On reflection I agreed that this was so, although I had never seriously considered the matter before. Women have a curious habit of cataloguing their friends into a sort of order of merit--"My greatest friend, my greatest friend but six," and so on. The more sensitive male shrinks from such an invidious undertaking. Dicky and I had corresponded with one another with comparative regularity ever since our University days; and when two Englishmen, one hopelessly casual and the other entirely immersed in his profession, achieve this feat, I suppose they rather lay themselves open to accusations of this sort. "And he never told you he was engaged?" I shook my head apologetically. "Ah, well," said Miss Damer charitably, "I dare say he would have remembered later. One can’t think of everything in a single conversation, can one?" she added with an indulgent smile. I was still pondering a suitable and sprightly defence of masculine reserve where the heart is concerned, when the carriage swung round through lodge-gates, and the gravel of the drive crunched beneath our wheels. "I hope the old Freak and his girl will be very happy together," I said, rather impulsively for me. "He deserves a real prize." "You are right," said Miss Damer, "he does." My heart warmed to this little lady. She knew a good man when she saw one. "Have they been engaged long?" I asked. "About a month." "Where did he come across her?" "He did not come across her," replied Miss Damer with gentle reproof, as a Mother Superior to a novice. "They were brought together." "That means," I said, "that it is what is called an entirely suitable match?" Miss Damer nodded her small wise head. "From a parental point of view," I added. "From Lady Adela’s point of view," corrected Miss Damer. "Mr. Mainwaring, poor old dear, has not got one." "But what about The Freak’s point of view?" I enquired. "I can hear you quite well in your ordinary tone of voice," Miss Damer assured me. I apologised, and repeated the question. The girl considered. Obviously, it was a delicate subject. "He seems quite content," she said at last. "But then, he never could bear to disappoint any one who had taken the trouble to make arrangements for his happiness." "Would you mind telling me," I said, "without any mental reservation whatsoever, whether you consider that this engagement is the right one for him?" Miss Damer’s eyes met mine with perfect frankness. "No," she said, "I don’t. What is more, the engagement is beginning to wear rather thin. In fact,"--her eyes twinkled,--"I believe that Lady Adela is thinking of calling out her First Reserve." "You mean--" "I mean," said Miss Damer, "that Lady Adela is thinking of calling out her First Reserve." A natural but most impertinent query sprang to my lips, to be stifled just in time. "You were going to say?" enquired Miss Damer.