“Oh, yes, I know how an Englishman talks to a girl by moonlight. Tells her about sheep farming, or how he hooked a salmon in the Highlands, or killed a pig in India.”
“Our conversation was a little on that order,” replied Letty, weakly. “But it is a relief to meet with a man who can withstand the influences of the moon and talk sense.”
“I never could,” said Farebrother, and then he asked for Miss Jemima and the rest of the party. Letty explained that Mr. Romaine and the Chessinghams preferred their meals in their rooms, and the Colonel proposed the same thing to her, but she objected, first, because she liked the liveliness of the public dining-room, and secondly, because it cost more, and she didn’t believe in spending money to make one’s self lonely and uncomfortable, which could generally be done for nothing.
Presently the Colonel reappeared, and was delighted to see Farebrother, whose arrival did not surprise him in the least. Farebrother, who was astute, immediately made a series of engagements with the Colonel and Miss Jemima and Letty for a drive in Central Park, a visit to the opera, and various other festivities, strictly limited to a party of four, from which he intended Sir Archy should be conspicuously left out.
When breakfast was over, and Letty had gone to prepare for the drive, she met Sir Archy as she was coming down the stairs, putting on her gloves.
“Are you going out?” he asked. “I had my breakfast in my room, and took a spin around the park before nine o’clock.”
“I am going to the park now. Mr. Farebrother takes us. He came down last night, on the late train.”
Sir Archy looked rather black at this. Of course Farebrother’s arrival could mean but one thing—he had Letty’s encouragement to come. Letty, however, was anxious to disclaim all responsibility for his presence in New York. This only puzzled Sir Archy the more. He was not up in the subtility of American flirtations, and regarded Letty’s way of playing off as a grave infraction of the moral code. Something of this he hinted to her. At this Letty’s gay laughter pealed out.
“Why, don’t you suppose that American men know how to take care of themselves?” she cried.
“They ought to—they have opportunities enough to learn,” answered Sir Archy, grimly.