“You are a sentimentalist, Grahame, only, thank goodness, not a maudlin one, and sentimentalists are only possible during the entr’actes.”
“Thanks.”
My liking and friendship for Grahame were a proof of how sincere I could be if people did not stand in the way of my great design. I suppose I ought to have felt some remorse, considering that Sibella was his sister, but after all such relationships are purely accidental. The fact remains that Grahame might have asked for almost any sacrifice that did not interfere with my slow subterranean tunnelling to the Gascoyne peerage.
Chapter XVI
Miss Gascoyne refused Mr. Hibbert-Wyllie. I was first made aware of this fact by the announcement in the Morning Post that he had left London, and proposed to go for a six weeks’ yachting cruise in the Mediterranean.
I hastened to call on Mrs. Gascoyne when I knew she would be alone.
“So very extraordinary, Israel,” she said. “I had almost looked upon the thing as settled, but she refused him point-blank. It’s my first and last attempt at match-making. I think Mr. Hibbert-Wyllie in his inmost heart was a little surprised. He took it very well, poor fellow, although I believe he felt quite broken-hearted. It’s very strange, for it’s not like Edith to lead a man on and then throw him over.”
“Did she lead him on?” I asked.
“Surely you must have seen that?”
“Well, I can’t exactly say that I did.”