‘Thank you, nothing for me,’ said Peregrine, with what he hoped was a fair imitation of his lordship’s own cold dignity.
Apparently it was not. ‘Don’t be stupid, Peregrine,’ said Worth.
Peregrine looked at him for a moment, and then, lowering his gaze, took the glass with a murmured word of thanks, and sat down.
The Earl moved towards a deep chair with earpieces. ‘And now what is it?’ he asked. ‘I apprehend it to be a matter of some importance, since it sends you looking all over town for me.’
His guardian’s voice being for once free from its usual blighting iciness, Peregrine, who had quite determined to go away without mentioning the business which had brought him, changed his mind, shot a swift, shy look at the Earl, and blurted out: ‘I want to talk to you on a – on a very delicate subject. In fact, marriage!’ He gulped down half the wine in his glass, and took another look at the Earl, this time tinged with defiance.
Worth, however, merely raised his brows. ‘Whose marriage?’ he asked.
‘Mine!’ said Peregrine.
‘Indeed!’ Worth twisted the stem of his wineglass between his finger and thumb, idly watching the light on the tawny wine. ‘It seems a trifle sudden. Who is the lady?’
Peregrine, who had been quite prepared to be met at the outset with a flat refusal to listen to him, took heart at this calm way of receiving the news, and sat forward in his chair. ‘I daresay you will not know her, sir, though I think you must know her parents, at least by repute.’
The Earl was in the act of raising his glass to his lips, but he lowered it again. ‘She has parents, then?’ he asked, an inflexion of surprise in his voice.
Peregrine stared. ‘Of course she has parents! What can you be thinking of ?’
‘Evidently of something quite different,’ murmured his lordship. ‘But continue: who are these parents who are known to me by repute?’
‘Sir Geoffrey and Lady Fairford,’ said Peregrine, watching very anxiously to see how this disclosure would be met. ‘Sir Geoffrey is a member of Brooks’s, I believe. They live in Albe-marle Street, and have a place near St Albans. He is a Member of Parliament.’
‘They sound most respectable,’ said Worth. ‘Pour yourself out another glass of wine, and tell me how long you have known this family.’
‘Oh, a full month!’ Peregrine assured him, getting up and going over to the table.
‘That is certainly a period,’ said the Earl gravely.
‘Oh yes,’ said Peregrine, ‘you need not be afraid that I have just fallen in love yesterday. I am quite sure of my mind in this. A month is fully long enough for that.’
‘Or a day, or an hour,’ said the Earl musingly.
‘Well, to tell you the truth,’ confided Peregrine, reddening, ‘I was sure the instant I set eyes on Miss Fairford, but I waited, because I knew you would only say something cut –’ He broke off in some confusion. ‘I mean –’
‘Something cutting,’ supplied the Earl.‘You were probably right.’
‘Well, I daresay you would not have listened to me,’ said Peregrine defensively. ‘But now you must realise that it is perfectly serious. Only, from the circumstances of my being under age, Sir Geoffrey would have it that nothing could be in a way to be settled until your consent was gained.’
‘Very proper,’ commented the Earl.
‘Sir Geoffrey will have no scruple in agreeing to it if you are not against it,’ urged Peregrine. ‘Lady Fairford, too, is all complaisance. There is no objection there.’
The Earl threw him a somewhat scornful but not unkindly glance. ‘It would surprise me very much if there were,’ he said.
‘Well, have I your permission to address Miss Fairford?’ demanded Peregrine. ‘It cannot signify to you in the least, after all!’
The Earl did not immediately reply to this. He sat looking rather enigmatically at his ward for some moments, and then opened his snuff-box, and meditatively took a pinch.
Peregrine fidgeted about the room, and at last burst out with: ‘Hang it, why should you object?’
‘I was not aware that I had objected,’ said Worth. ‘In fact, I have little doubt that if you are of the same mind in six months’ time I shall quite willingly give my consent.’
‘Six months!’ ejaculated Peregrine, dismayed.
‘Were you thinking of marrying Miss Fairford at once?’ inquired Worth.