"I think," interrupted the countess, "that he is something of a flirt; but if he is trifling with any body, it is with Henrietta."
"Why!" exclaimed Rotheles, "Lady Anne told me"
"Spare me," cried his wife, "the repetition of Lady Anne's sayings. The fact is, her speculation on the duke having failed, Lord Allerton comes in as next desirable, and fancies that if you tell him to marry Miss Granard, he must of course do it. You are master of the house, and can order a husband as easily as a dinner or a drive. You will only make yourself ridiculous by interfering."
"I believe, my dear, that you are right," said his lordship, who was rapidly acquiring the laudable habit of taking his wife's view of any given subject for granted; at all events, it was a process that saved himself a world of trouble.
"There is nothing," continued Lady Rotheles, "for which I have so great a contempt as for this sort of matrimonial manœuvring. Let things take their own course. But you know bow much I dislike interfering in any concerns that are not my own."
Lord Rotheles did not feel quite convinced by this last assertion. The countess left the library, but stopped for a moment's consideration as she passed through the hall. "Delays are dangerous," thought she; "Lord Allerton must make his offer now or never; and unless it be done in a hurry, it will never be done."
