“But what will the poor girl do?� he demanded.
I shook my head. I did not know how to answer that question for I did not know what she would do. Nevertheless I was not a little touched and pleased with his interest and desire. Surely the man had some good in him still. Association with such a scoundrel as Arcester had not yet wholly ruined him.
“You should have thought of this before,� said I.
“Yes, I suppose so,� he admitted rather woefully.
“It is too late to make reparation now, although the wish does you honor, my lord.�
“Well, Hampdon, if you have a chance to tell her what I wanted,� he said, “please do. I should do it myself,� he continued, “only since her repudiation by that blackguard Arcester she will not admit me to speech. By gad—� he looked over at her where she stood in the doorway going through the dreary process of bidding farewell to the guests after the funeral meal that had followed the interment, “by gad, if I were a bit younger and not so confoundedly in debt I would marry the woman myself.�
“She is meet for a better man, my lord,� said I, exactly as I had answered the duke.
He looked at me curiously for a moment and then laughed loudly.
“Doubtless,� he said, “you may tell her that, too.�
With that he turned on his heel and walked away and I saw no more of him. I stood idle on the terrace until the last of the gentry had gone. As before, I did not know just what to do or just where to go. My position was most anomalous. I wanted to be of service, but how to offer myself without intrusion, I could not readily discover. It was my lady herself who solved the problem.