"I do not care about going, mamma."
"Nonsense, child; you do care. You have no idea what Bushy Park is,
Eleanor. It is not like Rythdale—though Rythdale will do in its way.
Come, child, get ready. You will enjoy it delightfully."
"I do not think I should, mamma. I do not think I ought to go with Mr.
Carlisle."
"Why not?"
"You know, mamma," Eleanor said calmly, though her heart beat; "you know what conclusions people draw about me and Mr. Carlisle. If I went to Hampton Court or to Richmond with him, I should give them, and him too, a right to those conclusions."
"What have you been doing for months past, Eleanor? I should like to know."
"Giving him no right to any conclusions whatever, mamma, that would be favourable to him. He knows that."
"He knows no such thing. You are a fool, Eleanor. Have you not said to all the world all this winter, by your actions, that you belonged to him? All the world knows it was an engagement, and you have been telling all the world that it is. Mr. Carlisle knows what to expect."
Eleanor coloured.
"I cannot fulfil his expectations, mamma. He has no right to them."