There was no vestige of sympathy in his voice. If her spirits stood in need of support this matter-of-fact tone was no bad thing. She was obliged to smile, though she said with a faint sigh: “It is a melancholy thought.”
“I cannot agree with you. Being born to a handsome independence you have all the consequence of being the most sought-after young woman in London.’”
“Yes,” she said rather sadly, “but to be sought after for one’s fortune is no great compliment. You laugh at me, but in this respect I must think myself most uncomfortably circumstanced.”
“Depend upon it, your fortune will not frighten away an honest man,” he replied.
“Why, no, that is left for you to do,” she said playfully.
He smiled. “I will not allow it to have been so. I have frightened away fortune-hunters, and you should be grateful to me.”
“Perhaps I am. But I am quite at a loss to know why, having said that you will not consent to my marriage while I am your ward, you raise no objection to Perry’s engaging himself.”
“Miss Fairford seems to be an unexceptional girl. I am indulging the hope that if I ever let Peregrine marry her she will relieve me of some at least of my responsibilities.”
“You should reflect that my husband would relieve you of them all,” she said.
The carriage had stopped in Brook Street by this time; as the door was opened the Earl said: “You are mistaken: I have no wish to be relieved of them all.”