d to and fro, then suddenly leant
forward, straightening his face into what was obviously intended to be a
smile.

"Miss Wastneys! Will you forgive me if I am perfectly frank and honest,
and tell you exactly what is in my mind?"

"Of course I will. I am sure," I declared mendaciously, "there can be
nothing to forgive!"

He had the grace to look a trifle ashamed, but his resolution did not
waver. Not a bit! He looked straight in my eyes, and said
deliberately:--

"I want Pastimes! For the moment it has slipped through my fingers, but
a couple of hours cannot seriously affect your arrangements. On my
cousin's behalf I am anxious to take over the lease. It would be an act
of grace on your part if you would agree to this arrangement, and deal
with me as his representative!"

The audacity of it! For a moment I was silent for sheer want of breath,
but I could feel the blood rushing into my cheeks, and knew that my eyes
were sending out flashes to meet his own. My appearance must have
prepared him for my answer before it came, uttered in a very calm, very
haughty, aggravatingly deliberate tone.

"We are not in the habit of changing our plans in a couple of hours.
Pastimes suits us. It is unnecessary to look for another house. The
matter was decided this morning."

"You understand that my cousin is an invalid, and that he has a special
reason for wishing to live in this neighbourhood?"

"There are other houses. Pastimes is not the only one that is vacant."

"It is the only one that is suitable," he repeated doggedly, and there
followed a silence during which he sat back in his chair, staring at me
with the light blue eyes, which of all eyes in the world can look at
once the coldest and the most angry. If he could have done what he
wanted at that moment, he would have taken me by the shoulders and
shaken me well. To have made up his mind that a thing must be, and to
find himself thwarted by a bit of a girl--it was unsupportable!--so
unsupportable, that even now he refused to believe it could be true.
Giving himself a little shake, like a dog who rouses himself to fresh
efforts, he again made that industrious attempt at a smile, and began
slowly:--

"I am afraid I have made a bad beginning! Please forgive me if I have
seemed discourteous. When we have talked things over quietly, I have no
doubt that we shall be able to reach a satisfactory agreement."

"I'm afraid I can't see how that can be! There