Smith surveyed the actor through half-lidded eyes. “Any particular reason for the delay?” he inquired. The actor shrugged his shoulders. “No. I just didn’t know what to do about it. It was dashed unpleasant for me. Everybody on the boat saying that boy wanted to kill himself on account of me. I knew it was a fake. But I wasn’t sure. It was dashed unpleasant!” He whipped out a lavender silk handkerchief and delicately patted his brow. “I’ve had nothing but bad luck since we left New York. I wish to God I’d never gone on this trip.” “Ye-es,” drawled Smith. “You’ve had a lot of bad breaks.” He looked up at the ceiling. “By the way, you don’t happen to know if Mrs. Breese left a will?” “How should I know?” The actor carefully avoided my glance. “I wasn’t in Mrs. Breese’s confidence to that extent. I was just a friend.” “But you were engaged to her, weren’t you?” Smith asked. “Well, in a way. I didn’t have anything to do with it.” “Are you in the habit of permitting women to engage themselves to you?” demanded Smith. “Oh----” The actor squirmed. “You don’t understand. Dora was full of whims. She didn’t mean anything by it. She wasn’t seriously engaged.” “I see,” said Smith. “It was just a joke.” “Well, dash it all,” cried the actor, “what could I do? I couldn’t very well tell her I was engaged already. I was her guest. I didn’t want to offend her.” Smith smiled drily. “Yeah, that’d be bad manners. Now, Mr. Thomas, I’m not up on social etiquette, but here’s something that needs explaining. On the boat coming down Mrs. Breese announced her engagement to you; when did she break it?” “Why--she never broke it exactly. After all that fuss on the boat, why, Dora said we’d have to wait. I was glad of it! Then today I told her about my girl. She wished me luck. And everything was fine!” “I’m trying my best to understand,” said Smith. “You and Mrs. Breese were engaged, but when you told her you had a previous engagement, she just said: ‘Great!’ Is that it?” “Well, Dora wouldn’t stand in the way of my happiness.” “So much so,” continued Smith, “that she was going to give you a very substantial wedding present. A lot of money.” He paused significantly. “What for?” “What for?” the actor repeated. “She knew I didn’t have any money, and I stuck to her, didn’t I? I went through hell for her in the trial, didn’t I? Dash it all, she had some gratitude left. You don’t seem to understand. Dora and I have been friends for years. I’ve spent a lot of my time in Dora’s interests--taking her out, looking after things, seeing that she was comfortable. Dash it all, a woman appreciates that.” “And she wasn’t sore about this other girl?” demanded Smith. “Not the least bit jealous?” The actor smiled. “Oh, well, you can’t help that.” He swaggered a bit. “You couldn’t very well expect anything else, could you?” “Well, in my own roughneck way,” said Smith, “I’d expect her to blow up and throw you out of the house.”