"He is one of your friends now?"
"I suppose so," John admitted, frowning. "Sometimes I think he is, sometimes I am not so sure. At any rate, he has been very kind to me."
"He is by way of being a friend of the young woman herself, isn't he?" Stephen asked bluntly.
"He has been a friend of Miss Maurel since she first went on the stage," John replied. "It is no doubt for her sake that he has been so kind to me."
"And how's the courting getting on?" Stephen demanded, his steely eyes suddenly intent.
"None too well," John confessed.
"Are you still in earnest about it?"
"Absolutely! More than ever!"
Stephen produced his pipe from his pocket, and slowly filled it.
"She is keeping you dangling at her heels, and giving you no sort of answer?"