“So I thought. Worse, of course, for them, who are in the world, and well known. I am a nobody.”
“A nobody who might be somebody to-morrow,” said she, slowly and deliberately.
“After all, the stage of pretension is anything but pleasant, and I cannot but regret that we have not come to some arrangement.”
“Can I be of use? Could my services be employed to any advantage?”
“At a moment, I cannot answer; but I am very grateful for even the thought.”
“I cannot pretend to any influence with the family. Indeed, none of them ever liked me; but they might listen to me, and they might also believe that my interest went with their own. Would you like to meet Augustus Bramleigh?”
“There is nothing I desire so much.”
“I 'll not promise he 'll come; but if he should consent, will you come here on Tuesday morning—say, at eleven o'clock—and meet him? I know he 's expected at Albano by Sunday, and I 'll have a letter to propose the meeting, in his hands, on his arrival.”
“I have no words to speak my gratitude to you.”