“I have made up my mind,” she said again to herself—“if Dick proposes to-night I shall accept him. When mother really knows that I am engaged to Dick she will think of some other way of getting out of her difficulties. I cannot and will not marry Lord Selwyn. As to Luke Tarbot, they say he is rich too.” She shuddered slightly.
“Dick is the only man I will marry. If I were Dick’s wife I could be a good woman. It is true that he is only a briefless barrister at present, but he has got brains. He suits me, I suit him. I love him, and I will never, _never_ marry or love anybody else.”
The crush in the beautiful rooms grew greater and greater. Voices sounded close to Barbara. She feared any moment that her hiding place might be discovered; if so, good-by to the treat she had promised herself when Dick Pelham appeared. Presently one or two men came and stood just outside the velvet curtain. They talked and laughed, and once or twice Mrs. Evershed’s name passed their lips. One said to the other—
“Those difficulties which Saunderson spoke of last night at the club cannot be true. She would not be so mad as to entertain in this lavish style if they were.”
“Oh, she does it for a blind,” was the reply of the other. “There is no way of keeping up your credit like keeping up your debts. She is a fool of course. By the way, they say that handsome girl of hers might help her if she would.”
“Aye. Why not? By marrying Selwyn and saving the position.”
The first man made an impatient movement.
“I hope the girl has too much self-respect,” he said then.
Barbara shivered behind her curtain. Very little more would have made her scream. Her silk dress made a slight noise as it rustled against the balcony.
“Hush, there may be some one near,” said the first speaker. The men moved away, and Barbara stepped on to the balcony. She leant over the parapet and pressed her hands to her hot cheeks.
“It is too bad,” thought the angry girl; “even in mother’s own house they will not leave her alone. I know who those men are, of course. I recognized Mr. Ashford’s voice, and the other is Mr. Seton. So our affairs are the common talk of the clubs, and it is really expected that I am to rescue mother by making a loveless marriage. But I won’t—my life is my own; I decline to sacrifice myself.”