"I suppose," said Carrissima, hoping that she was not betraying her disappointment, "we must wait for another day."
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Colonel Faversham. "Why shouldn't you keep to your arrangement? What is to hinder it, I should like to know."
"Do you mind, Carrissima?" asked Mark, gazing eagerly into her face.
"Not at all," she said, and a few minutes later Colonel Faversham stood on the doorstep, looking after them with obvious approval, as they were driven away from the house in a taxi-cab.
CHAPTER XVI
BUYING A CARPET—AND AFTER
Mark and Carrissima had not gone far on their way together before it became evident that they were not absolutely in harmony. His object was primarily to purchase a carpet for his dining-room as quickly as might be; while hers was to visit as many shops as possible and, in fact, thoroughly to enjoy the afternoon.
"Where shall we go first?" he suggested outside the door of Number 13,
Grandison Square.
"Let me see!" she cried. "Tottenham Court Road will be the best."
So Mark directed the chauffeur accordingly, and, on getting out of the taxi-cab, Carrissima ominously suggested that it should be dismissed. During the somewhat lengthy process which now began, she was not without moments of pleasurable embarrassment. No doubt the various frock-coated salesmen, who patiently displayed their wares, desired to do precisely the correct thing, but there appeared to exist a considerable difference of opinion concerning Carrissima's status.