"Engaged! Good Lord!"
"Engaged to Gertrude Monk, who loves me as much as I love her."
"Good Lord!" said Cannington again, and rose to his feet to say it. "I say, you haven't lost much time, have you?"
"No. Circumstances precipitated matters."
"But are you sure that you are wise, Vance. Remember. 'Marry in haste and repent at leisure.'"
I laughed again. It seemed so strange that the boy should advise an elderly person such as I was. "It's all right, Cannington, I know what I'm about. You shall be best man."
"Delighted, and--I say--you don't mind me having said what I did say. We're old friends, you know."
"That's all right, boy. Sit down, and I'll tell you everything that has taken place since we parted at Murchester. But I must ask you to be secret."
Cannington flushed. "As if I'd be such a bounder as to talk of your love affairs," he growled.
"The love affairs in this case are merely a side issue, although important enough to me, boy. What I wish to explain is what I have discovered with regard to Mrs. Caldershaw's death."