His grip slackened, and slid down her arms to gather her hands together, and hold them, clasped strongly between his own. “What were you doing when you were nine years old, my dear love?” he asked.

It was so unexpected that she could only blink.

“Tell me!”

“I don’t know! Learning lessons, and sewing samplers, I suppose—and what in the world has that to say to anything?”

“A great deal. Do you know what I was doing at that date?”

“No, how should I? I don’t even know how old you were—at least, not without doing sums, which I abominate. Well, if you are eight-and-thirty now, and I am five-and-twenty—”

“I’ll spare you the trouble: I was two-and-twenty, and seducing a married lady of quality.”

“So you were!” she agreed affably.

A laugh shook him, but he said: “That was the first of my amorous adventures, and probably the most discreditable. So I hope! There is nothing whatsoever in my life to look back upon with pride, but until I met you, my lovely one, I could at least say that my depravity stopped short of tampering with the young and innocent. I never ruined any reputation but Sophia’s—but don’t account it a virtue in me! It’s a dangerous game, seducing virgins, and, in general, they don’t appeal to me. Then I met you, and, to be frank with you, my dear, I stayed in Yorkshire for no other purpose than to win you—on my own terms!”

“Yes, you told me as much, when we parted on that first day,” she said, quite unperturbed. “I thought it a great piece of impertinence, too! Only then Aubrey had that fall, and we became such good friends—and everything was changed.”

“Oh, no, not everything! You call me your friend, but I never called you mine, and never shall! You remained, and always will, a beautiful, desirable creature. Only my intentions were changed. I resolved to do you no hurt, but leave you I could not!”

“Why should you? It seems to me a foolish thing to do.”

“Because you don’t understand, my darling. If the gods would annihilate but space and time—but they won’t, Venetia, they won’t!”

“Pope,” she said calmly. “And make two lovers happy. Aubrey’s favourite amongst English poets, but not mine. I see no reason why two lovers should not be happy without any meddling with space and time.”

He released her hands, but only to pull her into his arms. “When you smile at me like that, it’s all holiday with me! O God, I love you to the edge of madness, Venetia, but I’m not mad yet—not so mad that I don’t know how disastrous it might be to you—to us both! You don’t realize what an advantage I should be taking of your innocence!” He broke off suddenly, jerking up his head as the door opening on to the passage from the ante-room slammed. The sound was followed by that of a dragging footstep. Damerel said quickly: “Aubrey. As well, perhaps! There’s so much that must be said—but not today! Tomorrow, when we are both cooler!”

There was no time for more; he put her almost brusquely away from him, and turned, as the door was opened, to face Aubrey, who came into the room with his pointer-bitch at his heels.

XIV

Damerel had placed himself between Venetia and the door, but it was immediately apparent that the precaution was unnecessary. Aubrey was looking stormy, his thin cheeks flushed, and his rather cold gray eyes full of sparks of light. His interest in his fellow-creatures was at the best of times perfunctory; when in the grip of anger he had none whatsoever, and would scarcely have noticed it had he found his sister in Damerel’s arms. He said, in a brittle voice, as he shut the door: “You’ll like to know, Venetia, that the Empress has issued a new ukase! The dogs—my dogs!—must in future be kept chained up! All but Bess here, who is too savage to be kept at all! Take care, Jasper: can’t you see what an ugly-tempered bitch she is?”

Damerel, who was gently pulling the pointer’s ears, while she stood with gracefully waving tail and an expression on her face of idiotic bliss, laughed, and said: “What’s she been doing?”

“Endangering the succession!” Aubrey snapped. “She came into the house—looking for me, of course!—and Charlotte finding her lying at the foot of the stairs was so startled and appalled that she let out a screech, which made Bess lift up her head, and stare at her—as well she might!”

“Oh dear!” sighed Venetia. “I know Charlotte doesn’t care for dogs, but if that’s all that happened—”

“All! It was but the start of Bess’s ferocious assault! Understand, m’dear, that her stare put Charlotte forcibly in mind of a wild beast! She knew not what to do, but decided on retreat—backwards, and stealthily! Whereupon Bess, not unnaturally intrigued, you may think, rose, and advanced towards her. Charlotte then screamed in good earnest, and ran behind a chair; Bess followed, Mrs. Scorrier burst out from the morning-room to discover what villain was attempting to rape her child, and started scolding Bess, and striking at her with the thing she had in her hand— what-d’ye-call-it? tambour frame? So Bess began to bark, Charlotte fell into hysterics, and—”

“Aubrey, how could, you have allowed it?” exclaimed Venetia, between annoyance and amusement. “It was too bad of you!”

