s. However,
she has no evidence about that; but the other story did the
business for me, and the game is all up in that quarter. There
never was such bad luck. She as much as told me that, if I had
proposed to her before she had heard the story, she would have said
yes."

"No chance of her changing her mind?"

"Not a scrap."

"It is an awkward affair for you."

"Horribly awkward. Yes, I have only got fifteen thousand left, and
unless things go right at Goodwood I shall be cleaned right out. I
calculated that everything would be set right if I married this
girl. Things have gone badly of late."

"Yes, your luck has been something awful. It did seem that with the
pains that we took, and the way I cleared the ground for you by
bribing jockeys and so on, we ought to have made pots of money. Of
course, we did pull off some good things, but others we looked on
as safe, and went in for heavily, all turned out wrong."

"Well, there will be nothing for me but to get across the Channel
unless, as I say, things go right at Goodwood."

"I should not be nervous about it, for unless there is some dark
horse I feel sure that your Rosney has got the race in hand."

"Yes, I feel sure of that, too. We have kept him well back all the
season, and never let him even get a place. It ought to be a
certainty."

Then they sat some time smoking in silence.

"By gad, I have half a mind to carry her off," Carthew broke out,
suddenly. "It is the only way that I can see of getting things
straightened out. She acknowledged that she liked me before she
heard this accursed story, and if I had her to myself I have no
doubt that I could make her like me again in spite of it."

"It is a risky thing to carry a woman off in our days," Conkling
said, thoughtfully, "and a deuced difficult one to do. I don't see
how you are going to set about it, or what in the world you would
do with her, and where you would put her when you had got her. I
have done some pretty risky things for you in my time, Carthew, but
I should not care about trying that. We might both find ourselves
in for seven years."

"Well, you would have as much as that for getting at a horse, and I
don't know that you wouldn't for bribing a jockey. Still, I see
that it is an uncommonly difficult thing."

For five minutes nothing more was said; then Conkling suddenly
broke the silence.

"By Jove, I should say that the yacht would be just the thing."

"That is a good idea, Jim;