_Miss G._--"No, thanks." She puts up her handkerchief to her face. _Mr. R._--"Lucy, do you send me away?" _Miss G._, behind her handkerchief.--"You were going, yourself." _Mr. R._, over his shoulder.--"Shall I come back?" _Miss G._--"I have no right to drive you from the car." _Mr. R._, coming back, and sitting down in the chair nearest her.--"Lucy, dearest, tell me what's the matter." _Miss G._--"Oh, Allen, your not _knowing_ makes it all the more hopeless and killing. It shows me that we _must_ part; that you would go on, breaking my heart, and grinding me into the dust as long as we lived." She sobs. "It shows me that you never understood me, and you never will. I know you're good and kind and all that, but that only makes your not understanding me so much the worse. I do it quite as much for your sake as my own, Allen." _Mr. R._--"I'd much rather you wouldn't put yourself out on my account." _Miss G._, without regarding him.--"If you could mortify me before a whole roomful of people as you did last night, what could I expect after marriage but continual insult?" _Mr. R._, in amazement.--"_How_ did I mortify you? I thought that I treated you with all the tenderness and affection that a decent regard for the feelings of others would allow. I was ashamed to find I couldn't keep away from you." _Miss G._--"O, you were _attentive_ enough, Allen; nobody denies that. Attentive enough in non-essentials. O yes!" _Mr. R._--"Well, what vital matters did I fail in? I'm sure I can't remember." _Miss G._--"I dare say! I dare say they won't appear vital to you, Allen. Nothing does. And if I had told you, I should have been met with ridicule, I suppose. But I knew _better_ than to tell; I respected myself too _much_." _Mr. R._--"But now you mustn't respect yourself _quite_ so much, dearest. And I promise you I won't laugh at the most serious thing. I'm in no humour for it. If it were a matter of life and death, even, I can assure you that it wouldn't bring a smile to my countenance. No, indeed! If you expect me to laugh, _now_, you must say something particularly funny." _Miss G._--"I was not going to say anything _funny_; as you call it, and I will say nothing at all, if you talk in that way." _Mr. R._--"Well, I won't, then. But do you know what I suspect, Lucy? I wouldn't mention it to everybody, but I will to you--in strict confidence: I suspect that you're rather ashamed of your grievance, if you have any. I suspect it's nothing at all."