“You never had a dress that became you better, Deb,” said her ladyship reminiscently. “You were wearing that when Mablethorpe first saw you.”
There was a short silence. Miss Grantham looked at her aunt in a troubled way, and shuffled the bills in her hand.
“I suppose,” said Lady Bellingham tentatively, “you could not bring yourself-?”
“No,” said Deborah.
“No,” agreed Lady Bellingham, with a heavy sigh. “Only it would be such a splendid match, and no one would dun me if it were known that you were betrothed to Mablethorpe!”
“He is not yet twenty-one, ma’am.”
“Very true, my dear, but so devoted!”
“I’m his calf-love. He won’t marry a woman out of a gaming-house.”
Lady Bellingham’s mouth drooped pathetically. “I meant it all for the best! Of course, I do see that it puts us in an awkward position, but how in the world was I to manage? And my card-parties were always so well-liked—indeed, I was positively renowned for them!—that it seemed such a sensible thing to do! Only, ever since we bought this house our expenses seem to have mounted so rapidly that I’m sure I don’t know what is to become of us. And here is dearest Kit, too! I forgot to tell you, my love. I have a letter from him somewhere—well, never mind, I must have mislaid it. But the thing is that the dear boy thinks he would be happier in a cavalry regiment, and would like to exchange.”
“Exchange!” exclaimed Kit’s sister, aghast. “Why, I daresay it would cost seven or eight hundred pounds at the least!”