“Yes, oh yes! He came there in search of me, because we had had a dreadful quarrel, and I ran away from him, only I never knew it, and I thought he came on Miss Milborne’s account, and that is why — Oh, he must not find out what has happened tonight! It is much, much worse than all the other scrapes I was in!”
“Good God!” said Mr Tarleton blankly. “But who is he?” An appalling thought dawned on him; he looked across at Hero with the grimmest foreboding, and asked: “Not — I do devoutly trust! — not the ferocious young gentleman of the Pump Room?”
“He is not ferocious!” replied Hero, flushing indignantly. “He is the dearest and best person in the world! It was just that he was in a very bad temper, because I went off with you! And when I think that he called Lord Wrotham out, only for kissing me once, I am afraid he will be in a much worse one if this should come to his ears! Oh, I do hope there may be some way of preventing his discovering it!”
“Indeed, so do I!” said Mr Tarleton frankly. “In fact, to be honest with you, my dear, my knees are already knocking together so that I wonder you do not hear them!”
She was obliged to smile at this, but relapsed almost immediately into gloom. “It doesn’t signify. What must he think when he finds no one in Camden Place at seven o’clock! Oh, do you not see that he will suppose I did not wish to meet him, and he will be so hurt, and so angry, and how can I ever explain that it was not my fault? I am utterly undone!”
“Let me think!” begged Mr Tarleton, sitting down by the table and clasping his head between his hands. “You have set my brain in such a whirl — ! You could not tell him that you had gone to dine with some friends, I suppose?”
“No, I couldn’t!” said Hero, quite crossly. “He was coming particularly to see me, and oh, we were to have had buttered crab, and a n-neat’s tongue with c-cauliflowers!”
Mr Tarleton looked somewhat taken aback by this, and suggested feebly that such mundane considerations were of small consequence.
“It is Sherry’s favourite dinner!” Hero explained tragically.
“Well, never mind!” said Mr Tarleton. “You will be able to give him many such dinners, I dare say, and really, my child, at a moment like this to be vexing yourself over — ”