And do not look so miserable.'
'I, madam? my dear lady!' the General flashed out in a radiance that
dulled instantly.
'Well,' said she cheerfully, 'and you're for the old woman?'
'For Lady Camper.'
'You are seductive in your flatteries, General. Well, then, we have to
speak of business.'
'My affairs----' General Ople was beginning, with perturbed forehead; but
Lady Camper held up her finger.
'We will touch on your affairs incidentally. Now listen to me, and do not
exclaim until I have finished. You know that these two young ones have
been whispering over the wall for some months. They have been meeting on
the river and in the park habitually, apparently with your consent.'
'My lady!'
'I did not say with your connivance.'
'You mean my daughter Elizabeth?'
'And my nephew Reginald. We have named them, if that advances us. Now,
the end of such meetings is marriage, and the sooner the better, if they
are to continue. I would rather they should not; I do not hold it good
for young soldiers to marry.
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