“And pretty?” added his lordship.
I devoutly kissed my second finger and thumb, and flung them in the direction of the ceiling.
“I’ll lay five to two he never hears of his portmanteau,” lisped Captain Buckdash.
“Shall I be at liberty to hunt it up?” said Lord Dundrum.
“Certainly. Are you on?”
“In tens?” asked his lordship.
“Ponies, if you but limit the period to one week.”
“Done, Buckdash! I’ll book it.” And the peer, producing a pocket-book, entered the bet, the terms of which he read aloud, and which the gallant captain pronounced eminently satisfactory.
“I’m afraid, my lord, that you’ll lose your money,” I observed to Lord Dundrum as we ascended to the drawing-room.
“I’ll give you the same bet, and that I’ll get your portmanteau, without any interference of yours, in less than a week—say five days.”