_Miss G._, with dignity.--"I am in no humour for jesting, Allen. And I can assure you that though I consent to hear what you have to say, or ask, _nothing_ will change my determination. All is over between us." _Mr. R._--"Yes, I understand that perfectly. I am now asking merely for general information. I do not expect you to relent, and in fact I should consider it rather frivolous if you did. No. What I have always admired in your character, Lucy, is a firm, logical consistency; a clearness of mental vision that leaves no side of a subject unsearched; and an unwavering constancy of purpose. You may say that these traits are characteristic of _all_ women; but they are pre-eminently characteristic of you, Lucy." Miss Galbraith looks askance at him, to make out whether he is in earnest or not; he continues, with a perfectly serious air. "And I know now that if you're offended with me, it's for no trivial cause." She stirs uncomfortably in her chair. "What I have done I can't imagine, but it must be something monstrous, since it has made life with me appear so impossible that you are ready to fling away your own happiness--for I know you _did_ love me, Lucy--and destroy mine. I will begin with the worst thing I can think of. Was it because I danced so much with Fanny Watervliet?" _Miss G._, indignantly.--"How can you insult me by supposing that I could be jealous of such a _perfect_ little goose as that? No, Allen! Whatever I think of you, I _still_ respect you too much for _that_." _Mr. R._--"I'm glad to hear that there are yet depths to which you think me incapable of descending, and that Miss Watervliet is one of them. I will now take a little higher ground. Perhaps you think I flirted with Mrs. Dawes. I thought, myself, that the thing might begin to have that appearance, but I give you my word of honour that as soon as the idea occurred to me, I dropped her,--rather rudely, too. The trouble was, don't you know, that I felt so perfectly safe with a _married_ friend of yours. I couldn't be hanging about you all the time, and I was afraid I might vex you if I went with the other girls; and I didn't know what to do." _Miss G._--"I think you behaved rather silly, giggling so much with her. But"-- _Mr. R._--"I own it, I know it was silly. But"-- _Miss G._--"It wasn't that; it wasn't that!" _Mr. R._--"Was it my forgetting to bring you those things from your mother?" _Miss G._--"No!" _Mr. R._--"Was it because I hadn't given up smoking yet?" _Miss G._--"You _know_ I never asked you to give up smoking. It was entirely your own proposition." _Mr. R._--"That's true. That's what made me so easy about it. I knew I could leave it off _any_ time. Well, I will not disturb you any longer, Miss Galbraith." He throws his overcoat across his arm, and takes up his travelling-bag. "I have failed to guess your fatal--conundrum; and I have no longer any excuse for remaining. I am going into the smoking-car. Shall I send the porter to you for anything?"