For a moment he remained contemplating Isabel with a sort of grave enjoyment; then abandoning his cigarette he sat up straight in the seat.
"This," he observed, "is undoubtedly a case of predestination. It must have been arranged millions of years ago that I should be in Long Acre on that particular evening."
"Perhaps it was," said Isabel. "Anyway I shouldn't have married Pedro whatever happened. I made up my mind about that the first time I saw him."
"Did you tell him?" asked Tony.
"I told Uncle Philip as soon as we got home. Of course he was very angry, but I don't think he took me seriously. He just said it didn't make any difference—that whether I liked it or not I should have to be married, so I had better get used to the idea as quickly as possible."
Tony nodded his head thoughtfully.
"It all fits in perfectly except one thing," he said. "I can't quite see what your uncle and Da Freitas hope to get out of it. They must both have some notion at the back of their beautiful heads."
"That's what I don't understand," said Isabel in a puzzled voice. "Anyhow it's all their arrangement. Pedro doesn't want to marry me really—not a little bit. He is only doing it because Da Freitas tells him to." She hesitated. "If it hadn't been for that I couldn't have stood it as long as I did."
"How long was it?" asked Tony sympathetically.
"Just three weeks. The day after that first dinner Da Freitas came over again, and made a sort of formal proposal. I told him quite plainly I wouldn't, but it didn't make any difference. Uncle Philip declared that I was shy, and didn't know what I was talking about, and Da Freitas said in his horrid oily way that he was quite sure when I got to know Pedro better I would love him as much as he loved me. I saw it was no good saying anything else, so I just made up my mind I would run away."