“Do. A little smarting does some men much good.”
Her slender fingers, moving about me here and there, worked wonders with my appearance. She lent me ribbons, laces, those odds and ends which a girl must have if she wants to be finished properly. And they were just the proper odds and ends, the delicate trifles which cost such lots of money. As I saw her handiwork in the looking-glass, I perceived that she was making me quite presentable.
“I should like to take down your hair and do it all over again; but I’m afraid there isn’t time.”
“I’m sure there isn’t. I don’t want to keep them waiting.”
“My dear, you’re inexperienced. Don’t allow yourself to be influenced by any consideration of that kind; especially after the message which Mr Hammond permitted himself to request Jane to deliver. With some men, the worse you treat them, the better they treat you. ‘’Tis true, ’tis pity; but pity ’tis, ’tis true.’ By the way, these gentlemen seem violently drawn towards you; are you equally drawn towards them?”
“Not I.”
“Not towards any one of them?”
“Not towards any one of them. Shall I tell you what I think of them? I think——”
“Ssh! I don’t think that, perhaps, you had better tell me what you think. It might be over—candid.” She smiled up at me in a way which made her look a perfect dream of loveliness. “Besides—they’re not all—ganders.”
“Basil Carter isn’t—at least, I never should have guessed it.”