n Simpkins."

"Oh, she'll do it all right. Don't you fret about that. All I have
to do is to give her a proper opportunity by throwing them together a
bit."

"I don't quite see how you're going to do that if Simpkins won't go
near her."

"You wouldn't see, of course. Indeed you couldn't, because I don't
quite know myself yet how it is to be managed. I shall have to think
it all over very carefully. I may have to spend the greater part of
the night considering the matter; but one thing you may be quite
confident about, Major, and that is that when I say they are to be
thrown together, they will be thrown together. I shall make such
arrangements that Simpkins simply won't be able to escape, however hard
he tries."

Meldon was not obliged to spend a sleepless night devising meetings
between Simpkins and Miss King. He put the oars into the coach-house
as soon as he reached Portsmouth Lodge, and then settled down with a
pipe on a hammock-chair outside the door. He was ready with a
practical suggestion by the time Major Kent had finished dressing for
dinner. Being too wise to propose a difficult matter to a hungry man,
he waited until the meal was nearly over before he said anything to his
friend.

"Major," he said, "to-morrow is Sunday, and I think it would be a
capital thing if you introduced yourself to Miss King after church.
You could waylay her just outside the porch, and tell her who you are.
I've talked to her a good deal about you, so she'll know you directly
she hears your name."

"I don't think I'll do that, J. J.," said the Major. "From what you've
told me about her I don't think she's the kind of woman I'd care about.
I think I'll keep clear of her as much as I can."

"I told you," said Meldon, "that she was good-looking and had pleasant
manners when not irritated. I don't see what objection you can have to
her."

"I wasn't thinking about her appearance or her manners. They may be
all right, but if what you said is true and she really--"

"Don't be narrow-minded, Major. I hate that kind of pharisaical
bigotry. The fact that Mrs. Lorimer behaved as she did is no reason in
the world why you should cut the poor woman. It's a well-known fact
that people who are really much worse than she is are freely received
into the best society; and, in any case, the latest systems of morality
are quite changing the view that we used to take about murder. Take
Nietzsche, for instance--"

"Who's Nie