"You darling old dad! And is that what all the mystery was about?"
She took his face between her hands and kissed him. Lord Ventnor, wondering at this effusiveness, strolled forward.
"What has happened, Miss Deane?" he inquired. "Have you just discovered what an excellent parent you possess?"
The baronet laughed, almost hysterically. "'Pon my honor," he cried, "you could not have hit upon a happier explanation."
His lordship was not quite satisfied.
"I suppose you will take Iris to Smith's Hotel?" he said with cool impudence.
Iris answered him.
"Yes. My father has just asked Robert to come with us—by inference, that is. Where are you going?"
The adroit use of her lover's Christian name goaded his lordship to sudden heat.
"Indeed!" he snarled. "Sir Arthur Deane has evidently decided a good many things during the last hour."