ram?
Sometimes men seem to know so little about themselves!"

"If you'll philosophize on the subject of men--about which you know a
lot, of course--I'll listen with pleasure."

"It's the horrible selfishness of the thing. Why didn't you send her
away directly? Oh, no, you kept her, you made yourself pleasant, you
made her think you liked her----"

"What?"

"You never thought of anything but yourself all the way through. You
were lecturing her? Oh, no! You were posing and posturing. Being very
fine and very heroic! And then at the end you turned round and--and as
good as struck her in the face. Oh, I hope she'll never speak to you
again!"

"Did she send you to say this?"

"Of course not."

"Yes, of course not! You're right there. If it had happened to be in any
way your business----"

"Ah!" cried the Imp triumphantly. "You've no answer, so you turn round
and abuse me! But I don't care. I meant to tell you what I thought of
you, and I've done it."

"A post-card would have done it as well," Harry suggested.

"But you've gone too far, oh yes, you have. If you ever change your
mind----"

"What about? Oh, don't talk nonsense, Madame Zabriska."

"It's not nonsense. You behaved even worse than I think if you're not at
least half in love with her."

Harry threw a quick glance at her.

"That would be very unlucky for me," he remarked.

"Very--now," said the Imp with every appearance of delight.

"London will be dull without you, Madame Zabriska."

"I'm not going to take any more trouble about you, anyhow."

He rose and walked over to her.

"In the end," he said more seriously, "what's your complaint against
me?"

"You've made Cecily terribly unhappy."

"I couldn't help it. She--she did an impossible thing."

"After which you made her spend the evening with you! Even a Tristram
must have had a reason for that."

"I've told you. I felt friendly and I wanted her to be friendly. And I
like her. The whole thing's a ludicrous trifle." He paused a moment and
added: "I'm sorry if she's distressed."

"You've made everything impossible--that's all."

"I don't understand. It so happens that to-day all sorts of things have
begun to seem possible to me. Perhaps you've seen your uncle?"

"Yes, I have,--and--and it would have been splendid if you hadn't
treated her as you did."

"You hint at something I know nothing about." He was growing angry
again. "I really believe I could manage my own affairs." He retu