enlarge upon my advantages,
the more so as I believe you are acquainted with my circumstances."

Good gracious! thought Margaret, suddenly recovering the acutest use of
her hearing, what is the man going to say? And she looked fixedly at him
with an expression of some astonishment.

"Considering, as I was saying," he continued steadily, "those advantages
upon which I will not enlarge, may I ask you to listen to what I am
going to say?"

Margaret, having lost the first part of Barker's speech completely, in
her fit of abstraction, had some vague idea that he was asking her
advice about marrying some other woman.

"Certainly," she said indifferently; "pray go on." At the moment of
attack, however, Barker's heart failed him for an instant. He thought he
would make one more attempt to ascertain what position Claudius held
towards Margaret.

"Of course," he said, smiling and looking down, "we all knew about Dr.
Claudius on board the _Streak_."

"What did you know about him?" asked Margaret calmly, but her face
flushed for an instant. That might have happened even if she had not
cared for Claudius; she was so proud that the idea of being thought to
care might well bring the colour to her cheek. Barker hardly noticed the
blush, for he was getting into very deep water, and was on the point of
losing his head.

"That he proposed to you, and you refused him," he said, still smiling.

"Take care, sir," she said quickly, "when Dr. Claudius comes back he--"
Barker interrupted her with a laugh.

"Claudius coming back?" he answered, "ha! ha! good indeed!"

He looked at Margaret. She was very quiet, and she was naturally so dark
that, in the shadow of the fan she held carelessly against the light, he
could not see how pale she turned. She was intensely angry, and her
anger took the form of a preternatural calm of manner, by no means
indicative of indifferent reflection. She was simply unable to speak for
the moment. Barker, however, whose reason was in abeyance for the
moment, merely saw that she did not answer; and, taking her silence for
consent to his slighting mention of Claudius, he at once proceeded with
his main proposition. At this juncture the other couple slowly left the
room, having arranged their own affairs to their satisfaction.

"That being the case," he said, "and now that I am assured that I have
no rivals to dread, will you permit me to offer you my heart and my
hand? Countess Margaret, will you marry me,