Mark looked very wise; he quite agreed with it.
"You might say," continued her grace, "that you are coming over to the Castle next week on business, and bring her with you."
"I will, your grace," said Mark, proudly. "I am coming on business next Tuesday; my lease is to be renewed. I will bring her with me. She is engaged to be married," he added, bluntly.
"Engaged!" repeated the duchess. "Why, she cannot be more than nineteen."
"She is nineteen," said Mark; "and, of course, I shall not allow her to be married for a year."
"You are quite right," interrupted the duchess.
Lady Estelle had opened her fan, and she stirred it gently, as she asked:
"To whom is she engaged?"
Mark declared, in reporting the conversation, that it was the grammar that destroyed him. It made him feel unequal to giving any answer. He turned uneasily in his chair.
"To whom is she engaged?" repeated the clear, musical voice.