nference.

"Do you think that likely?" he asked, the color flushing his face.

He wondered how much Aline had told this confidante. Certain specific
things he knew she had not revealed, but had she let her guess the
situation between them?

She compromised with her conscience. "I don't know. She is
romantic--and Simon Harley isn't a very fertile field for romance, I
suppose."

"You would imply?"

"Oh, you have points, and nobody knows them better than Waring
Ridgway," she told him jauntily. "But you needn't play that role to the
address of Aline Harley. Try ME. I'm immune to romance. Besides, I'm
engaged to you," she added, laughing at the inconsequence the fact
seemed to have for both of them.

"I'm afraid I can't help the situation, for if I've been playing a
part, it has been an unconscious one."

"That's the worst of it. When you star as Waring Ridgway you are most
dangerous. What I want is total abstinence."

"You'd rather I didn't see her at all?"

Virginia dimpled, a gleam of reminiscent laughter in her eyes. "When I
was in Denver last month a Mrs. Smythe--it was Smith before her husband
struck it rich last year--sent out cards for a bridge afternoon. A Mrs.
Mahoney had just come to the metropolis from the wilds of Cripple
Creek. Her husband had struck a gold-mine, too, and Mr. Smythe was
under obligations to him. Anyhow, she was a stranger, and Mrs. Smythe
took her in. It was Mrs. Mahoney's introduction to bridge, and she did
not know she was playing for keeps. When the afternoon was over, Mrs.
Smythe hovered about her with the sweetest sympathy. 'So sorry you had
such a horrid run of cards, dear. Better luck next time.' It took Mrs.
Mahoney some time to understand that her social afternoon had cost one
hundred and twenty dollars, but next day her husband sent a check for
one hundred and twenty-two dollars to Mrs. Smythe. The extra two
dollars were for the refreshments, he naively explained, adding that
since his wife was so poor a gambler as hardly to be able to keep
professionals interested, he would not feel offended if Mrs. Smythe
omitted her in future from her social functions."

Ridgway took it with a smile. "Simon Harley brought his one hundred and
twenty-two dollars in person."

"He didn't! When?"

"This morning. He proposed benevolent assimilation as a solution of our
troubles."

"Just how?"

"He offered to consolidate all the copper interests of the country and
put me at the head of