“I’m not asked, I’m afraid.”
“Ach, bot zat is nozzing. I shall tell him.”
“As you please, Baron,” replied Mr Bunker, with a half glance at Lady Alicia.
The infatuated Baron had already begun to dread the inevitable hour of separation, and this piece of good fortune put him into the highest spirits. He felt so amiable towards the whole world that when the four went out for a stroll in the afternoon he lingered for a minute by Lady Grillyer’s side, and in that minute Mr Bunker and Lady Alicia were out of hail ahead. The Baron’s face fell.
“Shall I come down to this place?” said Mr Bunker.
“Would you like to?”
“I should be sorry,” he replied, “to part with—the Baron.”
Lady Alicia had expected a slightly different ending to this sentence, and so, to tell the truth, Mr Bunker had intended.
“Oh, if you can’t stay away from the Baron, you had better go.”
“It is certainly very hard to tear myself away from so charming a person as the Baron; perhaps you can feel for me?”