The romantic lord, who for romance’s sake was ready to become such an unromantic person as a begoggled chauffeur, in a long, shapeless coat, looked admiringly at Mary.
“Fancy your being Miss Lynette Devon’s daughter!” he exclaimed. “Fancy her having three such beautiful daughters as she has, and not one in the least like her charming self! I can’t believe you are really her child!”
Mary looked around and saw that her mother had gone on up to her room.
“Well,” thought Mary loyally, “if she won’t encourage him, at least there’s no use in letting him think she’s old and undesirable!” “She doesn’t seem one bit like my mother to me either,” she said aloud. “She was such a young girl when I was born that she is like another sister, but one that we all feel we must take more care of than we ever did of our other two sisters. She is young, of course, but she’s young in other ways than years.”
“Quite right, Miss Garden!” Lord Wilfrid agreed heartily. He came close to Mary, speaking low and earnestly.
“Don’t you see that I long to take care of her myself? Don’t you think she needs a man’s protection? You would not oppose me if I tried to win her, would you? Can’t you see why I took this work to be near her?”
Mary moved away, nervously longing to laugh yet wishing to be kind to this strange being. “I can’t help feeling that we can take care of my mother, Mr.—Lord Kelmscourt. But, of course, if you were fond of her you’d want to do it yourself. You couldn’t expect us really to be willing to lose her, now we’ve had her, could you? I’m sure we should try not to be selfish. And any one can understand wanting to be near her—but—goggles, Lord Kelmscourt? Wouldn’t almost anything else be nicer? Goggles look so much like a huge insect! Of course you haven’t them on now, but when you wore them—they aren’t a bit romantic!” Mary had kept her face sober while she answered this guest categorically, but murmuring something about “seeing Anne,” she fairly ran away at last, to laugh her fill in the hall.
Here Win came upon her and she fairly clutched him.
“Oh, Win, I was afraid you’d gone to the office!” Mary cried.
“Found it was earlier than I thought and that I needed another breakfast,” Win explained. “What’s up, Molly? Why are your risibles risen?”