Produced by Al Haines ENTER BRIDGET BY THOMAS COBB AUTHOR OF "PHILLIDA," "THE CHOICE OF THEODORA," "THE ANGER OF OLIVIA," ETC. SECOND EDITION MILLS & BOON, LIMITED 49 RUPERT STREET LONDON, W. Published 1912. INSCRIBED TO E. C. MY BEST OF FRIENDS. CONTENTS I LATE FOR DINNER II MARK EXPLAINS III BRIDGET IV BRIDGET AT GRANDISON SQUARE V COLONEL FAVERSHAM VI CONCERNING BIRTHDAYS VII THE EXCURSION VIII A PROPOSAL IX MARK RETURNS X CONFIDENCES XI MARK REPORTS PROGRESS XII SYBIL XIII A WALK ABROAD XIV THE WOOING O'T XV MARK MAKES A BEGINNING XVI BUYING A CARPET--AND AFTER XVII HASTY WORDS XVIII HOW IT HAPPENED XIX AN APPOINTMENT XX IN SIGHT OF PORT XXI JIMMY SETS TO WORK XXII INCRIMINATING HIMSELF XXIII HAVING IT OUT XXIV A HOT SCENT XXV OPEN CONFESSION XXVI LAWRENCE SUMS IT UP XXVII "MRS. JIMMY" XXVIII EXEUNT OMNES ENTER BRIDGET CHAPTER I LATE FOR DINNER Concerning Bridget there was from the outset considerable difference of opinion. Mark Driver, for instance, always showed a tendency to something more than tolerance, and even Carrissima Faversham, in spite of a manifestly unfavourable bias, strove to hold the balance even. It was her brother Lawrence who took the most adverse view; insisting that Miss Rosser was neither more nor less than an adventuress--"a pretty woman on the make" was his expression, uttered, it is true, before he had an opportunity of seeing her face. Her entrance on the scene was heralded by Mark Driver one evening towards the end of March, when he had accepted an invitation to dine with his sister and Lawrence in Charteris Street, S.W. Carrissima's maid found her so exacting that evening, that she might have been going to an important party, instead of merely to a quiet dinner with her brother and his wife; but then, expecting Mark to make a fourth, she wished to look her very best, and flattered herself she had succeeded. Although she sometimes longed for the power to add a few inches to her stature, she realized that she had already much to be thankful for. Suppose, for example, that her eyebrows had been as fair as her hair, or even worse, her eyelashes, which as it happened were satisfactorily black. Mr. Lawrence Faversham, barrister-at-law, was thirty-two years of age, and rather short, although he always held his head in the air as if he were doing his best to appear taller. Hearing the street door bell ring, Mrs. Lawrence Faversham waylaid Carrissima on the stairs and insisted on taking her to gaze at little Victor, aged two, peacefully sleeping in the nursery. "Mark's late as usual," exclaimed Lawrence, as his sister presently sailed into the drawing-room. "Ten minutes past eight," he added, taking her hand.