‘Yours—nay. How can you have any?’
‘Just what I was going to say. I mean, if you were looking for what you call “games” with me, your trouble must have been wasted, that’s all.’
‘Of course. No; I meant all the other girls, and their mothers, and the men, too, for that matter.’
She laughed again, shortly and contemptuously.
‘And Otho Askam,’ he pursued tranquilly.
Magdalen looked up. ‘What? Has he got plans, or “games,” as you call them?’
‘I was amused to see his devotion to you last night, and what a rage those women were in about it. His game is to avoid all the girls whom he might possibly be supposed to be desirous of marrying. He told me so. He is mortally afraid of being trapped. And of course, he is even more afraid of the mothers than of the girls. You are quite harmless, you see. You are promised to Michael. He feels so safe and happy with you.’
‘Poor, innocent lamb!’
‘Isn’t he? It shows how blindly he trusts in your probity, and in your devotion to Michael. He comes to Balder Hall sometimes, doesn’t he?’
‘Yes.’