'
'We shall see,' said William, following Lilias, who had left the room
to hide her laughter.
To mystify Jane was the great amusement of the day; Reginald, finding
Maurice possessed with the same notion, did more to maintain it than
the others would have thought right, and Maurice reporting his
speeches to Jane, she had not the least doubt that her idea was
correct. Lord Rotherwood came to dinner, and no sooner had he
entered the drawing-room than Reginald, rejoicing in the absence of
the parties concerned, informed him of the joke, much to his
diversion, though rather to the discomfiture of the more prudent
spectators, who might have wished it confined to themselves.
'It has gone far enough,' said Claude; 'she will say something she
will repent if we do not take care.'
'I should like to reduce her to humble herself to ask an explanation
from Marianne,' said Lily.
'And pray don't spoil the joke before I have enjoyed it,' said Lord
Rotherwood. 'My years of discretion are not such centuries of wisdom
as those of that gentleman who looks as grim as his namesake the
Emperor on a coin.'
The entrance of Eleanor and Jane here put an end to the conversation,
which was not renewed till the evening, when the younger, or as
Claude called it, the middle-aged part of the company were sitting on
the lawn, leaving the drawing-room to the elder and more prudent, and
the terrace to the wilder and more active.
Pages:
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387