"What do you think of Mr. Ingram?" she asked. "Did you talk to him at all?"
"He seems fairly intelligent," replied Morgan; "more intelligent, in fact, than his work would lead one to suppose. You told me the other day, did you not, that you have known him some little time?"
"It is only during the last few months that I have cultivated him or rather he me."
"I see Mrs. Blackstone has possession of him now. She must be very happy."
"She is his greatest confidante. That I am her greatest confidante, you know already, ergo—well, I'll leave you to make the deduction. She is really a good soul, and a marked success as an ear trumpet."
"But is Mr. Ingram aware of that?"
"Quite. That is why he speaks into her such a deal. He finds me perfectly deaf otherwise."
All this was a revelation to Morgan.
"You seem to be hinting at something," he could not help exclaiming.
"Of course. Mr. Ingram is anxious to marry a title, and, since he does not object to having a good-looking person attached to it, he has done me the honour to pretend to be in love with me. He has been proposing for the last six weeks, and has offered to purify his books still further to suit my virginal soul."