ve
suffered no change--quite the reverse, only--and I wish to impress
this upon you, PODBURY--it is undesirable, for--er--many reasons,
to make my attentions--er--too conspicuous. I--I trust you have not
alluded to the matter to--well, to Miss PRENDERGAST, for example?

_Podb._ Not I, old fellow--got other things to talk about. But I don't
quite see why--

_Culch._ You are not _required_ to see. I don't _wish_ it, that is
all. I--er--think that should be sufficient.

_Podb._ Oh, all right, _I'll_ keep dark. But she's bound to know
sooner or later, now she and Miss TROTTER have struck up such
a friendship. And HYPATIA will be awfully pleased about it--why
_shouldn't_ she, you know?... I'm going to see if there's anyone on
the tennis-court, and get a game if I can. Ta-ta!

_Culch._ (_alone_). PODBURY knows very little about women. If
HYP--Miss PRENDERGAST--once found out _why_ I renounced my suitorship,
I should have very little peace, I know that--I've taken particular
care not to betray my attachment to MAUD. I'm afraid she's beginning
to notice it, but I must be careful. I don't like this sudden intimacy
between them--it makes things so very awkward. They've been sitting
under that tree over there for the last half-hour, and goodness only
knows what confidences they may have exchanged! I really must go up
and put a stop to it, presently.

_UNDER THE TREE._

_Hypatia._ I only tell you all this, sweetest one, because I _do_
think you have rather too low an opinion of men as a class, and I
wanted to show you that I have met at least _one_ man who was capable
of a real and disinterested devotion.

_Maud._ Well, I allowed that was about your idea.

_Hyp._ And don't you recognise that it was very fine of him to give up
everything for his friend's sake?

_Maud_. I guess it depends how much "everything" amounted to.

_Hyp._ (_annoyed_). I thought, darling, I had made it perfectly plain
what a sacrifice it meant to him. _I_ know how much he--I needn't tell
you there are certain symptoms one can_not_ be deceived in.

_Maud._ No, I guess you needn't tell me _that_, love. And it was
perfectly lovely of him to give you up, when he was under vow for you
and all, sooner than stand in his friend's light--only I don't just
see how that was going to help his friend any.

_Hyp._ Don't you, dearest? Not when the friend was under vow for me,
too?

_Maud._ Well, HYPATIA PRENDERGAST! And how many admirers do you have
around