“Well, Richard,” said my Lady smiling, “if I am not at your elbow when Madame de Castellan calls, there will be always Letty here, who is cunning in such tongue-fence, to protect you; but, as a matter of fact, we shall see my poor old friend but very seldom. She is a good deal broken, I fear, by time, and still more by trouble”—here my Lady's own voice began to quaver a little—“and all she seems to desire is quiet and seclusion, before her day of rest at last shall dawn.”
“She will be very welcome,” answered Sir Richard tenderly. “I hope that you will cause everything for her comfort to be looked to at Belcomb, and I will again repeat my orders to Rinkel that the place is to be kept quite free from trespassers.”
He rose and kissed his mother, then, as he left the room, delayed with his fingers on the door-handle, saying: “Have Walter and—and his wife consented to be present at my Coming of Age?”
“Certainly, dear Richard: they will both be very pleased to come—nay, Arthur thinks that they may return to the Abbey immediately. It is scarcely worth while for them to take a house, or rather lodgings, at Canterbury, since they are to be here so soon. Walter has leave now, it seems, and there will be no difficulty in getting it prolonged almost indefinitely: he can do anything he likes with his colonel, you know, as indeed”——
“Exactly,” interrupted Sir Richard drily. “Then I suppose they will be back in a few days.” And with that he placed the door between himself and the threatened eulogy upon Master Walter.
“Was there any particular message for me, mamma?” inquired Letty demurely.
“From Walter? No, dear. He sent his love to us all; but of course he feels a little embarrassed, and perhaps scarcely understands that he has been forgiven. Oh, I forgot: you meant was there any particular message from Arthur Haldane, you exacting little puss! Why, he only left us yesterday morning! But don't be vexed, my darling. You have won the love of a man who knows your worth almost as well as I do. He may not be so brilliant or so handsome as our darling Walter—and indeed who is?—but I must say he has shewn much better taste in choosing a wife. He has both wisdom and goodness, my darling child, and I firmly believe your future happiness is assured.”
“Yes, dearest mother, I do believe it; but”——Here Letty's eyes began not only to sparkle, but to distil pearls and diamonds in the most lavish and apparently uncalled-for profusion.
“Why, what is the matter now, my love?” inquired my Lady.
“Nothing, mamma—nothing at least that I should have thought it worth while to tell you, had I not been overcome by your kind words. I know you have got troubles enough of your own; I did not mean to tell you, indeed I did not; I tried to forget it myself. Only last night, after you had gone to bed, Richard sat up with me talking about his future, and it seems he has made some plan for mine. He spoke of Mr Charles Vane as a person he would like to have for a brother-in-law. He bade me be particularly civil to him at the coming fête; and when I said that I did not very much care about Mr Vane—and, in fact, that I had already—— O mamma, Richard said some very cruel things. He reminded me that one member of the family had already made a disreputable marriage”——