“He did not guess. No; Roylands has never been in love, and only a lover can recognize the silent eloquence of love. But I think that keen-eyed old Rector”—

“What! Mr. Carriston? Impossible! How could he tell we loved one another?”

“Well, going by the theory I have propounded, he must have at one time of his life been in love himself, and therefore intuitively guessed our hidden romance.”

“But he is a bachelor.”

“Ah, then he has had a romance also! An extinct volcano perhaps.”

“And Maurice?”

“Is not a volcano at all—at least, not so far as I know. He has never been in love yet, but he will be some day.”

“When?”

“Pardon me, I cannot lift the veil of the future. But I admit Maurice with his melancholia puzzles me.”

“Well, you puzzle every one yourself. They call you the riddle of London.”