“Admirable. But my interest was psychological. I was wondering by what mental processes you came to hit upon it.” “Well, then, to be frank, it wasn’t I who hit upon it; it isn’t my Japanese fan. It’s a conceit of my landlady’s. This is an age of paradox, you know. Would you prefer silver paper?” “Must one have one or the other?” “You’re making it painfully clear,” he cautioned her, “that you’ve never lived in lodgings.” “If you go on at this rate,” she retorted, laughing, “I shall never get my task accomplished. Here are twenty times that I’ve commenced it, and twenty times you’ve put me off. Shall we now, at last, proceed seriously to business?” “Not on my account, I beg. I’m not in the slightest hurry,” protested he. “You said you were devoured by curiosity.” “Did I say that?” He knitted his brow. “Certainly you did.” “It must have been aphasia. I meant contentment,” he explained. “Devoured by contentment?” “Why not, as well as by curiosity?” “The phrase is novel,” she mused. “It’s the occupation of my life to seek for novel phrases,” he reminded her. “I’m what somebody or other has called a literary man.” “And you enjoy what somebody or other has called beating about the bush?” “Hugely—with such a fellow-beater,” he responded. “You drive me to extremities.” She shook her head. “I see there’s nothing for it but to plunge in médias res. You must know, then, that I have been asked to call upon you by a friend—by my friend Miss Johannah Rothe—I beg your pardon; I never can remember that she’s changed her name—my friend Miss Johannah Silver—but Silver née Rothe—of Silver Towers, in the County of Sussex.” “Ah?” said he. “Ah, yes. Then never tell me again that there’s nothing in intuitions. I’ve never met Miss Silver, but directly you crossed the threshold of this room, I began to feel vaguely reminded of her.” “Oh, there’s a lot in intuitions,” she agreed. “But don’t think to disconcert me. My friend Miss Silver——” It was his turn to raise his eyebrows. “Your friend?” “Considering the sacrifice I’m making on her behalf to-day, it’s strange you should throw doubt upon my friendship for her,” she argued. “You make your sacrifices with a cheerful countenance. I should never have guessed that you weren’t entirely happy. But forgive my interruption. You were about to say that your friend Miss Silver——” “My occasional friend,” she substituted. “Sometimes, I confess, we quarrel like everything, and remain at daggers drawn for months. She’s such a flightly creature, dear Johannah, she not infrequently gets me into a perfect peck of trouble. But since she’s fallen heir to all this money, you’d be surprised to behold the devotion her friends have shown her. I couldn’t very well refuse to follow their example. One’s human, you see; and one can’t dress like this for nothing, can one?” “Upon my word, I’m not in a position to answer you. I’ve never tried,” laughed he.