Victoria made an indescribable grimace, while Amethyst was speechless. Tory’s cynical plain-speaking, and her mothers light response, turned her quite cold with horror.
“Mother, you will never let that man come here again?” she exclaimed, at length. “If he could behave so—”
“Oh, my dear child,” said Lady Haredale, “it was only play.—Poor little Una will soon forget it again. It’s just a little sentiment, that’s all.”
Amethyst turned with a start, as Lucian, for once taking her by surprise, came out of the house all eager and joyous.
“Oh, dear Lucian,” said Lady Haredale, “we are quite upset! Such a sudden piece of news.”
“There is something the matter!” said Lucian, with an anxious look at Amethyst, whose face was still scared and startled, even in the midst of his greeting.
“Oh no!” said Lady Haredale. “But our dear old friend Major Fowler is going to be married. The girls are all in tears, he is such a loss, we can’t imagine ourselves without him. I think we’ve all had a share in him, we don’t like to give him up to an heiress. I don’t know what we shall do.”
Amethyst made no contradiction, but she looked at her mother with tragical eyes, hardly controlling tears of she knew not what strange distress.
“What does it mean?” said Lucian, as Lady Haredale turned away. “I don’t understand.”
“Don’t ask,” said Amethyst. “Oh, Lucian, it’s like heaven to see you, and know that I belong to you,—but—but—”