He followed his companions from church to
church, till pictures became an abomination to him. Then he pleaded
letters, and went to the club.
"Will you call on maman to-morrow?" said Kitty, as he turned away,
looking at him a little askance.
She knew that he had disapproved of her invitation to Lord Magellan. Why
had she given it? She didn't know. There seemed to be a kind of revived
mischief and fever in the blood, driving her to these foolish and
ill-considered things.
Ashe met her question with a shake of the head and the remark, in a
decided tone, that he should be too busy.
Privately he thought it a piece of impertinence that Madame d'Estrees
should expect either Kitty or himself to appear in her drawing-room at
all. That this implied a complete transformation of his earlier attitude
he was well aware; he accepted it with a curious philosophy. When he and
Kitty first met he had never troubled his head about such things. If a
woman amused or interested him in society, so long as his taste was
satisfied she might have as much or as little character as she pleased.
It stirred his mocking sense of English hypocrisy that the point should
be even raised.
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