Could it be possible that the place was peculiarly unpropitious to her comfort? Could it be possible that she should her have to encounter another amorous swain?
‘If you will be guided by me, Mr Stanhope, you will set yourself down to steady and persevering work, and you will be ruled by your father as to the place in which it will be most advisable for you to do so.’
‘Nothing could be more prudent, if only it were practicable. But now, if you will let me, I will tell you how it is that I will be guided by you, and why. Will you let me tell you?’
‘I really do not know what you can have to tell.’
‘No—you cannot know. It is impossible that you should. But we have been very good friends, Mrs Bold, have we not?’
‘Yes, I think we have,’ said she, observing in his demeanour an earnestness very unusual with him.
‘You were kind enough to say just now that you took an interest in me, and I was perhaps vain enough to believe you.’
‘There is no vanity in that; I do so as your sister’s brother,—and as my own friend also.’
‘Well, I don’t deserve that you should feel so kindly towards me,’ said Bertie; ‘but upon my word I am very grateful for it,’ and he paused awhile, hardly knowing how to introduce the subject that he had in hand.
And it was no wonder that he found it difficult. He had to make known to his companion the scheme that had been prepared to rob her of her wealth; he had to tell her that he loved her without intending to marry her; and he had also to bespeak from her not only his own pardon, but also that of his sister, and induce Mrs Bold to protest in her future communication with Charlotte that an offer had been duly made to her and duly rejected.
Bertie Stanhope was not prone to be very diffident of his own conversational powers, but it did seem to him that he was about to tax them almost too far. He hardly knew where to begin, and he hardly knew where he should end.
‘I wish to be guided by you,’ said he; ‘and, indeed, in this matter, there is no one else who can set me right.’
‘Oh, that must be nonsense,’ said she.
‘Well, listen to me now, Mrs Bold; and if you can help it, pray don’t be angry with me.’
‘Angry!’ said she.
‘Oh, indeed you will have cause to do so. You know how very much attached to you my sister Charlotte is.’
Eleanor acknowledged that she did.
‘Indeed she is; I never knew her to love any one so warmly on so short an acquaintance. You know also how well she loves me?’
Eleanor now made no answer, but she felt the blood tingle in her cheek as she gathered from what he said the probable result of this double–barrelled love on the part of Miss Stanhope.