"But I'm not self-sacrificing, you see!" Captain Guest explained, and in truth he did not look it. Cornelia's glance took in the magnificent proportions of the man, the indefinable air of birth and breeding, the faultless toilette; the strong, dark features. To one and all she paid a tribute of admiration, but the expression on the face was of concentrated self-sufficiency. At this point admiration stopped dead, to be replaced by an uneasy dread. Was Geoffrey Greville, even as his friend, frankly indifferent to everything but his own amusement, and if so, what of poor Elma and her dream? It was an awful reflection that in such a case she herself would be largely responsible for thrusting Elma into danger. Her expression clouded, and she stared through the window with unseeing eyes. Captain Guest's words had been so exceedingly plain that she had not affected to misunderstand their meaning, and the ice once broken, she was glad of the opportunity of solving her doubts. "You know Mr Greville very well. Is he--a flirt?" Captain Guest flashed a glance at her; a rapid, understanding glance. "He has been," he replied quietly. "A desperate flirt; but--he is not flirting now!" "You think--" "I'm sure!" Cornelia clasped her hands with a sigh of relief. "Then--?" "The Deluge!" "You mean--?" "He can't marry her, of course! She's a lovely girl, and everything that's nice, and good, and that kind of thing, but--not at all the kind of girl he ought to marry." "Ought he to marry someone hideous then, with an ugly temper? Poor fellow! Why?" "There's no necessity to be hideous, that I know of, though as a matter of fact he probably won't find a girl suitable as to means and position, who is anything like so attractive, personally, as Miss Ramsden. Greville is hardly his own master, Miss Briskett. He is not a rich man, and he has the place to think of. Besides, there's Madame to consider. Madame belongs to a noble house, and has high ideas for her son." "Is it the custom over here, for the mommas to choose wives for their sons? I don't know much about Mr Greville, but from the look of him I shouldn't suppose he was one of that sort. He has a kind of an air as if he'd want a lot of moving, once he got his head set! If he really cares--" Captain Guest shrugged expressively. "Oh, for the moment, of course, it's a case of `all for love, and the world well lost,' but in a few days' time Miss Ramsden will return home; they will drop out of each other's lives, and then prudence will come to the fore. There's a girl whom he has known for years, who is built for him all the way round. I don't say he'll like it so much, but he'll end by marrying her like a good boy."