"An earnest desire to promote peace. She thought it might be better if Honour did not appear to-night. No, my Arturo,"—as Sir Arthur moved explosively,—"it was a warning given out of pure kindness to me, a foreigner. I told her what had happened, and she went away, I trust, satisfied. She thought me cold, I fear, for I restrained both voice and words."
"Better, much better. But that a woman of that kind should have it in her power to—— That Honour should contrive to get herself talked about!"
"She is so young, Arturo; she did not understand. And it was not all her fault."
"Which means that it was her father's. Well, but how was I to know that a daughter of yours and mine would turn out a fool? When she overwhelms me with a cool proposal to set up schools and I don't know what for the European women and children, what could I do but tell her it was the chaplain's business? You won't say that I ought to have encouraged her? Think of all the unpleasantness it would have caused in the regiments! And surely it was only natural to turn aside the matter by pointing out a sphere where her efforts would be more acceptable? Why, if I had said such a thing to Charlotte, or Eliza, or Marian, they would have blushed prettily and said, 'Oh, Papa!' and Marian might have giggled, but would any of them ever have thought of actually carrying it out?"
For this was the unfortunate result of Sir Arthur's ill-timed jocularity in advising his daughter to turn her enthusiasm for humanity to account in reforming some of Colonel Antony's assistants, instancing Gerrard and Charteris as standing in special need of her services. Young ladies were scarce, Honour was handsome and had inherited a touch of her mother's dignity, and when she unbent and displayed a flattering interest in the moral and spiritual welfare of each young man, the mischief was done.
"And then, to improve matters, she refuses both of them!" went on Sir
Arthur despairingly. "What does she want? No one seems to please her."
"If we were in Spain, it would be very simple," mused Lady Cinnamond.
"She would go into religion."
Sir Arthur bristled up at once. "What, ma'am! a convent for my daughter? I'd have you remember——"
His wife laughed, and patted his hand. "Calm yourself, my Arturo. No well-regulated convent would keep a daughter of yours within its walls for a day, nor would she care to stay there. Even Honour's romance would not survive the actual experience. But since we are not in Spain, we cannot hope to cure her fancies so quickly. Still——"
"Aye, romance—all romance!" growled Sir Arthur. "For your sake and mine, my dear, I trust it may wear off soon, but I doubt it. What hope is there of a girl who wears King Charles the First's hair in a locket?"