'I am so sorry,' she said; 'I didn't know that--'

'Oh well,' interrupted Mr. Le Mesurier hurriedly, 'there's no reason that
I know of why you shouldn't have asked him, except that it's surely a
trifle unusual, isn't it? You don't know him from Adam.'

'But I assure you, Mr. Le Mesurier,' interposed Conway, 'there's nothing
to be said against Drake.'

'Of course!' replied Mr. Le Mesurier, with a testy laugh at the other's
warmth. 'We know the length of your enthusiasms, my dear Conway. But I'll
grant all you like about Drake. I only say that my daughter isn't even
acquainted with the fellow.'

'It is just that drawback which Mr. Conway proposes to remove,' said
Clarice demurely. 'Of course,' she went on, 'I should never have thought
of inviting him if Mr. Mallinson had not spoken of him so often as his
friend.' She directed her sweetest smile to Mallinson. 'You did, didn't
you? Yes! Mr. Drake had been away from England for so long that I thought
it would be only kind to ask you to bring him. But if I had known that
papa had any objection, I should naturally never have done it. I am very
sorry. Perhaps I am not careful enough.' She ended her speech in a tone
of self-reproach, which had its effect; for her father was roused by it
to expostulate.

'My dear,' he said, 'I never hinted that I had an objection to him. You
are always twisting people's words and imputing wrong meanings to them.'

Mallinson fancied that he detected a note of something more than mere
remonstrance in Mr. Le Mesurier's voice, a consciousness of some thought
in his daughter's mind which he would not openly acknowledge her to
possess. The perception quickened Mallinson's conjecture into a positive
conviction. There was evidently some fact about Drake, some incident
perhaps in his life which brought him into relations with the Le
Mesuriers,--relations ignored by Drake, but known by Mr. Le Mesurier and
suspected by Clarice. Was this fact to Drake's advantage or discredit?
The father's manner indicated rather the latter; but Mallinson put that
aside. It was more than overbalanced by the daughter's--he sought for a
word and chanced on 'forwardness.' His irritation against her prompted
him to hug it, to stamp it on his thoughts of her with a jeer of 'I have
found you out.' On the other hand, all his knowledge of her cried out
against the word. He looked into the girl's face to resolve his doubts
upon the point and found that she was watching him with