Dacent Smith suddenly sat erect.
"You don't mean she has made any untoward discovery?"
"Oh, no," said John, "she accepts me absolutely. And so far as I know she has never experienced the faintest doubt. But the awkwardness comes in through the fact that she has decided to forgive her husband and take him back again!"
Dacent Smith looked at the younger man for a minute, then whistled softly.
"By gad, Treves, yours is certainly a difficult path."
"I am glad you see it as I do, sir."
"Devilish difficult—and what's the lady like? Is she young and pretty?"
"She is about twenty-three years of age," said John, "and—and, well pretty doesn't quite describe her. She has dark hair and grey eyes. She is rather above the average in height. She——" John hesitated and stumbled. "I am no connoisseur in these matters, sir, but in my opinion she is an unusually beautiful girl."
Dacent Smith looked at him squarely.
"And that, no doubt, intensifies your difficulty, eh, Treves?"