“‘I’m so pleased,’ I answered, shaking hands with him. ‘Mind you come and tell me how you get on. Another man’s love affairs are not usually absorbing, but there is an element of interest about yours that renders the case exceptional.’
“We parted, and I did not see him again for another month. Then, late one evening, the servant knocked at my door to say that a Mr. Smith wished to see me.
“’Smith, Smith,’ I repeated; ‘what Smith? didn’t he give you a card?’
“‘No, sir,’ answered the girl; ‘he doesn’t look the sort that would have a card. He’s not a gentleman, sir; but he says you’ll know him.’ She evidently regarded the statement as an aspersion upon myself.
“I was about to tell her to say I was out, when the recollection of Smythe’s other self flashed into my mind, and I directed her to send him up.
“A minute passed, and then he entered. He was wearing a new suit of a louder pattern, if possible, than before. I think he must have designed it himself. He looked hot and greasy. He did not offer to shake hands, but sat down awkwardly on the extreme edge of a small chair, and gaped about the room as if he had never seen it before.
“He communicated his shyness to myself. I could not think what to say, and we sat for a while in painful silence.
“‘Well,’ I said, at last, plunging head-foremost into the matter, according to the method of shy people, ‘and how’s ’Liza?’
“‘Oh, she’s all right,’ he replied, keeping his eyes fixed on his hat.
“‘Have you done it?’ I continued.