The laugh died out of his eyes. “Pen, is this your doing?”
“Oh no, indeed it is not, sir! In fact, I had quite a different plan, only I dared not tell you, and, as a matter of fact, Piers did not think well of it. I wanted to abduct Lydia, so that Piers could rescue her from me, and so soften her Papa’s heart However, I dare say you would not have approved of that.”
“I should not,” said Sir Richard emphatically.
“No, that’s why I said nothing to you about it. In the end Lydia decided to elope.”
“You mean that you bullied the wretched girl—”
“I did not! You are most unjust, sir! On my honour, I did not! I don’t say that I didn’t perhaps put the notion into her head, but it was all the Major’s doing. He threatened to take her to Lincolnshire to-morrow morning, and of course she could not support life there! Oh, here comes the waiter! I will tell you the whole story presently.”
She retired to her favourite seat in the window while the covers were laid, and Sir Richard, standing with his back to the mighty fireplace, watched her. The waiter took his time over the preparations for dinner, and during one of his brief absences from the parlour, Pen said abruptly: “You were quite right: he has changed, sir. Only you were wrong about one thing: he does not think I have changed at all.”
“I did not suspect him to be capable of paying you so pretty a compliment,” said Sir Richard, raising his brows.
“Well, I don’t think he meant it to be a compliment,” said Pen doubtfully.
He smiled but said nothing. The waiter came back into the room with a laden tray, and began to set various dishes on the table. When he had withdrawn, Sir Richard pulled a chair out for Pen, and said: “You are served, brat. Hungry?”