"
I thanked him, and he squeezed my hand so kindly. I do like Lord Robert.
Very soon I was gay again and _insouciante_, and the last they saw of me
was smiling out of the brougham window as I drove off in the dusk. They
both stood upon the steps and waved to me.
Tea was over at Tryland when I arrived--such a long, damp drive! And I
explained to Lady Katherine how sorry I was to have had to come so late,
and that I could not think of troubling her to have up fresh for me; but
she insisted, and after a while a whole new lot came, made in a hurry with
the water not boiling, and I had to gulp down a nasty cup--Ceylon tea,
too! I hate Ceylon tea! Mr. Montgomerie warmed himself before the fire,
quite shielding it from us, who shivered on a row of high-backed chairs
beyond the radius of the hearth-rug.
He has a way of puffing out his cheeks and making a noise like "Burrrr,"
which sounds very bluff and hearty until you find he has said a mean thing
about some one directly after. And while red hair looks very well on me, I
do think a man with it is the ugliest thing in creation. His face is red,
and his nose and cheeks almost purple, and fiery whiskers, fierce enough
to frighten a cat in a dark lane.
He was a rich Scotch manufacturer, and poor Lady Katherine had to marry
him, I suppose; though, as she is Scotch herself, I dare say she does not
notice that he is rather coarse.
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