Page:The Climber (Benson).djvu/179

Rh Acceptance after acceptance came in. It appeared that everybody longed for exactly that which Lucia had proposed. But Edgar was still timorous.

"But think of the dinner-parties you have spoiled," he said. "You will make an enemy for every night of the week."

"Hush!" said Lucia, "and go away. I shall be very busy for an hour. There will be no enemies at all, because I am as clever as I am beautiful. Darling, tell them to send me up reams more paper and packets of envelopes."

There were five nights in a week, Saturday and Sunday of course not being reckoned, since everybody would be out of town, and Lucia had a dinner engagement for four of these, while on the fifth she had a tiny dinner herself, with music and people afterwards. All the diners had accepted her week, instead of the dinner, and she wrote to all those who were "coming in afterwards" to ask them to dine at Brayton instead. There would be a special back to town. Then she crossed "Thursday" out; Thursday was settled.

Monday and Tuesday she had to consider very carefully. They were dining with the Duchess of Wiltshire on Monday, and with Mrs. Eddis on the Tuesday. She wrote to the Duchess first, who was one of the intimes, though at present she had not asked her for the week.

", "Don't be cross, but do let me be rude, and not dine with you on Monday, July 6, because Edgar and I are going to give a quiet week down at Brayton, and I want you most awfully to come there on Tuesday, and stop till the following Monday. Do come; the whole world is going to be there, I hope, and the French company for two nights, and we really shall have great fun. We shall read books, and sit on the lawn, and play golf, and I personally shall talk to you all the time, if you will let me."

Mrs. Eddis—it was better to write to Maud:

"Maud, it's too awful. I've asked heaps of people down for a whole week at Brayton from July 6, and now I see I am dining with you on the 7th. If you can forgive me, come down on the Wednesday, as you can't come before, or, of course, otherwise I should have insisted on your spending the whole week with us. Do say 'Yes.' I think I will promise that Charlie says 'Yes' when he knows. Yours,"."