"I have often wondered," Mrs. Austen said, "but I never met him until he came into the title and estates, and he was not a young man then. He may never have wanted to marry, or he may have had some disappointment. At all events, it's an excellent thing for you boys that he never did."
"Excellent," Melville assented heartily. Mrs. Austen evidently had no suspicion of the facts; that meant that Sir Geoffrey did not want her to know them, and that, too, was excellent. "Ah! here comes Ralph, dancing on air."
Judging by the expression on Ralph's face, dancing on air was a disagreeable mode of progression. He was, indeed, furious at finding Melville thus established in the heart of the citadel; he was conscious, too, of a disadvantage in being thus taken by surprise. Confident in the justice of his indignation, he could have invaded Melville's chambers and demanded explanations and apologies for the fraud; here all the force of his attack would be wasted in the interval before he could deliver it.
He made no offer to shake hands, and, flushed with anger, he compared unfavourably with Melville, sitting so imperturbable, and prepared for all contingencies.
Melville employed every little artifice of which he was capable to heighten the contrast between his brother and himself, of which he saw Mrs. Austen was conscious. He made room for Ralph upon the verandah, and chatted gaily of a hundred trifles, but to all his flippancies Ralph returned only monosyllabic answers, appearing awkward and ill-mannered even in Gwendolen's biassed judgment.
At last Melville rose to go, and with alacrity Ralph rose too.
Melville protested politely.
"Don't let me take you away, old man," he said.
"But I want to have a talk with you," Ralph answered.
"Thought you weren't particularly pleased to see me," Melville returned placidly, "but I'm glad I was wrong. Good-bye, Mrs. Austen, and thanks awfully for a jolly time. May I come again soon?"