“Regard be—.”  Then again he remembered himself.  “Lord Rufford, you’ve got to marry her.  That’s the long and the short of it”

“I’m sure I ought to be proud.”

“So you ought”

“But—­”

“I don’t know the meaning of but, my Lord.  I want to know what you mean to do.”

“Marriage isn’t in my line at all”

“Then what the d—­ business have you to go about and talk to a girl like that?  Marriage not in your line?  Who cares for your line?  I never heard such impudence in all my life.  You get yourself engaged to a young lady of high rank and position and then you say that—­ marriage isn’t in your line.”  Upon that he opened his eyes still wider, and glared upon the offender wrathfully.

“I can’t admit that I was ever engaged to Miss Trefoil.”

“Didn’t you make love to her?”

The poor victim paused a moment before he answered this question, thereby confessing his guilt before he denied it.  “No, my Lord; I don’t think I ever did.”

“You don’t think!  You don’t know whether you asked my daughter to marry you or not!  You don’t think you made love to her!”

“I am sure I didn’t ask her to marry me.”

“I am sure you did.  And now what have you got to say?” Here there was another shrug of the shoulders.  “I suppose you think because you are a rich man that you may do whatever you please.  But you’ll have to learn the difference.  You must be exposed, Sir.”

“I hope for the lady’s sake that as little as possible may be said of it.”

“D—­ the—!” Lord Augustus in his assumed wrath was about to be very severe on his daughter, but he checked himself again.  “I’m not going to stop here talking all day,” he said.  “I want to hear your explanation and then I shall know how to act.”  Up to this time he had been standing, which was unusual with him.  Now he flung himself into an armchair.

“Really, Lord Augustus, I don’t know what I’ve got to say.  I admire your daughter exceedingly.  I was very much honoured when she and her mother came to my house at Rufford.  I was delighted to be able to show her a little sport.  It gave me the greatest satisfaction when I met her again at your brother’s house.  Coming home from hunting we happened to be thrown together.  It’s a kind of thing that will occur, you know.  The Duchess seemed to think a great deal of it; but what can one do?  We could have had two post chaises, of course,—­only one doesn’t generally send a young lady alone.  She was very tired and fainted with the fatigue.  That I think is about all.”

“But,—­damme, Sir, what did you say to her?” Lord Rufford again rubbed the nap of his hat.  “What did you say to her first of all, at your own house?”

“A poor fellow was killed out hunting and everybody was talking about that.  Your daughter saw it herself.”

“Excuse me, Lord Rufford, if I say that that’s what we used to call shuffling, at school.  Because a man broke his neck out hunting—­”