‘Oh, the beastly hole! don’t mention it to me or I shall burst into tears. About two and a half hours, I suppose. And you needn’t think they’ll approve of you, darling, because they’re quite certain to kick you straight out of the house.’
‘Anyhow, I can but try; if I’m kicked out we’ll elope. It’s perfectly simple. Then I think you’d better go straight home tomorrow and more or less prepare them, and I’ll come down for lunch on Thursday. If they like me I’ll stay the night, and if not we’ll both go back to London together. Good plan?’
‘Yes, very good, I think. Sweetest!’
The rest of that day was spent in wandering about rather gloomily in the grounds of Castle Fea, and they were all quite pleased when the time came for them to say good-bye to kind Sir Ronald and his wife. The Monteaths, terribly depressed at the prospect of many more such days, waved to them from under the Gothic portico until the car was out of sight.
Jane, Albert and Mr Buggins dined together in the train that evening. At the opposite table Lord and Lady Prague, Admiral Wenceslaus and General Murgatroyd made a congenial foursome.
Albert was tired and in a very bad temper. Jane, who had never seen him like that before, felt miserable and rather resentful, but Mr Buggins was in excellent spirits, and when they confirmed his suspicion that they were engaged he ordered a bottle of champagne to celebrate the occasion. Albert insisted on reading a book between the courses which were very slow in coming.
‘Albert, darling, please don’t read. After all, I shan’t be seeing you after tomorrow, I do think you might talk to me; besides, it’s so rude.’
Albert took no notice but went on with his book, a very boring history of the Angevin kings. Mr Buggins, seeing that he was really not himself, tactfully tried to draw Jane into conversation, but she could not leave Albert alone.
‘Albert, do stop reading. Mr Buggins, isn’t it rude and disgusting of him?’
Mr Buggins felt like shaking them both, but went on quite calmly with his dinner.
‘Albert, really I do think even if you must read between the courses, honestly you needn’t read while you’re eating. Oh, well, of course, if you prefer those beastly old Angevin kings to conversation that’s one thing …’
At last she quite lost her temper, and snatching the book from him she threw it out of the window. Albert behaved extremely well about this, but none the less he was furious with Jane, who, in her turn, was completely miserable. They each felt that they had been stupid and childish, but rather less so than the other, and were both longing secretly to make it up.
‘Isn’t it a pity,’ said Mr Buggins, ‘for two people with as much sense of humour as you have to behave like this?’
‘Well, I may have a sense of humour, I hope I have,’ said Albert, ‘but I see nothing funny in throwing an expensive book away like that; and, as we’ve paid the bill, we might as well go to our sleepers.’
‘Here’s my share for dinner,’ said Jane, offering it to Albert, who had paid for the two of them.
‘I don’t want it.’
Mr Buggins got up and left them alone at their table.
‘Don’t be so silly, Jane.’
‘Well, I’m not going to be your kept woman, thank you.’
‘Oh! really! I thought that was just what you did want to be.’
‘Certainly not; I happened to be in love with you and offered to be your mistress. That’s quite different.’
‘Exactly the same.’
‘Quite different. Of course, I should have earned my own living.’
‘Oh! I see. May I ask how?’
‘Well, I’m not sure.’
‘Nor am I; not at all sure.’
‘I suppose I could be a model.’
Albert had a sudden vision of the fastidious Jane posing to a lot of half-washed French art students and burst out laughing.
‘Darling, how absurd you are.’
‘Well, it was horrid of you to be so cross and horrid of you to read, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, beastly. And horrid of you to throw my book out of the window, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, quite.’
‘Yes, very.’
‘Yes, very, then. Look, we’re the last people left, we’d better go.’
‘Well, give me a kiss.’
‘Not in front of that waiter.’
‘He’s not looking.’
‘He’s coming to turn us out. We really must go.’
As Jane rolled into her sleeper she just stayed awake for long enough to think luxuriously of the contrast between her journey to Scotland three weeks ago and her present one.
‘I know now for certain,’ she thought, ‘that I’ve never been really happy before.’
17
To Jane’s amazement, real or pretended, her parents remained perfectly calm when she told them that she was engaged. The fact was that it had long been their greatest wish to see her married, and almost any respectable young man of reasonable fortune would have been received by them with open arms. When, the following day, Albert made his appearance, they took an immediate liking to him.
He, on his side, was very agreeably surprised. Even allowing for a good deal of exaggeration, Jane’s account of her father and mother had been far from encouraging, and all the way down in the train he had been bracing himself up to meet a pair of cruel old lunatics who would probably attempt to murder him at sight. Instead of this he was greeted by two charming and good-looking people who were not, as far as he could judge, particularly put off by his appearance.
Jane took him for a little walk in the garden before lunch. ‘I told them all about it,’ she said, ‘and they weren’t nearly so horrified as I thought they would be, but I dare say they think it’s a cleverer plan to pretend not to mind at first. Apparently mamma used to know your mother quite well when they were girls. She says she was a great beauty.’
‘Yes, she was very beautiful.’
‘But they don’t know yet that you’re an artist. I
