“I had forgotten them,” she admitted. “They were nice men, too, all of them, but they all made the same mistake. I remember now they did propose to me. That, of course, was fatal.”

“I scarcely see——” he began.

She patted him gently on the arm.

“My dear Gilbert,” she said, “haven’t I always said that I never intend to marry any one who proposes to me? When I have quite made up my mind, I am going to do the proposing myself!”

“Whether it is Leap Year or not?” he asked.

“Decidedly!” she answered. “Men can always shuffle out of a Leap Year declaration. My man won’t be able to escape. I can promise you that.”

“Does he—exist then?” Deyes asked.

She laughed softly.

“He’s existed for a good many years more than I have,” she answered. “I wasn’t thinking of marrying a baby.”