Lord Dolphinton addressed himself to his cousin, briefly and to the point. “Mama says you are to bring Kitty to her box,” he stated. “Freddy, I didn’t know you were going to bring Kitty to town, did I?”
Mr. Standen, though irritated by this peremptory command, was not deaf to the note of appeal in Lord Dolphinton’s voice. “No, no!” he said soothingly. “At least, I don’t know what you knew, Dolph, but no need to get into a taking, old fellow! Too late to bring Kit along to see my aunt now! You go back and tell her so! Bring her after the next act!” He then turned his relative gently round, and gave him an encouraging thrust, remarking to Mr. Stonehouse, as Dolphinton ambled away: “Sevenmonths’ child, y’know: daresay it accounts for it! Better go back and warn Kit!”
“Freddy!” said Mr. Stonehouse, detaining him. “What i.>; this? I m-mean, Elgin MMarbles—WWestminster Abbey—! Are you g-going to be m-married?”
“No, no!” Freddy said involuntarily. Recollecting himself, he added: “What I mean is—only betrothed! Keeping it a secret, Jasper! Family reasons!”
“Oh!” said Mr. Stonehouse, much mystified. “Of c-course, if you d-don’t want it known, I shan’t s-say anything! But why—”
“Curtain’s going up!” interrupted Freddy desperately, retreating into his box much in the fashion of a rabbit hotly pursued by a terrier.
Chapter X
Considerably to their surprise, and not a little to their relief, Lady Dolphinton received the engaged couple later in the evening with a degree of affability which was as rare as it was unexpected. She was a hard-featured woman, with a predatory mouth, a smile that never reached her eyes, and an air of consequence. At no time had she been popular with her deceased husband’s relations, for she was both proud and ill-natured, insolent to persons whom she considered to be her social inferiors, tyrannical to her son, and ruthless in the methods she employed to achieve her ends. Even Lady Legerwood, always prone to take the kindliest view of everyone, could not like Augusta. In her eyes, Augusta was a bad mother, whose treatment of her dull-witted son had, she maintained, done much to increase his imbecility. She could say no worse of anyone. The younger members of the family were frightened of her when children, and avoided her when rhey grew up. Mr. Penicuik detested her. He made very little secret of his belief that his nephew’s untimely decease might be laid at her door; and none at all of his conviction that his great-nephew’s peculiarities were directly inherited vrom her. He said that all the Skirlings were loose screws, adding darkly that he didn’t blame them for setting it about that old James Skirling had been drowned while fishing on a Scottish loch. No one, he said, could be expected to advertize the fact that a member of the family had to be confined in a room at the top of the house, with a couple of attendants to see that he came to no harm.
Knowing how much she must have angered the Countess by rejecting Dolphinton’s suit, Kitty went to her box in considerable trepidation, clutching Freddy’s arm tightly enough to draw from him a remonstrance. She begged pardon, and expressed the hope that her ladyship would not say anything very dreadful. He seemed surprised, and said: “Lord, Kit, you ain’t afraid of her?”
“N-no. At least—yes, I am a little! I think she is an evil person! And she can say such crue! things!”