Page:The Duke Decides (1904).djvu/51

 Prior’s Tarrant, my place in Hertfordshire, and I shall not be in town on Saturday.”

For the fraction of a second the rebuffed hostess seemed taken aback by the refusal. She flushed slightly under her powder, and the taper fingers twitched on the handle of her sunshade. But without any appreciable pause she answered gaily:

“That’s most unkind of you. Well, what must be must be. Good-bye, your Grace. Good-bye, Mr. Forsyth; I shall expect you, anyhow. Drive on, Bennett.”

The carriage rolled away.

“I am glad you snubbed her,” Forsyth exclaimed. “She has been made a good deal of in certain circles during the last month or two, and presumes a lot on the strength of it.”

“Did I snub her?” said the Duke carelessly. “I am sure I didn’t mean to, for she deserves better things of me. You’d hardly believe it, Alec, but that little episode has jerked me into deciding a crucial point—no less than whether to be a man or a cur. At the same time it has put me quite outside the pale as a resident under the same roof as my cousin. On second thoughts, I will not go in at all, but I shall be obliged if you will see her and convey the mes-