“Very foolish, indeed!” she repeated, eyeing gravely the thin, nervous, foolish-looking young man, who, nevertheless, represented one of the oldest and most illustrious families of England.
“I hope you don’t mean that,” he said. “Indeed, Miss Carew, it is only your happiness I have at heart.”
“And a little your own, I hope,” with a faint smile. Then she went on before he could interrupt: “You know I have the name for being very original, Lord Selloyd, and I’m going to be original now. You’ve evidently come here this evening to propose to me, and I’m not going to let you propose. I’m not the sort of girl who likes to count up her conquests and tell all the other girls. All I ask of things generally just now is, let me have a good time, and I don’t care whether I get any proposal or not. Of course I think it is awfully good of you to want to give me your name and title and all that, but since I can’t accept them, we won’t say any more about it.”
“But my dear Miss Carew,” he implored, “your mother led me to suppose that she—”
“That doesn’t count,” interrupted Gwen. “To be very candid, you know as well as I do that no mother can help fancying a coronet for her daughter, and it’s just the same the world over. Now, although I’m supposed to be very up to date, I’m really positively antique about some things, and one of them is the question of matrimony. I’m so old-fashioned that I mean to marry for love, even if I marry a plain Mr Nobody. There! now you must see that it is a mistake to continue this interview.”
His lordship fidgeted nervously. “But couldn’t you?” he began—“couldn’t you—don’t you think—?”
“I’m afraid not,” Gwen said kindly, helping him out. “Isn’t there anything I could do?” pleadingly. “Perhaps if you would tell me what you want in a man—?”
Gwen felt inclined to say it was a man, just that, pure and simple: that she wanted, but she was naturally a kind hearted girl and had no desire to hurt his feelings.
“It’s no use,” she said frankly. “Let’s part friends, and you’ll soon find someone you can care for heaps more than me, who won’t worry the life out of you a bit like I should have done.”
His lordship shook his head sorrowfully, and looked very woebegone.