If Laura had had proper pride, if she had even shown that she was disappointed—for, of course, she must have been disappointed——Oh! (Mrs. Cloud’s smile would deprecate her worldliness) if she had done no more than talk for a day or two of how fond she was of rubies or of pearls or whatever it was—why, then Justin would have got the idea well into his head, and the ring would have been bought! Nobody could say that Justin was not generous.... He must have spent pounds on the books he brought back that very day for Laura.... But still—they weren’t an engagement ring and nothing would make them one.... Thus far—but you would never have got it out of her—a reminiscent Mrs. Cloud. But besides Mrs. Cloud there had been Brackenhurst to consider. Brackenhurst also had wanted an engagement ring. Without that certificate Mr. Cloud and Miss Laura Valentine might ‘understand’ each other—Brackenhurst had arranged long ago for them to do that—but it could not call them engaged. Indeed, it had at last, in desperation, circulated the rumour that old Mr. Valentine had Put his Foot Down. Old Mr. Valentine, who still called his grey-haired daughter and the niece who sometimes came to stay ‘the girls,’ who locked the front door, winter and summer, at ten o’clock, and thereafter sat up for strayed revellers in his skull-cap and dressing-gown, with a candle in one hand and his great gold watch open in the other, and an expression upon his face that few cared to encounter twice—old Mr. Valentine, it was said, had permitted no public engagement until Laura was one-and-twenty. It was a useful rumour, one that satisfied Brackenhurst and did not displease Mrs. Cloud. Because, you see, it would have been difficult to explain to the incredulous that there was no engagement ring on Laura’s finger because—because—well, to tell you the truth (Aunt Adela would have done it more unctuously than Mrs. Cloud), the fact was that dear Justin kept on forgetting to buy one! And Laura—a good girl, but, between you and Aunt Adela, with curious ideas sometimes—apparently didn’t mind! Yes. Unconventional. Very. And so was Mr. Cloud. Oh, of course, if they were satisfied——But personally—Aunt Adela would not say so to every one—but personally, she must say—yes, exactly! Aunt Adela would have enjoyed herself.