“Miss Lydia. Did you have an enjoyable time at theopera?”
“I did. I have quite fallen in love with it and look forward to seeing more when I am inLondon.”
“Yes, Ellen loves it too. I am sure you will have a delightful time together. And Mr. Daniel will no doubt be attending with you?” he asked, looking upather.
“Perhaps. And Edwin, I must tell you he has asked me to the dinner at theestate.”
“The night of theannouncement?”
“Yes. I am sorry, I did not mean to attend, but he was persuasive and I could not tell him why I did not want to attend. He would notunderstand.”
“I am sorry you must go through that. I do not wish to go through it either. How lovely it would be if we could just run away—go to America, or some such place, and make a new lifetogether…”
Lydia could not answer that. It was an impossibility and they bothknewthat.
