“No. But I mean to. He will soon take back his offer, then.”
“His offer?” he repeated, in surprise. “Has he made you an offer, then?”
“Yes. Didn’t you know? Oh, of course, I have never had an opportunity of telling you. Lord Carthew asked me to marry him while we were out riding yesterday morning.”
“What did you say?”
“I—oh—I said I would think about it, or something of that sort.”
“You did not say ‘No’ outright?”—in a disappointed tone. “Stella, was all that before, or after, I woke up and saw you?”
“Oh, how can you ask me? It was before, of course?”
“And you were ready to marry Carthew at the time?”
“Don’t—don’t—be hard on me, and don’t look so stern and cold. How can I make you understand? You had said things against me that I had overheard. I believed, I really and truly believed, that you couldn’t bear me. And it made me mad with myself to find that I couldn’t keep you out of my thoughts for one minute. It seemed so dreadful—so forward and unwomanly—to be always thinking of a man who cared nothing for me. Then, too, you must remember that I longed with all my heart to escape from the Chase. You don’t know what our lives have been, poor mamma’s and mine, ever since I can remember. Lord Carthew knows——”
“Oh, Lord Carthew knows?” interrupting her, jealously. “You could confide in him, but not in me.”