"`Lady Mary,' said I, `appearances are so much against me that
you cannot possibly attach the slightest weight to them.'
"`Sir,' said she, `I have no longer the honor of your
acquaintance. I have only to thank you for having had the
consideration not to recognize me when we met so unexpectedly in
the dining room. Pray continue to show me the same favor.'
"With which pleasant little speech she turned on her heel. It
was clear that she suspected me most unjustly. I turned to the
girl in blue, but she was beforehand with me.
"`Ah, I wish I'd never see you,' she cried, `you great,
stupid creature! He [she pointed to the prostrate figure of the
ugly servant] will tell Frederic everything.'
"`Come,' said I, `_I_ was only an accident; it would have been
just as bad if----'
"As I spoke I heard a step behind me. Turning round, I found
myself face to face with the young man with whom I had come in
collision as I rushed through the hall. He gazed at the
servant--at me--at the girl in blue.
"`Margaret!' he exclaimed, `what is the----'
"`Hush, hush!' she whispered, pointing again to the servant.
"I stepped up to him, lifting my hat:
"`Sir,' said I, "kindly inform me if you are the gentleman who
was to come from England.'
"`Certainly I come from England,' he said.
"`And you ought to have arrived on Wednesday?'
"`Yes," he answered.
"`Then,' said I, `all I have to say to you, sir, is--that I wish
to the devil you'd keep your appointments.
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