"Thank you, my lady—I appreciate the compliment from one who has so often been the quarry yet never has been caught. How many scalps dangle at your belt, I wonder?"
"Not yours, at all events!" Gladys laughed.
"No—not mine," Burgoyne returned sadly. "I have been prudent even though it has been at the expense of my happiness."
"How cleverly you have concealed it!" Gladys retorted.
"Until now, alas!"
"Perhaps we may strike a bargain," she reflected.
"A bargain!" he protested. "How sordid!"
"How does Miss Emerson view the question—the general question, I mean?"
"I haven't asked her!"
"You haven't asked her yet," she corrected.