“You’re mistaken: I wasn’t there. What I’m recounting I had from the lips of the afflicted ladies.” He grinned sardonically at his sister. “I was your good little brother, m’dear! I arrived in the arena to find Charlotte sunk into a chair, with Mrs. Scorrier waving her vinaigrette under her nose, and Bess baying the pair of them, but wagging her tail to show that though she wouldn’t stomach being chased from her own house she was too well-bred to bite. I didn’t think it of the least use to try sicking her on to the Empress, so I called her off. I even told that henhearted little ninny that she’d no need to be afraid, but all the thanks I got was abuse from the Empress. I brought Bess into the house on purpose to frighten Charlotte; my manners, character, and disposition all passed under unfavourable review, while Charlotte bleated Oh, pray, Mama! Oh, no, Mama! I think I bore it pretty well. Only when the Empress got to talking of Charlotte’s delicate situation I couldn’t resist! Not if I’d tried to, which I didn’t. She said that perhaps I didn’t realize, to which I replied that indeed I did, for Bess was in the same interesting condition. For one halcyon moment I thought she was going off in an apoplexy.”

“Fiend!” Venetia said, trying not to laugh.

“Yes, and, what’s worse, one who thinks because he is a cripple he may go his length,” said Aubrey, in a silken tone. “Oh, don’t look like that, stoopid! Do you imagine I haven’t known from the outset how abhorrent my limp is to the pair of them? I’m sure I don’t blame them for that—but Nurse did! By that time, you understand, she had come bustling downstairs to discover what was the reason for all the commotion. You missed a high treat, m’dear! She told the Empress to think shame on herself; she told Charlotte to stop kicking up such an uproar about nothing; and she told me to go away before I forgot that I at least had been taught better than to raise such a nasty, vulgar disturbance in a gentleman’s establishment!”

“That was the most unkindest cut of all!” remarked Damerel. “I’d back your nurse against fifty Mrs. Scorriers!”

“Well, the issue was undecided when I left, but I daresay Nurse will come off the best,” agreed Aubrey. “The cream of the jest is that she, who always cuts up stiff when even Conway brings his dogs into the house, flew up into the boughs when the Empress announced that she would not allow me to keep Bess unless kennelled, since she was clearly dangerous! She was so imprudent as to order me to chain her immediately, and to demand if I had not heard her, when I turned my back upon all that monstrous regiment, and brought Bess along the passage to my own room. The last I heard of the battle was a demand from Nurse to know what right the Empress quite falsely supposed she had to dictate to a Lanyon born in his own house.”

“Oh dear!” Venetia sighed. She glanced at Damerel, a hint of shyness in her smile. “I must go, and do what I can to settle the dispute. Nurse will start quoting from the Book of Proverbs: she was doing so to me only yesterday, all about brawling and contentious women, and how much better it is to dwell in the corner of the housetop—not that I think she would consent to do so, if that means the attics!”

“Don’t be a sapskull!” Aubrey interrupted sharply. “Let her say what she chooses to that virago! If she can rid us of her, so much the better!”

“Yes, if she could, but Mrs. Scorrier would never permit herself to be worsted by Nurse! And if Nurse becomes outrageous, only think how difficult it would be for us!”

“Do you mean to tell that woman the dogs shall be kept on chains?” he demanded, a still angrier flush staining his cheeks. “I give you fair warning, Venetia, that if you do that I’ll shut Flurry into her bedchamber, with her best bonnet to worry!”

“Oh, love, don’t tempt me!” she said mischievously. “Of course I don’t mean to do any such thing! But I think it no more than just to promise her that you’ll bring the dogs only into this room. It is nonsensical of Charlotte to be so much afraid of them, but—oh, Aubrey, we must remember that it is now her house, and not ours!”

“Remember it! When are we allowed to forget it?” he flung at her.

She said nothing, but turned to the door. Damerel moved to open it for her, and said, as she paused for a moment, looking up at him in silent enquiry: “Decisive, I think! I shall see you tomorrow, but not, I fear, before noon. I was going to tell you—but it’s no matter! My agent is at the Priory: I’ve been closeted with him most of the day, and I fancy shall be so again all the morning. It’s important, or I’d let him go hang. As it is—” he paused, and smiled faintly, “—as it is, I must bear with him. Don’t let that woman vex you to death!”