“Then I think I had better tell you about Belinda,” said the Duke guiltily.
His uncle lifted his brows at him. “Oho! So now we come to it, do we? I thought there was a petticoat in it!”
“No,” said Gideon lazily. “Adolphus has merely been playing the knight-errant. He has been ready to eat me for telling him he is wasting his time. I hope you may have better success with him.”
But Lord Lionel, when he had listened to as much of Belinda’s story as his nephew saw fit to impart, was rather amused. Schoolboys of plebeian parentage were to be deplored, but the intrusion into the Duke’s life of beautiful damsels he regarded as inevitable, and not in the least blameworthy. Whether he believed in the propriety of the Duke’s dealings with Belinda seemed doubtful, but all he said, and that in a tolerant voice, was: “Well, well, it has all been highly romantic, no doubt, and I consider that Harriet has behaved with great good sense. She is a well-trained girl, and will make you an excellent wife! But this Belinda of yours should now be got rid of, my boy.”
“Yes, sir. I—we—hope to establish her creditably,” said the Duke.
Lord Lionel nodded, ready to dismiss the matter. “That’s right. You can afford to be generous, but do not run to extremes! If you do not like to set about the business yourself, I will do it for you.”
“I think, sir, that it will be better if I settle it,” said the Duke firmly.
“As you please,” said his lordship. “It will not hurt you to get out of this scrape by yourself, though I daresay you will be humbugged into paying her far too much. Never be deceived by a pretty face, my boy! All the same, these ladybirds!”
He then favoured his awed young relatives with several surprising reminiscences of his own youth, pointed the moral to them and said that it was high time he drove back to Cheyney. Gideon saw him to the Duke’s chaise. He paused for a minute or two in the doorway of the inn, and said, in a burst of confidence: “You know, Gideon, the boy has not managed so ill! I own, I had not thought he had so much resolution! I begin to have hopes of him. I should not be at all surprised if he turns out to be as good a man as his father. It is a thousand pities he is so undersized, but you may have noticed that he has his own dignity.”
“I have frequently noticed it, sir.”