"Make allowances, mon cher, and don't fail me now."
"Fail you?" He flashed a reproachful glance at her. "I hope I may never do that, while there's breath in my body! Trust me to be at your right hand when we start. Mrs Desmond will have wit enough to capture—your friend, if she sees that I want you."
"Why? Does she know all about it?"
"Just the bare facts. I told her myself."
"And he?"
"Certainly. They are one, those two, if ever man and woman achieved the miracle."
"Does that account for his flattering attentions to me since Chumba?"
"Quite possibly."
"But that wasn't fair play! He is such a grand fellow; and I was so proud of my small conquest!"
Her lighter mood was even more irresistible than her seriousness had been: but Lenox palled himself together.