"He has very wholesome views on lots of subjects," Doris went on reflectively.
"Have you seen much of him?"
"A good deal. He is very much interested in the things my father cares about. I quite understand now what you meant when you said he was the sort of man one would like to have for a brother."
This was disappointing, and Mona brought the conversation to a close.
Every day during her visit the Sahib came in for an hour or two, sometimes to lunch or dinner, sometimes to escort "the girls" to a lecture or concert. He was uniformly kind and brotherly to both, but Mona fancied that at times he was sorely ill at ease.
"If only he would show a little common-sense," she thought, "and let the matter drop altogether, what a relief it would be for both of us!"
But this was not to be.
On Sunday afternoon Doris had gone out to teach her Bible-class, Mr Colquhoun was enjoying his weekly afternoon nap, and Mona was sitting alone by the fire in the library, half lost in a mighty arm-chair, with a book on her knee.
Suddenly the door opened, and the Sahib entered unannounced.
"You are alone?" he said, as though he had not counted on finding her alone.