"He must be told," she said.
"I don't see why." Max smiled upon her with good-natured indulgence.
"Have you suddenly taken fright at something?" he asked.
She smiled also, but a little anxiously. "I'm afraid it wasn't a very wise move after all. I want to put an end to it."
"You can't put an end to an engagement that doesn't exist," he said. "You will have to wait till I propose, and then you can go and tell everyone—including Hunt-Goring—that you have said No."
It was impossible to treat the matter seriously. She had a feeling that he was deliberately restraining her from so doing, deliberately offering her an easy means of escape from her own indiscretion. She seized upon it, eager to convince him that she had never deemed him in earnest.
"Do propose soon then!" she said. "And let us get it over!"
He turned to the door. "Given a suitable opportunity," he said, "if shall be done to-night."
"To-night!" she echoed sharply.
She caught the mocking gleam of his eyes for an instant, and her heart misgave her.
"Really, Max!" she said, in a tone of protest.