ally abusive? An
uncomplimentary refrain would have an instant success as a novelty if
you were sufficiently outspoken."

"I've never thought of that," said Septimus, "and I'm afraid I couldn't
break away from the habit of fulsome adulation and suddenly change my
style."

"You needn't change your style in the least," said Clovis; "merely
reverse the sentiment and keep to the inane phraseology of the thing.
If you'll do the body of the song I'll knock off the refrain, which is
the thing that principally matters, I believe. I shall charge
half-shares in the royalties, and throw in my silence as to your guilty
secret. In the eyes of the world you shall still be the man who has
devoted his life to the study of transepts and Byzantine ritual; only
sometimes, in the long winter evenings, when the wind howls drearily
down the chimney and the rain beats against the windows, I shall think
of you as the author of 'Cora with the lips of coral.' Of course, if
in sheer gratitude at my silence you like to take me for a much-needed
holiday to the Adriatic or somewhere equally interesting, paying all
expenses, I shouldn't dream of refusing."

Later in the afternoon Clovis found his aunt and Mrs. Riversedge
indulging in gentle exercise in the Jacobean garden.

"I've spoken to Mr. Brope about F.," he announced.

"How splendid of you! What did he say?" came in a quick chorus from
the two ladies.

"He was quite frank and straightforward with me when he saw that I knew
his secret," said Clovis, "and it seems that his intentions were quite
serious, if slightly unsuitable. I tried to show him the
impracticability of the course that he was following. He said he
wanted to be understood, and he seemed to think that Florinda would
excel in that requirement, but I pointed out that there were probably
dozens of delicately nurtured, pure-hearted young English girls who
would be capable of understanding him, while Florinda was the only
person in the world who understood my aunt's hair. That rather weighed
with him, for he's not really a selfish animal, if you take him in the
right way, and when I appealed to the memory of his happy childish
days, spent amid the daisied fields of Leighton Buzzard (I suppose
daisies do grow there), he was obviously affected. Anyhow, he gave me
his word that he would put Florinda absolutely out of his mind, and he
has agreed to go for a short trip abroad as the best distraction for
his thoughts. I am going