Arbuthnot, he had up to this made least
headway, for she was so very retiring and quiet. But might not this
very retiringness, this tendency to avoid the others and spend her time
alone, indicate that she too was troubled? If so, he was her man. He
would cultivate her. He would follow her and sit with her, and
encourage her to tell him about herself. Arbuthnot, he understood from
Lotty, was a British Museum official--nothing specially important at
present, but Mr. Wilkins regarded it as his business to know all sorts
and kinds. Besides, there was promotion. Arbuthnot, promoted, might
become very much worth while.
As for Lotty, she was charming. She really had all the qualities
he had credited her with during his courtship, and they had been, it
appeared, merely in abeyance since. His early impressions of her were
now being endorsed by the affection and even admiration Lady Caroline
showed for her. Lady Caroline Dester was the last person, he was sure,
to be mistaken on such a subject. Her knowledge of the world, her
constant association with only the best, must make her quite unerring.
Lotty was evidently, then, that which before marriage he had believed
her to be--she was valuable. She certainly had been most valuable in
introducing him to Lady Caroline and Mrs.
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