she appreciated the adroitness with which he was extricating her from her predicament were, he thought, a joy to behold. In a moment, voice quivering only very slightly, she responded demurely, “Y-yes, Sir Edmund. Thank you: it is all just as you say.”
“You are going to London ?” exclaimed Mr. Spalding again, as his mind, not naturally quick, laboured to take in all the implications of what he had heard. “To Lady Yoxford ’ s? To Upper Brook Street? As chaperon to Miss Grafton? But surely that would mean going into Society!”
“You doubt, sir, that my sister has the entree to Society?” inquired Sir Edmund.
His assumption of an air of well-bred hauteur cast Mr. Spalding into confusion. “No — no, Sir Edmund, to be sure! I mean yes! I mean, of course not — that is, I don ’ t doubt it! Well, upon my word! But — but take, for example, Almack ’ s!” He turned to Miss Radley as he uttered the name of this most exclusive of all social meeting places in the metropolis, as if producing an irrefutable argument. “Acceptance there ... how will you contrive?”
“Without the least difficulty,” Sir Edmund answered for her, still with the air of one patiently, but with boredom, elucidating the obvious. “I believe my sister Isabella is acquainted with most of the Lady Patronesses, probably all of them, and in any case, I have only to drop a word in Emily Cowper ’ s ear myself. I am tolerably well acquainted with Lady Cowper through her brother Frederick, you understand,” he added, addressing himself to Miss Radley. “I was for a while in the city of Munich, when Fred Lamb was British Minister there.”
“W-were you indeed, sir?” breathed Elinor, fascinated as well as amused by the part Sir Edmund had chosen to play.
“But,” put in Mr. Spalding, almost querulously, “you can ’ t go into Society, Elinor! What would people say? Can it be —I ask myself, can it be — that you have not revealed all to Sir Edmund? That you were proposing to perpetrate a deception — to enter Lady Yoxford ’ s household under false pretences? I am amazed — I say again, I am amazed! I am disappointed in you! I ask myself — I repeat, I ask myself — can this thing be?”
Cast into the greatest confusion herself by these utterances, Elinor could not help glancing hopefully at Sir Edmund, who was proving such an unlooked-for tower of strength, and indeed he was already coming to her aid again.
“You repeat yourself a good deal too much, sir, if I may say so,” he told Mr. Spalding crisply. “If it is any of your business, which I take leave to doubt, let me assure you that I am entirely in Miss Radley ’ s confidence. The matter to which you refer,” he added haughtily, without any idea of what they were discussing, “is not of the smallest consequence. In agreeing to chaperon my ward, Miss Radley is doing me and my sister a very great favour. And now, sir, I am in some haste to complete my business in this town and make arrangements for our journey on to London.”
Sir Edmund ’ s manner made it very plain that he meant the clergyman rather than himself to take his leave, and Mr. Spalding, mesmerized by that suddenly chilly blue stare, found that he could only open and shut his mouth once or twice, temporarily unable to utter a word. But at last, turning to look at Elinor with a certain new respect, he managed to say, “Well! Upon my word! This is an odd start but then,” he hastened to add, “one can never know, of course, just what is the thing in Society. Although — but no, I will say no more upon that head!”
“Good,” interjected Sir Edmund, who was rapidly tiring of Mr. Spalding and hoped he would say no more on any other head, either. But the rejected suitor, his powers of speech recovered, proceeded undeterred.
“If you are to be countenanced by Sir Edmund — by Lord and Lady Yoxford — by Lady Cowper ... Well, my dear Elinor, I venture to believe that you will continue to
“You are going to London ?” exclaimed Mr. Spalding again, as his mind, not naturally quick, laboured to take in all the implications of what he had heard. “To Lady Yoxford ’ s? To Upper Brook Street? As chaperon to Miss Grafton? But surely that would mean going into Society!”
“You doubt, sir, that my sister has the entree to Society?” inquired Sir Edmund.
His assumption of an air of well-bred hauteur cast Mr. Spalding into confusion. “No — no, Sir Edmund, to be sure! I mean yes! I mean, of course not — that is, I don ’ t doubt it! Well, upon my word! But — but take, for example, Almack ’ s!” He turned to Miss Radley as he uttered the name of this most exclusive of all social meeting places in the metropolis, as if producing an irrefutable argument. “Acceptance there ... how will you contrive?”
“Without the least difficulty,” Sir Edmund answered for her, still with the air of one patiently, but with boredom, elucidating the obvious. “I believe my sister Isabella is acquainted with most of the Lady Patronesses, probably all of them, and in any case, I have only to drop a word in Emily Cowper ’ s ear myself. I am tolerably well acquainted with Lady Cowper through her brother Frederick, you understand,” he added, addressing himself to Miss Radley. “I was for a while in the city of Munich, when Fred Lamb was British Minister there.”
“W-were you indeed, sir?” breathed Elinor, fascinated as well as amused by the part Sir Edmund had chosen to play.
“But,” put in Mr. Spalding, almost querulously, “you can ’ t go into Society, Elinor! What would people say? Can it be —I ask myself, can it be — that you have not revealed all to Sir Edmund? That you were proposing to perpetrate a deception — to enter Lady Yoxford ’ s household under false pretences? I am amazed — I say again, I am amazed! I am disappointed in you! I ask myself — I repeat, I ask myself — can this thing be?”
Cast into the greatest confusion herself by these utterances, Elinor could not help glancing hopefully at Sir Edmund, who was proving such an unlooked-for tower of strength, and indeed he was already coming to her aid again.
“You repeat yourself a good deal too much, sir, if I may say so,” he told Mr. Spalding crisply. “If it is any of your business, which I take leave to doubt, let me assure you that I am entirely in Miss Radley ’ s confidence. The matter to which you refer,” he added haughtily, without any idea of what they were discussing, “is not of the smallest consequence. In agreeing to chaperon my ward, Miss Radley is doing me and my sister a very great favour. And now, sir, I am in some haste to complete my business in this town and make arrangements for our journey on to London.”
Sir Edmund ’ s manner made it very plain that he meant the clergyman rather than himself to take his leave, and Mr. Spalding, mesmerized by that suddenly chilly blue stare, found that he could only open and shut his mouth once or twice, temporarily unable to utter a word. But at last, turning to look at Elinor with a certain new respect, he managed to say, “Well! Upon my word! This is an odd start but then,” he hastened to add, “one can never know, of course, just what is the thing in Society. Although — but no, I will say no more upon that head!”
“Good,” interjected Sir Edmund, who was rapidly tiring of Mr. Spalding and hoped he would say no more on any other head, either. But the rejected suitor, his powers of speech recovered, proceeded undeterred.
“If you are to be countenanced by Sir Edmund — by Lord and Lady Yoxford — by Lady Cowper ... Well, my dear Elinor, I venture to believe that you will continue to
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