She said with difficulty: “I think I would rather you told her, sir. She—she looked at me in a way that—in a way that—”
“It will not be necessary for me to tell Lady Massey anything,” said Rule. “She will not, I think, mention what happened last night.”
She glanced up at him, puzzled. “Did she know then that it was you?”
He smiled rather grimly. “She did indeed know it,” he replied.
“Oh!” Horatia digested this. “Were you going to t-tell me all this if I hadn’t t-told you?” she asked.
“To be frank with you, Horry, no: I was not,” Rule answered. “You will have to forgive my stupidity. I did not think that you would tell me.”
“W-well, I don’t think I should have told you if Lady M-Massey hadn’t seen me,” said Horatia candidly. “And I d-don’t suppose Robert would have explained it, because it m-makes him look quite ridiculous. And I w-wouldn’t have spoken to him again. Now I see, of course, that he did not behave so very b-badly after all, though I must say I d-don’t think he should have proposed that stake, do you?”
“Most certainly I do not.”
“No. Well, I won’t have him for a friend, Rule!” said Horatia handsomely. “You won’t m-mind if I am civil to him, will you?”
“Not at all,” Rule replied. “I am civil to him myself.”