'He says he won't.'
'As matters are likely to turn out, that is a pity.'
'Douglas!--What do you mean?'
'Reggie is in a bad way. I'm afraid that before long he'll be in a worse.'
'How about you? Don't you stand or fall together?'
'Just so. That is it. It's because my hours are numbered that I say it's a pity. If he were to marry Mary Magruder then you might marry her masculine equivalent. You know as well as I do that he is to be found.'
I was thinking of George Charteris. An extra shade of colour came into her cheeks, just to show she knew it.
'Douglas, are you trying to be humorous?'
'Not at all. My dear Vi, I'll be plain with you. I've reason to believe that before very long both Reggie and I may come a cropper. My very earnest advice to both of you is that you agree to treat the past as past, and try to retrieve your positions while there still is time.'
She eyed me; reading on my face that I meant what I said.