“Excuse me, my dear Lady Rea—I have Sir Hampton’s assurance that it is so. He tells me that Trevor—poor old Trevor—resigned his pretensions in the most gentlemanly way.”
“Yes, he did,” said Lady Rea; “and it was very foolish of him, too.”
“Doubtless,” said Vanleigh, with a smile; “but still, under the circumstances, how could he have done otherwise? Ah, Lady Rea, it was a very sad blow to his friends.”
“It’s very kind of you to say so, Captain Vanleigh,” said Lady Rea.
“Don’t say that,” replied Vanleigh. “But now, Lady Rea, let me try and set myself in a better position with you. Of course you must know that I love Miss Rea?”
“Well, yes—I suppose so,” said the little lady.
“Then let us be friends,” said Vanleigh. “I am coming merely as a visitor—a friend of the family; and what I have to ask of you is this, that I may be treated with consideration.”
“Oh, of course, Captain Vanleigh.”
“If in the future Miss Rea can bring herself to look upon my pretensions with favour, I shall be the happiest man alive. If she cannot—well, I will be patient, and blame no one.”
“He was very nice, my dear,” said Lady Rea to her daughter. “No one could have been more so; but I told him I didn’t think there was any hope.”