She smiled. “I have not been used to hear you say things so prettily, Lord Worth.”
“No, nor have I been used to find my ward so amiable,” he replied.
She held up her finger. “Do not let us be recalling past differences, if you please! I am determined not to quarrel with you; it is useless to provoke me.”
He looked amused. “Ever, Miss Taverner?”
“Oh, as to that, there is no saying, to be sure! To-night I am your guest, and must accord you a little extraordinary civility, to-morrow I may abuse you with a clear conscience.”
“Indeed! do you mean to do so? Have you received another offer of marriage for me to refuse without consulting you?”
She shook her head. “I hold it to be a bad thing for any female to talk of the offers she may have received,” she said briefly.
“Your opinion does you honour; but you may confide in me with perfect propriety. I conjecture that you have received several. Why do you look so grave?”
She raised her eyes to his face, and found that he was watching her with a softened expression, which she might almost have believed to be sympathy, had she not been persuaded that he knew nothing of so gentle an emotion. She said in a desponding tone: “It is quite true. I have received numerous offers, but there is nothing to boast of in that, for I think not one of them would have been made had I not been possessed of a large fortune.”
He replied coolly: “None, I imagine.”