"
Hugh answered with formal politeness: "Let me show your lordship the
way to my rooms."
"Oh, it's needless to trouble you," Lord Harry declared. "I have so
little to say--do you mind walking on with me for a few minutes?"
Mountjoy silently complied. He was thinking of what might have happened
if Iris had delayed her departure--or if the movement of the carriage
had been towards, instead of away from the hotel. In either case it had
been a narrow escape for the wife, from a dramatic discovery by the
husband.
"We Irishmen," Lord Harry resumed, "are not famous for always obeying
the laws; but it is in our natures to respect the law of hospitality.
When you were at the cottage yesterday I was inhospitable to my guest.
My rude behaviour has weighed on my mind since--and for that reason I
have come here to speak to you. It was ill-bred on my part to reproach
you with your visit, and to forbid you (oh, quite needlessly, I don't
doubt!) to call on me again. If I own that I have no desire to propose
a renewal of friendly intercourse between us, you will understand me, I
am sure; with my way of thinking, the less we see of each other for the
future, the better it may be.
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