've
never heard anything----"

"I did really," she interrupted. "I thought you were only flirting."

"You let me go far enough to believe anything," he objected, this time
with a savour of moral indignation.

"I thought it was too far to believe anything," was her retort.

"Haven't you any feeling for me, then?" he cried, utterly nonplussed.

She dug the toe of her shoe into the ground, and watched the operation
thoughtfully. "Not in that way--no."

"What?--do you allow anybody to hug you then?"

"No, of course not!" she replied. "I did like you, and I like you still.
But not in that way."

"What do you mean--not in that way?" he demanded a little angrily.

"Oh, I don't know," she replied, beginning to swing her arms with
boredom; "I mean that I hadn't looked upon you as a possible husband, I
suppose."

He flushed with vexation.

"Why not?" he enquired in scolding tones.

She glanced into his face for the first time during the interview. She
saw the bloated look of mortified vanity in his eyes, and she was a
trifle nauseated.

"Let's be getting back," she suggested.

He turned reluctantly in the direction of the house.

"You have not spoken the truth, Leo," he remarked in the tense manner of
one who is making a violent effort to moderate his fury.

"I'm certainly trying to," she said.

"Shall I tell you the truth?" he snarled.

"No--please don't!"

He was silent for a moment, swallowing down his wrath.

"It's that man!" he said at last. "That's who it is. If I had asked you
three days ago you would--you would have consented. It's that man!"

She cast a glance askance at him. He was boiling with mortification now,
and perhaps nothing makes even the noblest features look more mean than
the smart of a rebuff.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're driving at," she said calmly.

He laughed bitterly. But his cheeks were pricking him, and the garden
danced before his eyes.

"It's Lord Henry, of course," he sneered. "He has conquered your
affections meanwhile."

"Don't be ridiculous!" she said.

"Well, shall I go and tell him for you this minute that you are
perfectly indifferent to him?"

She made an effort to compose her features. "You can if you like," she
replied.

"No, that wouldn't suit your little game, would it?"

"I have no little game," she snapped.

"No, it's big game,--the son of a marquis!"

They were at the foot of the terrace. He had succeeded in infuriating
her. Her eyes s