But Mrs. Gantry sailed majestically from the room, without deigning to heed the pleasantry.
Lord James sauntered across to the window and perched himself on a chair arm close before the girl.
"When do you begin?" he asked. "Your mamma said you were to entertain me."
"Best possible reason why I shouldn't," she snapped, staring hard out of the window.
"What if I should try to entertain you?"
"You wouldn't succeed. I wanted to talk to a man. It's too bad! Simply because you asked me to, I was silly enough to tease Vievie into coming over this afternoon—and the minute he comes, she rushes him off to the conservatory."
"Believe me, I regret quite as keenly that she did not take me instead."
"That's complimentary—to me!"
"Can you blame me for agreeing, when you express a preference for the man instead of the mere son of a duke?"
"Perhaps you're a man yourself. Who knows?"