But she could never have told Sybil
that! She couldn't think anything of the sort without setting me down
as a thorough-paced liar at the least."

"The odd part of it is," replied Jimmy, "that, according to Sybil,
Carrissima went in for particulars."

"Oh, let me hear them," said Mark, sitting down again.

He was just beginning to wonder. Was it possible that Carrissima had
not dropped those flowers until after she had obtained a glimpse of the
interior of Bridget's sitting-room? But, even so, she could never
build such an abominable theory on that ludicrously insufficient
evidence.

"Well," said Jimmy, "Carrissima insists that she saw you holding
Bridget in your arms--in the act of kissing her, to put it plainly."

This was a trying moment for Mark Driver. His face was crimson, and he
would have given a great deal to be able to deny the too soft
impeachment. As this was impossible, he lost his temper with
Carrissima. Egoism was probably the prime factor in his present mood.
He thought less of the excuse he had provided than of the painful
circumstance that he had been cutting such a sorry figure in her eyes.

While he flattered himself that she regarded him as a kind of king who
could do no wrong, she had, in truth, looked upon him as a pretty
contemptible scoundrel. It seemed an additional offence that she
should have dissembled her opinion, so that when he, being beguiled,
asked her to marry him, she might coolly send him about his business.

A suspicion of something, perhaps, resembling insincerity in his own
conduct made him only more intolerant of hers. He saw now how much
better it would have been, instead of trusting for immunity to her
ignorance, to have taken his courage in his hands and made a clean
breast of what, after all, was only a venial offence. A counsel of
perfection, no doubt, but Mark wished that he had followed it.

He was deeply wounded in the most sensitive part, but while admitting
his weakness in yielding to a commonplace temptation, he could make no
excuse for Carrissima's scandalous libel. An hour ago, she had been
the only woman in the world for him; as to Bridget--well, the old Adam
had cropped out for an instant. To account for his vulnerability one
must embark on a study of the theory of Evolution! If he had been
actually affianced to Carrissima, the case would, no doubt, have been
more serious, although even then there could be no justification for
her shameful accu