Horace Smithson turned pale as death, but if he was angry, he gave no
utterance to his angry feelings. He only asked if Lady Lesbia's answer
was final--and on being told that it was so, he dismissed the subject in
the easiest manner, and with a gentlemanlike placidity which very much
astonished the lady.
'You say that you regard me as your friend,' he said. 'Do not withdraw
that privilege from me because I have asked for a higher place in your
esteem. Forget all I have said this morning. Be assured I shall never
offend you by repeating it.'
'You are more than good,' murmured Lesbia, who had expected a wild
outbreak of despair or fury, rather than this friendly calm.
'I hope that you and Lady Kirkbank will go and hear Madame Metzikoff
this afternoon,' pursued Mr. Smithson, returning to the subject of the
_matinee_. 'The duchess's rooms are lovely; but no doubt you know them.'
Lesbia blushed, and confessed that the Duchess of Lostwithiel was one of
those select few who were not on Lady Kirkbank's visiting list.
'There are people Lady Kirkbank cannot get on with,' she said.
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