But he had
spoken out of the mere emptiness of his mind, without thought of
what he was saying, excepting that he wished to please his mother.
But nevertheless he went to Mrs. Harold Smith's, and when there he
did dance more than once with Griselda Grantly--to the manifest
discomfiture of Lord Dumbello. He came in late, and at the moment
Lord Dumbello was moving slowly up the room, with Griselda on his
arm, while Lady Lufton was sitting near looking on with unhappy eyes.
And then Griselda sat down, and Lord Dumbello stood mute at her
elbow.
"Ludovic," whispered his mother, "Griselda is absolutely bored by
that man, who follows her like a ghost. Do go and rescue her." He did
go and rescue her, and afterwards danced with her for the best part
of an hour consecutively. He knew that the world gave Lord Dumbello
the credit of admiring the young lady, and was quite alive to the
pleasure of filling his brother nobleman's heart with jealousy and
anger. Moreover, Griselda was in his eyes very beautiful, and had she
been one whit more animated, or had his mother's tactics been but a
thought better concealed, Griselda might have been asked that night
to share the vacant throne at Lufton, in spite of all that had been
said and sworn in the drawing-room of Framley parsonage.
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