“That is what terrifies me.”
“Nonsense! You are trying to quiz me. We have established that you can procure chairs in a rainstorm; I am also I the opinion that when you invite a party to supper at the Piazza the waiters do not fob you off with a table in a draught.”
“No,” he agreed, regarding her with a fascinated eye.
“Augustus, of course, is not in a position to invite us to upper at the Piazza, because my aunt would certainly not permit us to accept, but he did once entertain us to tea here, in the Park, and I could not but see that he is just the kind of man whom the waiters serve last. I feel sure I can rely upon you to see to it that everything goes without the least hitch when you invite us to the theater, and to supper afterward. You will be obliged, of course, to invite my aunt as well, but — ”
“For heaven’s sake!” he interrupted. “You cannot suppose that in the situation in which we now stand Cecilia would consent to make one of a party of my making!”
“Certainly I do,” she replied coolly. “What is more, you will invite Augustus.”
“No, that I will not!” he declared.
“Then you will be a great gaby. You must understand that Cecilia has been driven into announcing that she means to marry Augustus! You were not there to engage her affections; Augustus was sighing verses to her left eyebrow; and to clinch the matter my cousin Charles behaved in the most tyrannical fashion, forbidding her to think of Augustus, and fairly ordering her to marry you! I assure you, it would have been wonderful indeed if she had not made up her mind to do no such thing!”
He rode in silence beside her for some moments, frowning between his horse’s ears. “I see,” he said at last. “At least — Well, at all events, you don’t advise me to despair!”
“I don’t suppose,” said Sophy honestly, “that I should ever advise anyone to despair, for I can’t bear such poor-spirited conduct!”