"You may set down that she keeps a farm." "Independent means?" "Well, yes, as it happens. Not that--" "To be sure--to be sure! When the affections are engaged, that doesn't weigh. Not, at any rate, with your friend. Still it may influence what I will call, Captain Hocken, the style of the approach. Style, sir, has been defined by my brother, Mr Joshua Benny--You may have heard of him, by the way, as being prominently connected with the London press. . . . No? A man of remarkable talent, though _I_ say it. They tell me that for lightness of touch in a Descriptive Middle, it would be hard to find his match in Fleet Street. . . . As I was saying, sir, my brother Joshua has defined style as the art of speaking or writing with propriety, whatever the subject. By propriety, sir, he means what is ordinarily termed appropriateness. Impropriety, in the sense of indelicacy, is out of the question in--a--a communication of this kind. Strict appropriateness, on the other hand, is not always easy to capture. May I take it that your friend has--er--enjoyed a seafaring past?" Cai gazed blankly at him for a short while, and broke into a simple hearty laugh. "Why, of course," said he, "you're thinking of my friend 'Bias Hunken! I almost took ye for a conjuror, first-along--upon my word I did! But once I get the drift o' your cunning, 'tis easy as easy." He gazed at Mr Benny and winked knowingly. "You may tell me, if you please," replied Mr Benny, himself somewhat mystified, but playing for safety. "You may tell me, of course, that 'tis not Captain Hunken but another man altogether: as different from Captain Hunken as you might be, for instance." Cai started. He was not good at duplicity, but managed to parry the suggestion. "We'll suppose it _is_ my friend, 'Bias," said he; "though 'Bias would be amused if he heard it." "Very well--very well indeed!" Mr Benny laid down his pen, rubbed his hands softly, and picked up the pen again. "Now we can get to work. . . . '_Honoured Madam_'--Shall we begin with 'Honoured Madam'? Or would you prefer something a trifle more--er--impassioned? Perhaps we had better open--er--warily--if I may advise, and (so to speak) warm to our subject. . . . There is an art, Captain Hocken, even in composing and inditing a proposal of marriage. . . . 'Honoured Madam--You will doubtless be surprised by the purport of this letter--' Will she be surprised, by the way?" "Cert'nly," Cai answered. "We agreed this is from 'Bias, remember."