“This sounds to me remarkably like mania in an acute form.”
“Yes, so it did to me. But there is worse to come. She says that instead of being angry, her Papa is inclined to be pleased!”
“The madness seems to be inherited.”
“That is what I thought, but it appears that Lydia told her Papa that my name was Wyndham, and now he thinks that perhaps she is on the brink of making a Good Match!”
“Good God!”
“I knew you would be surprised. And there is another circumstance too, which turns everything topsy-turvy.” She glanced up fleetingly from her plate, and said with a little difficulty: “I discovered something which—which quite took me aback. She told me whom she went to meet in the wood last night.”
“I see,” said Sir Richard.
She flushed. “Did you—did you know, sir?”
“I guessed, Pen.”
She nodded. “It was stupid of me not to suspect. To tell you the truth, I thought—However, it doesn’t signify. I expect you did not like to tell me.”