'Lady Alicia, you are incorrigible. I am somewhat of a man of the world, yet I should not dare to counterfeit the sacred office, and I hope you but jest. In fact, I am sure you do, my lady.'
She turned away from me with a very pretty pout.
'Monsieur Valmont, your knighthood is, after all, but surface deep. 'Tis not mine to command, and yours to obey. Certainly I did but jest. John shall bring his own imitation clergyman with him.'
'Are you going to meet him tomorrow?'
'Certainly I am. I have promised. I must secure my necklace.'
'You seem to place great confidence in the belief that he will produce it.'
'If he fails to do so, then I play Monsieur Valmont as my trump card. But, monsieur, although you quite rightly refuse to comply with my first request, you will surely not reject my second. Please meet me tomorrow at the head of the avenue, promptly at a quarter-past seven, and escort me to the church.'
For a moment the negative trembled on my tongue's end, but she turned those enchanting eyes upon me, and I was undone.
'Very well,' I answered.
She seized both my hands, like a little girl overjoyed at a promised excursion.