"You will?"
"Yes."
"You will!" cried the girl, her cheeks flushing and her black eyes sparkling with delight—"You will! Oh, Jimmy!"
Even as the words left her lips, she became conscious of what she had done, and her flush brightened into a vivid scarlet blush. She turned and fled from him, panic-stricken.
He stood dazed, unable at first to believe what her tone and look had betrayed to him. When, after some moments, his doubt gave way to certainty, his face lighted with what might be termed joyous exasperation.
"My word!" he murmured. "The little witch! I'll pay her out jolly well for it all!"
But his blissfully exultant vexation was no more than a flash that deepened the gloom with which he recalled the disaster to his friend.
"Gad!" he reproached himself. "What am I thinking of—with her and
Tom—"
He turned quickly to the door of the cardroom.