"How jolly!" he said. "I hope you are enjoying yourself. But, perhaps you always live in the country?"
"I am enjoying myself very much. No, I live in London, my lord."
"In London!" he said, quickly. "But I say——" he broke off appealingly, "I wish you wouldn't 'my lord' me, you know."
Margaret laughed.
"My circle of acquaintances does not include any noblemen, Lord Leyton, and I am not quite sure of the way to address one of your rank," she said, faltering a little.
"How well she said that!" he thought. "Most girls would have giggled and blushed, but she took it as quietly as a duchess would have done!"
Then aloud he said:
"Well, it's usual to address us by our surname; I wish you would call me Leyton."
Margaret was silent a moment, while he scanned her face with suppressed eagerness.
"If it is quite usual," she said in her blissful ignorance. "It sounds rather abrupt."