e words, "Will you believe _now_ that I am sincere?" Then I tied
both round the poodle's neck, and dropped him over the wall into the
colonel's garden just before I started to catch my train to town.

I had an anxious walk home from the station that evening; I went round
by the longer way, trembling the whole time lest I should meet any of
the Currie household, to which I felt myself entirely unequal just then.
I could not rest until I knew whether my fraud had succeeded, or if the
poodle to which I had intrusted my fate had basely betrayed me; but my
suspense was happily ended as soon as I entered my mother's room. "You
can't think how delighted those poor Curries were to see Bingo again,"
she said at once; "and they said such charming things about you,
Algy--Lilian particularly; quite affected she seemed, poor child! And
they wanted you to go round and dine there and be thanked to-night, but
at last I persuaded them to come to us instead. And they're going to
bring the dog to make friends. Oh, and I met Frank Travers; he's back
from circuit again now, so I asked him in too to meet them!"

I drew a deep breath of relief. I had played a desperate game, but I had
won! I could have wished, to be sure, that my mother had not thought of
bringing in Travers on that of all evenings, but I hoped that I could
defy him after this.

The colonel and his people were the first to arrive, he and his wife
being so effusively grateful that they made me very uncomfortable
indeed; Lilian met me with downcast eyes and the faintest possible
blush, but she said nothing just then. Five minutes afterward, when she
and I were alone together in the conservatory, where I had brought her
on pretence of showing a new begonia, she laid her hand on my sleeve
and whispered, almost shyly, "Mr. Weatherhead--Algernon! Can you ever
forgive me for being so cruel and unjust to you?" And I replied that,
upon the whole, I could.

We were not in the conservatory long, but before we left it beautiful
Lilian Roseblade had consented to make my life happy. When we reentered
the drawing-room we found Frank Travers, who had been told the story of
the recovery; and I observed his jaw fall as he glanced at our faces,
and noted the triumphant smile which I have no doubt mine wore, and the
tender, dreamy look in Lilian's soft eyes. Poor Travers! I was sorry for
him, although I was not fond of him. Travers was a good type of rising
young common-law barrister, tall,