"Damn!" she said, hobbling across the room to the corner, whither her
shoe had fallen. "There, there, old lady; don't hold your hands to your
ears as though a clean oath would poison them!"
The Princess-mother fell back in her chair.
"Does she speak to me?" she asked helplessly.
"Yes," said Wogan; and turning to Jenny, "This is the kind-hearted
aunt."
Jenny turned to Clementina, who was picking the cloak from the floor.
"And you are the beautiful heiress," she said sourly. "Well, if you are
going to put that wet cloak on your shoulders, I wish you joy of the
first kiss O'Toole gives you when you jump into his arms."
The Princess-mother screamed; Wogan hastened to interfere.
"Jenny, there's the bedroom; to bed with you!" and he took out his
watch. At once he uttered an exclamation of affright. Wogan had
miscalculated the time which he would require. It had taken longer than
he had anticipated to reach the villa against the storm; his conflict
with Jenny in the portico had consumed valuable minutes; he had been at
some pains to over-persuade the Princess-mother; Jenny herself amongst
the trees in the darkness had waited more than the quarter of an hour
demanded of her; Wogan himself, absorbed each moment in that moment's
particular business,--now bending all his wits to vanquish Jenny, now to
vanquish the Princess-mother,--even Wogan had neglected how the time
sped. He looked at his watch. It was twenty-five minutes to ten, and at
ten the magistrate would be knocking at the door.
"I am ready," said Clementina, drawing the wet cloak about her shoulders
and its hood over her head. She barely shivered under its wet heaviness.
"There's one more thing to be done before you go," said Wogan; but
before he could say what that one thing was, Jenny, who had now
recovered her shoe, ran across the room and took the beautiful heiress
by both hands. Jenny was impulsive by nature. The Princess-mother's
distress and Clementina's fearlessness made her suddenly ashamed that
she had spoken so sourly.
"There, there, old lady," she said soothingly; "don't you fret. They are
very good friends your niece is going with." Then she drew Clementina
close to her. "I don't wonder they are all mad about you, for I can't
but say you are very handsome and richly worth the pains you have
occasioned us." She kissed Clementina plump upon the cheek and
whispered in her ear, "O'Toole won't mind the wet cloak, my dear, when
he sees you."