It was so like it that he hotly answered:
"Not in the least."
"Well, well," said Miss Desmond, "there"s no great harm done. She"ll get over it, and more"s been lost on market days. Thanks."
She lighted a second cigarette and sat very upright, the cigarette in her mouth and her hands on the handle of her stick.
"You can"t help it, of course. Men with your coloured eyes never can.
That green hazel--girls ought to be taught at school that it"s a danger-signal. Only, since your heart"s not in the business any more than her"s is--as you say, you were both bored to death--I want to ask you, as a personal favour to me, just to let the whole thing drop. Let the girl alone. Go right away."
"It"s an unimportant detail, and I"m ashamed to mention it," said Vernon, "but I"ve got a picture on hand--I"m painting a bit of the Warren."
"Well, go to Low Barton and put up there and finish your precious picture. You won"t see Betty again unless you run after her."
"To tell the truth," said Vernon, "I had already decided to let the whole thing drop. I"m ashamed of the trouble I"ve caused her and--and I"ve taken rooms at Low Barton."
"Upon my word," said Miss Desmond, "you are the coldest lover I"ve ever set eyes on."
"I"m not a lover," he answered swiftly. "Do you wish I were?"
"For Betty"s sake, I"m glad you aren"t. But I think I should respect you more if you weren"t quite so arctic."
"I"m not an incendiary, at any rate," said he, "and that"s something, with my coloured eyes, isn"t it?"
"Well," she said, "whatever your temperature is, I rather like you. I don"t wonder at Betty in the least."
Vernon bowed.
"All I ask is your promise that you"ll not speak to her again."
"I can"t promise that, you know. I can"t be rude to her. But I"ll promise not to go out of my way to meet her again." He sighed.
"As, yes--it is sad--all that time wasted and no rabbits caught."
Again Miss Desmond had gone unpleasantly near his thought. Of course he said:
"You don"t understand me."
"Near enough," said Miss Desmond; "and now I"ll go."
"Let me thank you for coming," said Vernon eagerly; "it was more than good of you. I must own that my heart sank when I knew it was Miss Betty"s aunt who honoured me with a visit. But I am most glad you came. I never would have believed that a lady could be so reasonable and--and--"
"And gentlemanly?" said the lady. "Yes,--it"s my brother-in-law who is the old woman, poor dear! You see, Mr. Vernon, I"ve been running round the world for five and twenty years, and I"ve kept my eyes open. And when I was of an age to be silly, the man I was silly about had your coloured eyes. He married an actress, poor fellow,--or rather, she married him, before he could say "knife." That"s the sort of thing that"ll happen to you, unless you"re uncommonly careful. So that"s settled. You give me your word not to try to see Betty?"
"I give you my word. You won"t believe in my regret--"
"I believe in that right enough. It must be simply sickening to have the whole show given away like this. Oh, I believe in your regret!"
"My regret," said Vernon steadily, "for any pain I may have caused your niece. Do please see how grateful I am to you for having seen at once that it was not her fault at all, but wholly mine."
"Very nicely said: good boy!" said Betty"s aunt. "Well, my excellent brother-in-law is waiting outside in the fly, gnashing his respectable teeth, no doubt, and inferring all sorts of complications from the length of our interview. Good-bye. You"re just the sort of young man I like, and I"m sorry we haven"t met on a happier footing. I"m sure we should have got on together. Don"t you think so?"
"I"m sure we should," said he truly. "Mayn"t I hope--"
She laughed outright.
"You have indeed the pa.s.sion for acquaintance without introduction,"
she said. "No, you may _not_ call on me in town. Besides, I"m never there. Good-bye. And take care of yourself. You"re bound to be bitten some day you know, and bitten badly."
"I wish I thought you forgave me."
"Forgive you? Of course I forgive you! You can no more help making love, I suppose--no, don"t interrupt: the thing"s the same whatever you call it--you can no more help making love than a cat can help stealing cream. Only one day the cat gets caught, and badly beaten, and one day you"ll get caught, and the beating will be a bad one, unless I"m a greater fool than I take myself for. And now I"ll go and unlock Betty"s prison and console her. Don"t worry about her. I"ll see that she"s not put upon. Good night. No, in the circ.u.mstances you"d better _not_ see me to my carriage!"
She shook hands cordially, and left Vernon to his thoughts.
Miss Desmond had done what she came to do, and he knew it. It was almost a relief to feel that now he could not try to see Betty however much he wished it,--however much he might know her to wish it. He shrugged his shoulders and lighted another cigarette.
Betty, worn out with crying, had fallen asleep. The sound of wheels roused her. It seemed to rain cabs at the Rectory to-day.
There were voices in the hall, steps on the stairs. Her door was unlocked and there entered no tray of prisoner"s fare, no reproachful step-father, no Protestant sister, but a brisk and well-loved aunt, who shut the door, and spoke.
"All in the dark?" she said. "Where are you, child?"
"Here," said Betty.
"Let me strike a light. Oh, yes, there you are!"
"Oh, aunt,--has he sent for you?" said Betty fearfully. "Oh, don"t scold me, auntie! I am so tired. I don"t think I can bear any more."
"I"m not going to scold you, you silly little kitten," said the aunt cheerfully. "Come, buck up! It"s nothing so very awful, after all.
You"ll be laughing at it all before a fortnight"s over."
"Then he hasn"t told you?"
"Oh, yes, he has; he"s told me everything there was to tell, and a lot more, too. Don"t worry, child. You just go straight to bed and I"ll tuck you up, and we"ll talk it all over in the morning."
"Aunty," said Betty, obediently beginning to unfasten her dress, "did he say anything about _Him_?"
"Well, yes--a little."
"He hasn"t--hasn"t done anything to him, has he?"
"What could he do? Giving drawing lessons isn"t a hanging matter, Bet."
"I haven"t heard anything from him all day,--and I thought--"
"You won"t hear anything more of him, Betty, my dear. I"ve seen your Mr. Vernon, and a very nice young man he is, too. He"s frightfully cut up about having got you into a row, and he sees that the only thing he can do is to go quietly away. I needn"t tell you, Betty, though I shall have to explain it very thoroughly to your father, that Mr.
Vernon is no more in love with you than you are with him. In fact he"s engaged to another girl. He"s just interested in you as a promising pupil."