Decidedly this absurd child was a refreshing change from the generality of damsels! Had he been a younger man, he reflected, he might easily have succumbed to her charm. It was fortunate that he was thirty, and no longer to be caught by a pretty face and naive ways, for he knew well that these would pall on him, and that he wanted something more in the lady whom he would one day marry. He had never yet found just what he was looking for, did not even know what it might prove to be, and was perfectly resigned to his bachelordom.
“It is not at all necessary,” he said. “You dance delightfully. You do not mean to tell me that this is the first time you have waltzed?”
Miss Tallant certainly did not mean to tell him anything of the sort, and was already regretting her impulsive confidence. “Good gracious, no!” she said. “The first time at Almack’s. however.”
“I am happy to think, then, that mine was the honour of first leading you on to the floor. You will certainly be besieged by every man present now it is seen that you have no objection to the waltz.”
She said nothing, but fell to studying his waistcoat again. He glanced down at her, a hint of mockery in the smile that hovered about his mouth. “How does it feel, Miss Tallant, to be the rage of town? Do you enjoy it, or have your northern triumphs given you a. distaste for this sort of thing?”
She raised her eyes, and her chin too. “I am afraid, Mr. Beaumaris, that you betrayed what I—what I begged you not to speak of!”
There was a distinctly sardonic look in his eye, but he replied coolly: “I assure you, ma’am, I have mentioned your circumstances to one person only: Lord Fleetwood.”
“Then it is he who—” She broke off, flushing.
“Very probably,” he agreed. “You must not blame him, however. Such things are bound to leak out”
Her lips parted, and then closed again. He wondered what she had so nearly said: whether he was to have been treated to her society manners, or whether she had been about to tell him the truth. On the whole, he was glad that she had thought better of it. If she took him into her confidence, he supposed he would be obliged, in mercy, to bring this game to a close, which would be a pity, since it was providing him with a great deal of entertainment. To have elevated an unknown provincial to the heights of society was an achievement which only one who had no illusions about the world he led could properly appreciate. He was deriving much enjoyment too from observing the efforts of his devoted copyists to win the provincial’s hand. As for Arabella herself, Mr. Beaumaris shrugged off a momentary compunction. She would no doubt retire in due course to her northern wilds, marry some red-faced squire, and talk for the rest of her life of her brilliant London season. He glanced down at her again, and thought that it would be a pity if she were to retire too soon. Probably, by the end of the London season he would be only too thankful to see her go, but for the present he was very well satisfied to gratify her by a little flirtation.