oth knelt down close to my feet, and each
earnestly kissed one of my hands! It would have been a beautiful effect
if I hadn't choked, trying wildly to bolt a mouthful of something, and
had to be slapped on the back. That choke was a disguised blessing,
however, for it made us all laugh when I got my breath; and when you're
on the top pinnacle of a great emotion, it's a safe outlet to laugh!

My suggestion was, that nobody but our three selves should share the
secret, and that the wedding--to be hurried on--should be sprung as a
surprise upon the public. Robert and Joyce agreed on general principles;
but each made one exception.

Robert said that he felt it would be "caddish" to make a bid for
happiness without telling the Duchess of Stane what was in his mind. She
couldn't reasonably object to his marrying again, and wouldn't object,
he argued; but if he didn't confide in her she'd have a right to think
him a coward.

Joyce's one exception--of all people on earth!--was Opal Fawcett! And
when I shrieked "Why?" she'd only say that she "owed a debt of gratitude
to Opal." Therefore Opal had a right to know before any one else that
she was engaged.

The girl didn't add "to Robert Lorillard," but a flash of intuition like
a searchlight showed me the meaning behind her words. Living in the same
house with Opal, eating Opal's bread and salt (very little else, I
daresay!), Joyce had guessed Opal's secret--or had been forced to hear a
confidence. That, and nothing else, was the reason why she wouldn't be
engaged to Robert "behind Opal's back!"

Well, I hope I'm not precisely a coward myself, but I didn't envy Joyce
Arnold and Robert Lorillard their self-appointed tasks. They were
carried out, however, with soldierly promptness the day after the
engagement, and nothing terrific happened--or at least, was reported.

"Opal was very sweet," Joyce announced, vouchsafing no details of the
interview.

"The--Duchess was very sensible," was Robert's description of what
passed between him and his exalted ex-mother-in-law.

"I suppose you asked them not to tell?" was my one question.

"Oh, Opal _won't_ tell!" exclaimed Joyce; and I believed that she was
right. According to Opal's view, _telling_ things only helped them to
happen.

"I begged the Duchess to say nothing to anybody," answered Robert. Our
eyes met, and we smiled--Robert rather ruefully.

Of course the Duchess did the contrary of what she'd been begged to do,
and sa