"Prettily played, Mr. Jelnik!" said he, admiringly. "May one be
permitted to congratulate you, upon your indubitably dramatic
instinct?"

"All things are permitted; but not all things are expedient," Mr.
Jelnik replied evenly.

"Oh, we know who can quote scripture!" cried The Author; and looked
longingly at the other's naked throat.

At which point Doctor Geddes, coming as it were out of a trance,
took the situation in hand.

"Have done with this nonsense!" he ordered sharply. "Alicia, get
Sophy home; she looks more dead than alive. Jelnik, your declaration
puts a new complexion on this affair; but let me tell you flatly I
don't like your method of announcing engagements."

"Suppose you waive criticism and look after Sophy," suggested Mr.
Jelnik. He walked up to his cousin and looked straight in his eyes:
"Richard, you're not such a fool as to dare doubt _us_?"

"Eh?" blinked the doctor, "what? Doubt _Sophy_? I should say not!
And you--oh, well, you're a bit of a fool yourself at times, Jelnik,
and this seems to be one of the times; but I don't doubt you.
However," said the doctor, grimly, "I should like to whale some
sense into you with a club!"

"An ax would be more to the point," murmured The Author,
regretfully.

"In the meantime, Richard," said Mr. Jelnik, with a faint smile,
"take Sophy home, please."

I have a vague recollection of swallowing something that the doctor
told me to swallow. Then came blessed oblivion, a sleep so profound
that I didn't even dream, and didn't awake until that afternoon; to
find the tender face of Alicia again bent over me.

I waited for her to ask at least one of the many questions she must
have been longing to ask. But Alicia shook her head.

"Sophy," said she, loyally, "you haven't got to tell me one single,
solitary thing unless you really want to. But--isn't this just a bit
sudden? I was--surprised."

"So was I."

"You see, Sophy, I never once dreamed--"

"That he cared for me? Neither did I."

"No. That you cared for him," Alicia puckered her brows.

"My dear girl," I was trying to feel my way toward letting her have
the truth, "listen: whether or not he is engaged to me, Mr. Nicholas
Jelnik really loves some lady that neither you nor I know. He told
me so himself."

It took Alicia some moments to recover from that!

"And yet you're going to marry him, Sophy?"

"You heard him announce our engagement."

"I can't understand!" sighed Alicia. "Oh, Sophy