Page:The Princess Casamassima (London and New York, Macmillan & Co., 1886), Volume 1.djvu/204

 It flashed upon Hyacinth that the root of the project might be a desire of Captain Sholto to insinuate himself into Millicent's graces; then he asked himself why the most remarkable woman in Europe should lend herself to that design, consenting even to receive a visit from a little bookbinder for the sake of furthering it. Perhaps, after all, she was not the most remarkable; still, even at a lower estimate, of what advantage could such a complication be to her? To Hyacinth's surprise, Millicent's eye made acknowledgment of his implied renunciation; and she said to Captain Sholto, as if she were considering the matter very impartially, 'Might one know the name of the lady who sent you?'

'The Princess Casamassima.'

'Laws!' cried Millicent Henning. And then, quickly, as if to cover up the crudity of this ejaculation, 'And might one also know what it is, as you say, that she wants to talk to him about?'

'About the lower orders, the rising democracy, the spread of nihilism, and all that.'

'The lower orders? Does she think we belong to them?' the girl demanded, with a strange, provoking laugh.

Captain Sholto was certainly the readiest of men. 'If she could see you, she would think you one of the first ladies in the land.'

'She'll never see me!' Millicent replied, in a manner which made it plain that she, at least, was not to be whistled for.

Being whistled for by a princess presented itself to Hyacinth as an indignity endured gracefully enough by