Now Titania believed that she was very smart and very clever, and that she would do things subtly and do them better than Bradstock or a barrister, even if he was a K.C. And as it is the most invariably weak point in people that they think young people fools, or at any rate easily hoodwinked, she really believed that Bob, her dearly beloved young scoundrel of a grandson, would be as easy to work on as butter. And yet she had the sense to see that Bob adored Penelope. "I am very greatly troubled about Penelope, Bob," she said to him, as soon as she got him alone. "Don’t you worry about Pen, granny," replied Bob, cheerfully, "she can take care of herself. Why, she can drive a motor-car now up to about thirty miles an hour, and Geordie Smith says she’s all there. And so does old Guth. He had long talks with her, and he says she has brains. I tell you old Guth knows ’em when he sees ’em." Titania nodded. "Oh, I know she is clever, dear, but her ideas are so extraordinary." "Ain’t they?" said Bob. "I do wonder which of ’em she’ll marry, don’t you?" "Indeed I do," replied his grandmother. "Have you any idea, Bob, which she likes best?" Bob shook his head. "Not me. I wish it was Goby; old Goby is a ripping good sort. He knows what’s what, does old Goby." Goby tipped him freely and frequently, and Bob sold him a spavined pony, aged fifteen years. "He’s a bit of a fool, of course," said Bob, thoughtfully. "Do you know, granny, he isn’t the judge of horses you’d think he is?" "Does Penelope ever confide in you, Bob?" asked Titania. There was a touch of anxiety in her voice that the boy felt at once. He put his head on one side and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t answer the question. "I say, granny, don’t you think I can have a bigger allowance now? I find mine much too little. If I had ten shillings a week more, I could get on for a bit." "You shall have it," said Titania. "Does she ever confide in you, Bob?" "Some," said Bob, carelessly. "Which do you think she likes best?" asked Titania. "I don’t know," said Bob, "but I dare say I could find out. I say, should you be very angry if it was Gordon?" Titania uttered a little scream. "Great heavens, Bob, I should die of it!" Bob sat down and looked at her. "He’s not bad, granny, not half mean, oh, no, not at all!" He had given Bob as much as he gave Miss Harriet Weekes about three days before. "I rather like him," said Bob. "Pen thinks he’s much improved since she put him in harness with the Frenchy. It touched her his going up in a balloon. I say, may I go up in a balloon? Rivaulx said I might." "No!" screamed his grandmother. "Oh, Bob, you wouldn’t?" "I won’t if you don’t want me to," sighed Bob, "but it’s a horrid disappointment. He says going up in one is jolly, and London underneath is ripping. If I don’t, will you ask grandfather to give me another hunter?"