"I could be perfectly happy without them myself, Ben," sighed his wife, "but the Wobbles bachelors invite themselves whenever they please, and Paul Gresham was asked on account of Constance."
Constance, in the summer-house, laughed again, although less happily than before, and dropped her portfolio as loudly as possible, while Johnny Gamble merely grinned.
"That's what I wondered about," persisted the grizzled financier, as oblivious to the noises from within the jessamine bower as his wife had been. "I should have thought that on Constance's account you would have dropped Gresham."
"How absurd!" laughed Mrs. Courtney. "Why, she is to marry him!"
"I don't believe it!" indignantly denied Courtney. "She got him in a will with a million dollars, and it isn't enough!"
Constance's foot, twitching nervously, rustled a dry leaf, and her heart popped into her throat lest the noise should be heard. The time had passed for wishing to be discovered.
Johnny Gamble had ceased to grin and was looking scared.
"Mr. Gresham is of a very old family," Mr. Courtney's wife reminded him.
"Age is no recommendation for an egg," her husband kindly informed her. "Gresham is second cousin to Lord Yawpingham, and if they had any sense of shame they'd murder each other for the relationship."
"Oh, Ben, I'm sure you're harsh," protested the optimistic Mrs. Courtney.