know the road."
But the mischief was done. Bristling with suspicion, Amanda demanded: "Is this not the road to Huntingdon?"
It had been Sir Gareth's intention to postpone for as long as possible the disclosure that he was taking Amanda not to Huntingdon but to Brancaster Park; but thus directly questioned he saw nothing for it but to tell her the truth. He replied: "No, but I have a better plan for you."
"You promised you would drive me to Huntingdon!" she cried hotly.
"Oh, no, I didn't! I offered you a seat in my curricle: no more than that! You cannot have forgotten that I told you I would for no persuasion leave you in a public inn."
"Stop! Set me down at once!" she ordered. "I won't go with you! I was never so taken in! Why—why, you are nothing but an abductor!"
He could not help laughing at this, which naturally made her very angry. She raged at him for several minutes, but as soon as she paused for breath he said soothingly: "If you will be quiet for a moment, and listen to what I have to say, I'll tell you where I am taking you."
"It is not of the slightest consequence, because I won't go with you anywhere! You are a deceiver, and a wicked person, and very likely you mean to murder me!"
"Then you are now in dire peril, and what you should do is to summon your Brigade-Major to the rescue immediately," he returned. "A message to the Horse Guards will undoubtedly find him. Tell me his name, and I will engage not only to bring him to you with all possible speed, but also to refrain from murdering you in the meantime."
"I hope very much that he will murder you!" she declared through shut teeth. "And I expect he will, when he knows how treacherously you have behaved to me!"
"But you can't expect him to murder me if you don't tell him of my treachery," he pointed out, in a very reasonable way. "If I were you, I would lose not a moment in summoning him to your side. Trotton shall travel post to London with a message for him. I shouldn't be astonished if I were a dead man within two days."
From the sparkling look in her eyes, it was to be inferred that the prospect strongly attracted her. It seemed, for a moment, as though she were on the point of divulging her Brigade-Major's name, but just as Sir Gareth was silently congratulating himself on the success of his tactics, she said suddenly: "I see what it is! It is all a trick, so that you may discover where I live, and ruin my scheme! Well, I shall not send a message to Neil!"
"You know, Amanda," he said seriously, "you may just as well tell me what I wish to know, because I am going to discover it, whether you do or whether you don't."
"No! How can you?" she demanded.
"If you force me to do so, I shall pay a visit to the Horse Guards, and enquire of them there if they can furnish me with the direction of a captain of infantry, a Brigade-Major, sent home from the Peninsula with a ball in his shoulder, but now in hourly expectation of rejoining. I expect they will be able to help me, though I can't but feel that Neil would infinitely prefer to be discovered in a rather more private style. This is for you to decide."
She did not speak for several moments; then she said, in a gritty little voice: "You think you've worsted me, but you have not! I shan't tell you anything, and I promise you I— I shall come about!"
"Very well," he replied equably.
"I believe," said Amanda, after another seething pause, "that kidnappers are sent to prison, or even transported! You would not like that, I daresay!"
"No, indeed!"
"Well! I am just warning you!" she said.
"Thank you! I am very much obliged to you."
"And if you," declared Amanda, bethinking herself of the groom, and twisting round to address him, "had one grain of manliness, you would not permit your master to carry me off!"
Trotton, a deeply interested audience, was unprepared for this attack, and nearly lost his balance. Much discomposed, he could only stammer an unintelligible answer, and glance imploringly at
But the mischief was done. Bristling with suspicion, Amanda demanded: "Is this not the road to Huntingdon?"
It had been Sir Gareth's intention to postpone for as long as possible the disclosure that he was taking Amanda not to Huntingdon but to Brancaster Park; but thus directly questioned he saw nothing for it but to tell her the truth. He replied: "No, but I have a better plan for you."
"You promised you would drive me to Huntingdon!" she cried hotly.
"Oh, no, I didn't! I offered you a seat in my curricle: no more than that! You cannot have forgotten that I told you I would for no persuasion leave you in a public inn."
"Stop! Set me down at once!" she ordered. "I won't go with you! I was never so taken in! Why—why, you are nothing but an abductor!"
He could not help laughing at this, which naturally made her very angry. She raged at him for several minutes, but as soon as she paused for breath he said soothingly: "If you will be quiet for a moment, and listen to what I have to say, I'll tell you where I am taking you."
"It is not of the slightest consequence, because I won't go with you anywhere! You are a deceiver, and a wicked person, and very likely you mean to murder me!"
"Then you are now in dire peril, and what you should do is to summon your Brigade-Major to the rescue immediately," he returned. "A message to the Horse Guards will undoubtedly find him. Tell me his name, and I will engage not only to bring him to you with all possible speed, but also to refrain from murdering you in the meantime."
"I hope very much that he will murder you!" she declared through shut teeth. "And I expect he will, when he knows how treacherously you have behaved to me!"
"But you can't expect him to murder me if you don't tell him of my treachery," he pointed out, in a very reasonable way. "If I were you, I would lose not a moment in summoning him to your side. Trotton shall travel post to London with a message for him. I shouldn't be astonished if I were a dead man within two days."
From the sparkling look in her eyes, it was to be inferred that the prospect strongly attracted her. It seemed, for a moment, as though she were on the point of divulging her Brigade-Major's name, but just as Sir Gareth was silently congratulating himself on the success of his tactics, she said suddenly: "I see what it is! It is all a trick, so that you may discover where I live, and ruin my scheme! Well, I shall not send a message to Neil!"
"You know, Amanda," he said seriously, "you may just as well tell me what I wish to know, because I am going to discover it, whether you do or whether you don't."
"No! How can you?" she demanded.
"If you force me to do so, I shall pay a visit to the Horse Guards, and enquire of them there if they can furnish me with the direction of a captain of infantry, a Brigade-Major, sent home from the Peninsula with a ball in his shoulder, but now in hourly expectation of rejoining. I expect they will be able to help me, though I can't but feel that Neil would infinitely prefer to be discovered in a rather more private style. This is for you to decide."
She did not speak for several moments; then she said, in a gritty little voice: "You think you've worsted me, but you have not! I shan't tell you anything, and I promise you I— I shall come about!"
"Very well," he replied equably.
"I believe," said Amanda, after another seething pause, "that kidnappers are sent to prison, or even transported! You would not like that, I daresay!"
"No, indeed!"
"Well! I am just warning you!" she said.
"Thank you! I am very much obliged to you."
"And if you," declared Amanda, bethinking herself of the groom, and twisting round to address him, "had one grain of manliness, you would not permit your master to carry me off!"
Trotton, a deeply interested audience, was unprepared for this attack, and nearly lost his balance. Much discomposed, he could only stammer an unintelligible answer, and glance imploringly at
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