Pip stared.
"You mean you don't really care for Fitznorton at all?" he said.
"My dear boy, have you seen him?" inquired Lottie plaintively.
"Yes. But—why on earth are you going to marry him?"
"I'm not quite certain that I am," said the Principal Boy coolly.
"But you said you were."
"I said I was engaged to him."
"Sorry! I had an idea it was the same thing," said Pip.
Lottie gazed at him, not without a certain admiration.
"Not quite," she said. "You're a simple old chap, Jack, but I like you for it; so I'll tell you what we are going to do. When the Earl comes down here—the day after to-morrow, I expect—Dad and I will interview him. Fitz won't be there: I shall send him out into the woods to chase rabbits. Then we shall point out to the old dear that if the engagement is not permitted my heart will be broken."