"And perhaps Lord Cannington----?"
"Thanks, no, Mr. Marr, I have to go back to Murchester. Leave's up."
"That's a pity. Mr. Vance?"
"If I am in town I shall be delighted," I answered mildly, and wondered more than ever at the audacity of the little man. He knew that I could expose him as a fraud, and must have been puzzled to know why I did not, yet he had the hardihood to drag me into his schemes of posing as a millionaire.
"Then that is all settled. And now," he added, making a comprehensive bow, "really and truly I must take my leave. Perhaps Mr. Vance, I can give you a lift in my motor?"
"You are really too good," I replied, accepting promptly, and with scarcely a repressed chuckle.
"But I say, Vance, I want you to go to dinner at the Savoy with me, and afterwards to the Empire," cried Cannington, catching my arm, while Mr. Monk was shaking hands and taking his leave.
"My dear boy, in any case I must go home and dress. Let us change the dinner into a supper at the Savoy, and I'll come here at nine o'clock to accompany you to the Empire."
Cannington was satisfied with this alteration, and nodded. Then, in my turn, I took leave of the ladies and departed in the company of my proposed father-in-law. At the door a really magnificent motor, far surpassing my machine, was waiting, a brougham motor, with a chauffeur and a liveried footman. How Mr. Monk contrived to live in this style on five hundred a year I could not conceive: the machine alone must have cost three times the amount of his entire income. Then, with indignation, I thought of my dear, uncomplaining girl at Burwain, with her one poor frock and her touching belief in the honesty and kind-heartedness of this little villain.
When we were safe in the motor and the footman had received his orders to take the vehicle "Home!"--to Strafford Street, no doubt--Mr. Monk made himself comfortable, then patted my knee in a most amiable manner. "Very good indeed, my dear sir, very good indeed," he said suavely, and in a most self-controlled manner, "you kept my little secret in a way worthy of a man of the world."