'What is it?' asked Lady Maud, with a little smile of friendly concern. 'Is anything wrong?'
'No—that is—' Margaret smiled too, as she hesitated—'I was going to ask you the same question,' she added quickly.
'It's nothing more than usual,' returned her friend. 'I think it has gone very well, don't you, these three days? He has made a good impression on everybody—don't you think so?'
'Oh yes!' Margaret answered readily. 'Excellent! Could not be better! I confess to being surprised, just a little—I mean,' she corrected herself hastily, 'after all the talk there has been, it might not have turned out so easy.'
'Don't you feel a little less prejudiced against him yourself?' asked
Lady Maud.
'Prejudiced!' Margaret repeated the word thoughtfully. 'Yes, I suppose I'm prejudiced against him. That's the only word. Perhaps it's hateful of me, but I cannot help it—and I wish you wouldn't make me own it to you, for it's humiliating! I'd like him, if I could, for your sake. But you must take the wish for the deed.'
'That's better than nothing!' Lady Maud seemed to be trying to laugh a little, but it was with an effort and there was no ripple in her voice. 'You have something on your mind, too,' she went on, to change the subject. 'Is anything troubling you?'
'Only the same old question. It's not worth mentioning!'
'To marry, or not to marry?'
'Yes. I suppose I shall take the leap some day, and probably in the dark, and then I shall be sorry for it. Most of you have!'