the world," she said, quietly.
Lord Blair stared at her with unconcealed delight.
Pretty women he had met by the hundred, but a girl who was lovely as a flower, and witty as well, was a rarity that set his heart throbbing.