"Not at all. Be perfectly frank and straightforward. Say you are
sorry to go against her wishes--"
"Wishes," murmured Reggie, scribbling industrially on the back of
the marriage licence.
"--But you know that all she wants is your happiness--"
Reggie looked doubtful.
"I'm not sure about that last bit, old thing. You don't know the
mater!"
"Never mind, Reggie," put in Alice. "Say it, anyhow. Mr. Bevan is
perfectly right."
"Right ho, darling! All right, laddie--'happiness'. And then?"
"Point out in a few well-chosen sentences how charming Mrs. Byng
is . . ."
"Mrs. Byng!" Reggie smiled fatuously. "I don't think I ever heard
anything that sounded so indescribably ripping. That part'll be
easy enough. Besides, the mater knows Alice."
"Lady Caroline has seen me at the castle," said his bride
doubtfully, "but I shouldn't say she knows me. She has hardly
spoken a dozen words to me."
"There," said Reggie, earnestly, "you're in luck, dear heart! The
mater's a great speaker, especially in moments of excitement. I'm
not looking forward to the time when she starts on me. Between
ourselves, laddie, and meaning no disrespect to the dear soul, when
the mater is moved and begins to talk, she uses up most of the
language."
"Outspoken, is she?"
"I should hate to meet the person who could out-speak her," said
Reggie.
George sought information on a delicate point.
"And financially? Does she exercise any authority over you in that
way?"
"You mean has the mater the first call on the family doubloons?"
said Reggie. "Oh, absolutely not! You see, when I call her the
mater, it's using the word in a loose sense, so to speak. She's my
step-mother really. She has her own little collection of pieces of
eight, and I have mine. That part's simple enough."
"Then the whole thing is simple. I don't see what you've been
worrying about."
"Just what I keep telling him, Mr. Bevan," said Alice.
"You're a perfectly free agent. She has no hold on you of any
kind."
Reggie Byng blinked dizzily.
"Why, now you put it like that," he exclaimed, "I can see that I
jolly well am! It's an amazing thing, you know, habit and all that.
I've been so accustomed for years to jumping through hoops and
shamming dead when the mater lifted a little finger, that it
absolutely never occurred to me that I had a soul of my own. I give
you my honest word I never saw it till this moment."
"And now it's too late!"
"Eh?"
George indicated Alice with a gesture. The newly-made Mrs. Byng
smiled.
"Mr. Bevan means that now you've got to jump through hoops and sham
dead when I lift a little finger!"