IN WHICH LOVE FLIES OUT OF THE WINDOW Hughie closed the door on Joan, and breathed a gentle sigh of relief. He was spoiling for a fight, and he had just got his hands free, so to speak. Brief but perfect satisfaction lay before him. He resumed his position in front of the fire. Mr. Haliburton sat on an oak table and swung his legs. "Now, Marrable--" began the latter briskly. Hughie interrupted him. "Mr. Haliburton," he said, "you heard my intimation to Miss Gaymer just now?" "I did," said Mr. Haliburton. "Well, I should like to repeat it to you. The marriage which has been arranged--by you--will not take place. That's all." "That," replied Mr. Haliburton easily, "is a matter for Joan and myself--" "We will refer to my ward as Miss Gaymer for the rest of this interview," said Hughie stiffly. "Certainly. To resume. You see, Marrable, although you were appointed Miss Gaymer's guardian by the eccentric old gentleman who bears the same name as yourself, your authority does not last for ever. I understand that the lady will shortly become her own mistress." "She will." "In which case she will have the control of her own property." "That is so." "Well,"--Mr. Haliburton paused, and flicked the ash off his cigarette,--"don't you think that this display of authority on your part, considering that it is subject to a time-limit, is rather ridiculous?" "I have only one observation to make on that point," said Hughie coolly, "and that is, that I have made no display of authority of any kind." "My dear sir," said Mr. Haliburton, raising his histrionic eyebrows, "aren't you forbidding the banns?" "I have never forbidden anything. I have merely stated that the match will not come off." "Don't let us quibble, man!" said Haliburton impatiently. He got off the table. "Look here, Marrable, there is no need for you and me to be mealy-mouthed in this matter. Let's be frank. You want this girl: so do I. She can't marry both of us, so she must pick one. She has picked me: I have her word for it. She says she cares for me more than any man in the world, and would tramp the roads with me. And I with her! Why, man--" As he uttered these noble words Mr. Haliburton struck an attitude which many young women in the front row of the pit would have considered highly dramatic, but which merely struck the prejudiced and unsympathetic male before him as theatrical in the extreme. "Drop it!" said Hughie. "You make me quite sick." He spoke the truth. He did not know whether Haliburton's rhapsody rested on any assured foundation or not. But in any case Joan's fresh and innocent youth was a very sacred thing, and even the suggestion that she could have anything in common with this glorified super made him feel physically unwell. Mr. Haliburton broke off, and smiled.