"I couldn't help feeling rather sorry for the poor chap," remarked
Tony. "I should feel ghastly if I had fallen in love with you after
you had become engaged to another man, and knew there was no hope."
"Don't be too sure there is no hope for Don Carlos," said Myra
provocatively; but Tony's look of piteous dismay caused her to relent
almost instantly, and she kissed him.
Long after Tony had gone, Myra sat lost in thought, her heart still
thrilling. Don Carlos's confession was, of course, a compliment and
tribute to her powers of fascination, and naturally Myra was flattered;
but she was also more than a little puzzled.
She could not quite fathom Don Carlos's motive for telling Tony
Standish he was in love with her, and she realised that Tony had been
cleverer than he knew. By telling her of Don Carlos's confession and
assuring her that he had complete faith in her he had, as it were,
placed her on her honour not to forsake him.
"I wonder what wise Aunt Clarissa would advise?" mused Myra. "I must
tell her that although she said I was playing with fire it is Don
Carlos, apparently, who has got burnt."
"You certainly appear to have reason to flatter yourself on your
success as a coquette, Myra," commented Lady Fermanagh drily, after
listening attentively to Myra's story of Don Carlos's confession to
Tony, and, incidentally, without making any mention of the fact that
she had already heard the story from Tony himself over the telephone.
"You have the laugh on Don Carlos de Ruiz now, my dear, but don't
forget the old proverb that he who laughs last laughs best. Actually,
it is not a laughing matter at all, but a crime to break a man's heart
in jest."
"You don't really suppose that Don Carlos is heart-broken, do you,
Aunt?" asked Myra.
"Frankly, I do not," responded Lady Fermanagh. "I don't quite know
what to make of it. My idea is that Don Carlos probably guessed you
had boasted you would make him fall in love with you, and he may either
be pandering to your vanity by leading you to believe you have
succeeded in your object, or else trying to make a fool of you. Be
careful, my dear! It isn't safe to trifle with men of the type of Don
Carlos de Ruiz, as I have told you before."
"Pouf! If he has actually fallen in love with me, he is more likely to
make a fool of himself than of me," Myra exclaimed.