"By the way, how is Lady Errington?"
"Very much changed--and for the better. My prophecy concerning the incomplete Madonna has come to pass. She is a mother now, and adores her child."
"Indeed! And is she going to adore her child for the rest of her life?" asked Otterburn, flippantly.
Eustace shrugged his shoulders.
"I suppose so. She certainly can't adore her husband. Guy is a real good fellow, as I've always maintained, but no woman in the world would put him on a pedestal."
"Poor Errington! Is he as fond of his wife as ever?"
"Fonder, if possible."
"Then I pity him!" said Macjean, emphatically--"I pity any man who gives his heart to a woman to play with."
"Yet that is really what you propose to do with yours."
"Not at all. I am going to ask Miss Sheldon to be my wife once more. If she accepts me, well and good, as I've no doubt we'll make an exemplary married couple. But if she refuses--well, I'm not going to wear my heart on my sleeve by any means. There is always Laxton, Africa, and good shooting."