"You mustn't say such things, my dear," expostulated Mrs. West.
"I'm afraid I shall have to do the proposing though," Dorothy added.
"It was very strange, meeting Mr. Dene to-day," remarked Mrs. West half to herself.
"Very," remarked Dorothy, and she hastened to talk of something else.
That night John Dene dreamed he was a little boy again, and had fallen down and hurt himself, and a beautiful lady had knelt beside him and kissed him. He awakened with a start just as the lady had turned into Dorothy, with her note-book, asking if there were any more letters.
CHAPTER XI
THE STRANGENESS OF JOHN DENE
"Here, I'm being trailed."
Mr. Blair looked up from his writing-table with a startled expression as John Dene burst into his room. In entering a room John Dene gave the impression of first endeavouring to break through the panels, and appearing to turn the handle only as an afterthought.