Page:Anthony Hope - The Dolly Dialogues.djvu/136

 'It would have gone better without saying,' remarked Dolly. 'Considering'

To have asked 'Considering what?' would have been the acme of bad taste. I merely smiled, and waved my hand again.

'You're quite serious about it, aren't you?' said Dolly.

'I should think I was,' said I indignantly. 'Not to be serious in such a matter is to waste it utterly.'

'I'll come to the wedding,' said Dolly. 'There won't be a wedding,' said I. 'There are Reasons.'

'Oh! You're very unlucky, Mr. Carter.'

'That,' I observed, 'is as it may be, Lady Mickleham.'

'Were the Reasons at the reception?'

'They were. It made no difference.'

'It's very curious,' remarked Dolly with a compassionate air, 'that you always manage to admire people whom somebody else has married.'

'It would be very curious,' I rejoined, 'if somebody had not married the people whom I admire. Last night, though, I made nothing of his sudden removal: my fancy rioted in accidental deaths for him.'

'He won't die,' said Dolly.

'I hate that sort of superstition,' said I irritably. 'He's just as likely to die as any other man is.'

'He certainly won't die,' said Dolly.

'Well, I know he won't. Do let it alone,' said I, much exasperated. It was probably