“Who,” demanded Ravenscar, “is your cavalier?”
“He has gone,” said Arabella hastily, seeing that he was about to step out into the porch.
“Just as well for him!” said Ravenscar. “You are a cursed nuisance, Arabella! Where have you been?”
“Only to the masquerade at Ranelagh,” replied Arabella, in cajoling accents. “I did want so much to go, and Mama would not take me, and you said it was not good ton, so what was I to do?”
“Stay at home,” said Ravenscar uncompromisingly. “If you don’t take care, Belle, I’ll send you down to Chamfreys with a devilish strict governess to watch over you!”
“I’d run away,” responded Arabella, unperturbed by this threat, and slipping a small, coaxing hand in his arm. “Don’t be cross with me, dearest Max! It was such an adventure! And I did not once take off my mask, so no one will ever know.”
“Who took you there?”
“Well, I think I won’t tell you that, because ten to one you do not know him, and if you do you would say something disagreeable to him,” said Arabella. “But I will tell you one thing, Max!”
“I suppose I should be grateful! What is it?”
“Why, only that I remembered what you said to me today and you were quite right! At least, I am very nearly sure that you are, but I shall know more certainly in a day or two, I dare say.”
He looked down at her with misgiving. “What mischief are you brewing? Come, out with it, Belle!”
Her eyes danced. “No, I shan’t tell you! You would spoil it all. I think someone is trying to impose upon me, though I am not quite sure yet. It is the most enchanting sport!”
“Oh, my God!” said Ravenscar.
She pinched his arm. “Now don’t, I implore you, Max, put on that fusty face! I promise you I shall not do anything you would not like. And if you are sensible, and don’t let Mama plague me, I shall very likely tell you all about it presently.”
“I suppose you imagine that I like your running off to public masquerade with an adventurer?” said her brother caustically.
“Well, you should have taken me to it yourself, so it is qui your own fault,” said Arabella, dismissing the matter.
“Go up to bed, you baggage,” commanded Ravenscar, never proof against his half-sister’s wiles. “I wish to God I had never been saddled with the care of you! Let me tell you that when you do get married your husband will very likely beat you!”
Miss Ravenscar paused on the staircase, and looked bad the picture of mischief. “Oh, if that were to happen, I should fly back to my dear, kind, fusty, respectable brother!” she promised, and fled.
She bore her mother’s gentle complaints, when she met her later in the morning, with docility but not much sign of penitence. Except for warning her that if she again played truant, unseasonable hours he should send her into the country, her brother paid no further attention to her escapade. She was relieved, for she had quite expected him to probe a good deal deeper into the matter, and felt some surprise at his forebearance. She thought, peeping at him over the coffee-pot at the breakfast-table, that he looked preoccupied, but she would have been more than surprised had she known the cause of the faint frown between his brows.
Mr Ravenscar, if the truth were told, was toying with the idea of driving down to Berkshire, to pay a flying visit to his friend Waring. Twice he was on the point of ordering his curricle to be brought round to the door, and twice he refrained. “Damn it all!” he told the bell-pull, “I’m not going to spy on the boy!”
He compromised by calling in St James’s Square that evening. The rooms were rather thin of company, and the want of Miss Grantham’s presence was generally felt. Several dowagers were there, looking remarkably like birds of prey; and Lady Bellingham, who had started the evening by routing Sir James Filey, seemed to be in a belligerent mood. Sir James had go nothing out of her but a selection of home-truths which had made him fling out of the house in a rage; and, emboldened by this victory, she was able to face Mr Ravenscar with scarcely a tremor. He arrived only a few minutes before supper, and begged the honour of taking her down to it. This made her ladyship look a little wary, but she accepted his proffered arm, and descended the broad staircase with him in tolerable composure. He found a seat for her in the supper-room, supplied her with some lobster patties, and a glass of iced champagne-punch, and sat down opposite to her.
Lady Bellingham summoned up her courage, and said: “I am glad to have the opportunity of speaking to you, Mr Ravenscar. I do not know what my niece may have written to you on the subject of those horrid bills, but for my part I am very grateful to you for restoring them to me.”
“Pray do not give the matter a thought, ma’am! How long does Miss Grantham expect to be out of town?”
“As to that, I do not precisely know,” replied her ladyship vaguely. “She has gone to stay with friends, and there is no knowing how long they may persuade her to remain with them.”
“In what part of the country is she staying, I wonder?”
“Oh, I don’t—that is to say, not very far away! I don’t suppose you would know the place,” said her ladyship firmly. “It is in the north somewhere.”
“Indeed? You must miss her, I feel sure.”
“Yes, certainly I do! No one ever had a better niece. Of course, you must not think that I approved of her putting you in the cellar, and I do hope she begged your pardon for it! But in the main she is a very good girl, I assure you!”
“I fear that the fault was mine. I had grievously offended Miss Grantham.”
Lady Bellingham regarded him with increasing favour. “I declare it is very handsome of you to say so, sir! To be sure, she was excessively put out by your wanting to give her twenty thousand pounds, not that I shall ever understand—however, that is neither here nor there!”
“I imagine,” he said, looking rather amused, “that the expenses of keeping up an establishment of this style must be heavy?”
“Crushing!” said her ladyship, not mincing matters. “You would find it hard to believe the shocking sum I spend on candles alone.”
“Is it worth it?” he asked curiously.
“That is just the tiresome part of it,” confided her ladyship. “I quite thought it would be when I moved from Green Street, but nothing has gone right with us since we came to this house.”
“Do you like the life?”
“Not at all. I am getting a deal too old for it, I daresay, but what is one to do? One must hope for a run of luck to set all to rights.” An idea occurred to her. She laid down her fork, and looked speculatively at the dark countenance opposite to her. “Of course, I know that Deb would not accept any money from you. You must know that I am far from considering her an ineligible wife for your cousin.”
“On that subject, then, we are unlikely to agree, ma’am.”
“Yes, but I assure you I am very broadminded,” said Lady Bellingham. “You will never make the least impression on Deb, you know. I dare say she will marry Mablethorpe just to spite you.” She paused to observe the effect of these words, but Mr Ravenscar’s face betrayed nothing but polite interest. “You must not think I do not appreciate your feelings in the matter,” she continued. “I am sure there is much to be said for your not wishing the marriage to take place. I might help you. There is not the least reason why Deb should ever know anything about it.”
He raised his brows. “Are you suggesting that I should bribe you to use your influence with Miss Grantham?” he inquired, “I should not think of insulting you so, ma’am!”
“When there is no turning round for the bills which clutter the whole house, I do not feel that it is the time to be talking of insults,” said her ladyship. “If you liked to hand me the twenty thousand pounds you were so obliging as to offer to Deb, I will engage for it that she shall not marry Mablethorpe, if I can prevent her!”