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He looked at her anxiously. It did not need his lordship's owlish expression of doubt to tell him how weak his story must sound. He had felt it even as he was telling it. He was bound to admit that, if ever a story rang false in every sentence, it was this one. "Pitt, old man," said his lordship, shaking his head, more in sorrow than in anger, "it won't do, old top. What's the point of putting up any old yarn like that? Don't you see, what I mean is, it's not as if we minded. Don't I keep telling you we're all pals here? I've often thought what a jolly good feller old Raffles was. Regular sportsman! I don't blame a chappie for doing the gentleman burglar touch. Seems to me it's a dashed sporting--" Molly turned on him suddenly, cutting short his views on the ethics of gentlemanly theft in a blaze of indignation. "What do you mean?" she cried. "Do you think I don't believe every word Jimmy has said?" His lordship jumped. "Well, don't you know, it seemed to me a bit thin. What I mean is--" He met Molly's eye. "Oh, well!" he concluded, lamely. Molly turned to Jimmy. "Jimmy, of course, I believe you. I believe every word." "Molly!" His lordship looked on, marveling. The thought crossed his mind that he had lost the ideal wife. A girl who would believe any old yarn a feller cared to--If it hadn't been for Katie! For a moment, he felt almost sad. Jimmy and Molly were looking at each other in silence. From the expression on their faces, his lordship gathered that his existence had once more been forgotten. He saw her hold out her hands to Jimmy, and it seemed to him that the time had come to look away. It was embarrassing for a chap! He looked away. The next moment, the door opened and closed again, and she had gone. He looked at Jimmy. Jimmy was still apparently unconscious of his presence. His lordship coughed. "Pitt, old man--" "Hullo!" said Jimmy, coming out of his thoughts with a start. "You still here? By the way--" he eyed Lord Dreever curiously--"I never thought of asking before--what on earth are you doing here? Why were you behind the curtain? Were you playing hide-and-seek?" His lordship was not one of those who invent circumstantial stories easily on the spur of the moment. He searched rapidly for something that would pass muster, then abandoned the hopeless struggle. After all, why not be frank? He still believed Jimmy to be of the class of the hero of "Love, the Cracksman." T
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