"With pleasure."
"Papa and mamma are to dine at the Priory, but on another day you shall see them."
"And the hour?"
"Eight."
"Eight!" I repeated, for that was the very hour of my appointment with Agnes Auriol, and the park lay in an opposite direction from the barracks. Here was a dilemma! But I resolved, if possible, to keep faith with both, and said—
"Excuse me, pray; but on reflection I find it impossible to be present at that hour."
"Indeed!"
"But I shall present myself soon after in the drawing-room."
"What prevents you?" she asked, raising her dark eyebrows.
"Duty, unfortunately."