"Don't you think your dad would consent to our engagement without any delay if I made a perfectly lovely picture of you? He would have to believe there was something in me then, wouldn't he?"
"Oh, Frankie, what a perfectly fine idea. I dare say he would. Let's ask him."
But the originator of the idea, with a frown of thought upon his brow, shook his head.
"To really have the proper effect it ought to be sprung upon him as a complete surprise—quite finished. 'Splendid! magnificent! superb!' he will exclaim, when he sees it—at least, I hope that's what he will say! Then he will go on: 'Only tell me what artist has produced this masterpiece.'"
"And then you'll answer——?"
"Nothing. I shan't speak a word—not a word! I shall just quietly and modestly point to my name in the corner. Oh, isn't it just a ripping plan?"
"Lovely! Perfectly delightful!"
"But you'll have to come sometimes to Geoff Danvers's studio and give me sittings, won't you?"
"Then auntie is to be in the secret?"
"It wouldn't be a secret for long if she knew. No, you must come alone. Do! It will be quite all right—really it will. Jack is always there, and we almost always have a woman model, so there would be a sort of a chaperone. You'll come? Remember what depends on it."