‘I didn’t when I went there.’
‘No, of course not, with all those awful debs. I mean, among people who understand what real beauty is. You must come and stay in the flat when we go back there. We can easily make up a bed for you in the bathroom, or Amabelle will put you up, and then we’ll arrange some parties. Now, I’ve got a very good idea: why not tell your mother you want to learn drawing and come to us permanently as P.G.? Do, it would be such fun.’
‘Oh, Sally, you are divine to me, only, you see, I can’t draw at all.’
‘That doesn’t matter. It makes a wonderful excuse to be in London. I can’t draw a single line, and I was at the Slade for years. My family lived in the country, too, you see, and I had to get away somehow.’
‘Mummy would never let me.’
‘You and Bobby seem to be very much under your mother’s thumb.’
‘Yes, even Bobby’s frightened of her, really, although he does pretend not to be. Besides, you see, all the money we have comes from her, and that puts her in a very strong position.’
‘Yes, of course, I quite see that.’
Michael took Philadelphia for a walk and proposed to her by the statue of Apollo. It was, like everything that Michael did, very much stage managed, very well rehearsed, supremely diplomatic and in the last degree unimaginative. Nevertheless, had he arrived at Compton Bobbin three weeks earlier it is certain that Philadelphia would have accepted him on the spot; she longed for marriage, for escape from her home, which she regarded as a prison, and from her mother, whom she detested, and she had subconsciously imbibed enough of Bobby’s somewhat outspoken snobbery to be not at all averse to the idea of being a rich marchioness. Even now, had he employed any other method of approach he would probably have been successful, as Philadelphia’s feelings for Paul at this stage were hardly strong enough to outweigh the obvious advantages of marriage with Michael. Besides, she liked him very much.
They went for a long walk, during which he spoke in his cultured Foreign Office voice of his life in Egypt, and before that in Paris, and of his future prospects. Philadelphia, who had a sort of blind veneration for culture and learning in all forms, thought how charming he was and how lucky it was for her that at last she knew somebody who, just occasionally, in a way that never could bore, but quite perfectly, would insert into his speech some happy little quotation that she could often recognize, from various English poets, or even, though more rarely, a few words of Latin, French or German.
‘So, you see,’ he said, ‘I intend to leave diplomacy now. As a career it has proved a great disappointment to me, I must own.’
Philadelphia, whose ideas on the Diplomatic Service were culled exclusively from the works of Maurice Baring and Marion Crawford, said that she had always imagined a diplomat’s to be the most interesting life in the world.
‘In theory I suppose it must be,’ said Michael, ‘because you see, in theory one would be in daily contact with the most important, most intelligent people of every nation, and that would be perfect. In practice one is continually being polite to elderly ladies in amethyst brooches, and that is not quite the same thing, is it? Although, I imagine that every life has its amethyst brooch side. All the same, I am inclined now to prefer the English variety to any other, so I am going to settle down at Lewes Park for good, with, perhaps, a pied à terre in Westminster from which I can attend, when I wish to do so, the House of Lords. I am told that a certain amount of good work is done there, even in these days, and of course it is very necessary that a few of the younger peers should take their seats,’ he added complacently.
They walked in silence for a little. Presently Michael said:
‘Here we are at this very exquisite statue of Apollo – I had quite forgotten its existence. How civilized, how charming, is it not? I wonder why Aunt Gloria allows it to be hidden by all these dreary shrubs. It is a perfect example of French eighteenth-century sculpture, and I should never be surprised if it turned out to be a genuine Bouchardon. Most satisfying – most.’
With a slight effort he removed his gaze from the statue and let it rest on Philadelphia’s upturned face.
‘I am going to ask you a question,’ he said, ‘and I don’t want an answer until I get back from Lewes Park on Tuesday. I expect you can guess what it is going to be?’
‘No,’ said Philadelphia, honestly enough.
‘I want you to marry me, my dear.’
She was as though turned to stone with amazement. Now was Michael’s opportunity. If he had taken advantage of her surprise and obvious emotion to make love to her, Philadelphia, young, beautiful and longing to be loved, would probably have accepted him there and then. Unfortunately he had only given rein to his emotions with the one woman who would be alienated by that particular form of courtship, and he thought that he had now learnt his lesson once and for all. Women evidently disliked to be rushed off their feet, they must have time to make up their minds, sentiment in all forms was clearly anathema to them. So instead of taking her in his arms as of course he should have done there and then, he said coldly and rather shyly: ‘Don’t think of answering me now; you will have plenty of time to consider the matter during
