“Oh, well, as to that, I would not call him crusty! ”Martin owned.
“Ah, now you are being over-generous, I feel!”
“Sir Thomas is a very respectable man,” pronounced the Dowager. “We will send to enquire at Whissenhurst tomorrow, and I have no doubt that we shall receive a comfortable account of him. He would be very sorry not to be able to come to Stanyon, I daresay.”
“What,” demanded the Viscount, a little later, when Gervase had borne him away to the library on the entrance floor of the Castle, “is the peculiar virtue of Sir Thomas, which makes his presence indispensable to the success of your ball?”
Gervase laughed. “A daughter!”
“A daughter! Very well! I don’t need to ask, Is she beautiful?”
“Very beautiful, very engaging!”
“What a shocking thing it would be, then, for Sir Thomas to cry off! I shall certainly remain with you for a long visit, Ger!”
“Nothing could please me more, but take care you don’t tread upon Martin’s corns!”
“How can you, after watching my conciliatory manners this night, think such an event possible? What is the matter with that halfling?”