"Meant what, darling?"

"This!"

Margot waved her hand with a gesture sufficiently expressive, whereat

her lover laughed happily.

"Bless him! of course he did. He has been badgering me for years past

to look out for a wife; and when we met you he was clever enough to

realise that you were the one woman to fill the post. If he had said as

much to me at that stage of affairs, I should have packed up and made

off within the hour; if he had said it to you, you would have felt it

incumbent upon you to do the same. Instead, he let you go on in your

illusion, while he designed the means of throwing us into each other's

society. Good old Geoff! I'm not at all angry with him. Are you?"

Margot considered the point, her head tilted to a thoughtful angle.

"I'm--not--sure! I think I am, just a little bit, for I hate to be

taken in. He was laughing at me all the time."

"But after all, he has done what you wished! I envy him for being able

to give you such pleasure; but perhaps I may be able to do as much in

another way. Geoff tells me that Mr Martin has had financial troubles,

and there is nothing I would not do to help any one who belongs to you.

I'm out of my depths in poetry, but in business matters I can count, and

in this case I shall not be satisfied until I do."

Margot drew a long breath of contentment. "Oh, if Jack is happy, and

Ron is successful, and I have--You!--there will be nothing left to

wish for in all the world. Poor Ron! he is waiting eagerly to come in

to thank you for publishing his verse, and wondering why in the world

you wanted to see me alone. Don't you think you ought just to read it,

to be able to say it is nice?"

"No, I don't! You are all the poetry I can attend to to-night, and for

goodness' sake keep him away; I shall have to interview your father

later on, but after waiting all these weeks I must have you to myself a

little longer."

"Oh, I won't send for him. I don't want him a bit," cried Margot

naively, "but he will come!"

And he did!

Waiting downstairs in the study, an hour seemed an absurd length of

time, and when no summons came Ron determined to take the law in his own

hands and join the conference. The tableau which was revealed to him on

opening the drawing-room door struck him dumb with amazement, and the

explanations which ensued appeared still more extraordinary.




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