The Earl started.
“Mrs. Leland! Not the Mrs. Leland of Paris, and San Remo?”
“Yes. By hazard, as it were, you have let me tell you why I came away—one of the reasons. Mrs. Leland would have recognized me at once.”
“Dear me, dear me, this is a beastly muddle! Look here, George, promise me you won’t do anything stupid for a day or so.... I have been so pestered by people ... I don’t know which way to turn. Why not stay and meet your aunt?”
“Because I might lose my temper with her.”
“Ah, well, she is somewhat trying when it comes to family matters. Still, I may tell her——”
“That she ought to mind her own business? By all means. And oblige me, too, by telling her that she would confer a boon on humanity if she persuaded Lady Porthcawl to go to—Jericho—or Tokio—or wherever that ass, Porthcawl, may happen to be.”
“Millicent Porthcawl was at Bournemouth, you know.”
“Yes, I spoke to her. She had the impudence to introduce Ducrot to Cynthia.”
“By gad! Did she, though? I heard something from Scarland about that affair. Well, well—there’s no accounting for tastes. I suppose you realize, George, that I am keeping back a good deal of the tittle-tattle which reached me during your absence. I don’t want to hurt your feelings——”