In the first place, I suppose you're aware that I had the temerity to propose marriage to the lady in the summer of this year?
Philip.
Yes, I'm aware of it. Madame de Chaumié informed me of the circumstance.
Sir Timothy.
[Nodding.] She would; she would. [Straightening himself.] Well, Mr. Mackworth, while I was abroad I heard from various sources that you had become a pretty regular visitor at the house of her parents, and that you and she were to be seen together occasionally in the secluded spots of Kensington Gardens; and I naturally inferred that it was yourself she'd had the good taste to single out from among her numerous suitors.
Philip.
[With a smile.] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
Sir Timothy.
Yesterday?
Philip.