Page:Elizabeth's Pretenders.djvu/65

52 "It always is, if you will only think so. Is Lord Robert Elton coming up here?"

"Not this morning."

"I am glad of that. The fellow gets on my nerves."

"He shall not come while you are sitting," she replied demurely, as she prepared her palette. "I will have him all to myself. He knows something about painting. Perhaps he, too, can give me some advice."

"He is sure to offer it. Such a very superior person! So good-looking, too," he added, twirling his moustache.

"Please put your hand down. Do you know what he said to me yesterday?—that one man ought not to speak of another."

"That was probably after he had given some fellow one in the eye."

It was sharp of him to have divined that. She could not deny it, so changed the conversation.

"Talking of good looks, how beautiful Miss Palliser is! I never saw such colouring. I want to paint her."

"She has done that for herself."

"I should not have expected such a nasty ill-natured speech from you. It is not true. Her colouring is quite natural."

"You are very innocent, Miss Shaw. However, it is all one to me. I hate pink cheeks and golden hair. It is so cheap. I prefer dark eyes and a clear olive complexion."

"You are bound to say that, because you are fair yourself," she returned, unmoved. "Your head a little more to the right. I am going to begin"

There was silence for some minutes. Then he said slowly—