"It was awfully kind of you to come out here and offer to escort me back to New York, but—under the circumstances—I'd rather you'd take an earlier—or a later train."
The broker looked from one to the other. Coolly he asked:
"May I ask what circumstances you refer to?"
Timidly she went on:
"Mr. Madison and I are going to be married." She paused for a moment, as if in a dilemma how best to put it. Finally she said: "He knows of your former friendship for me, and he thinks it must end."
The broker gave a grunt. He was raging within, but what was the use of being unpleasant over it? He could not alter matters. Trying to appear unconcerned, he said:
"Hum! Then the Riverside Drive proposition, with Burgess's show thrown in, is off, eh?"
"Yes," she replied firmly, "everything is absolutely declared off."
Brockton shrugged his shoulders. With an inward chuckle he said ironically:
"Can't even be friends any more, eh?"