[BASIL _pauses a moment, while_ JOHN _looks at him with amusement. He fills his pipe._ JOHN. [_Lighting his pipe._] Nice gal, Hilda--ain't she? BASIL. [_Enthusiastically._] Oh, I think she's perfectly charming.... But what makes you say that? JOHN. [_Innocently._] Oh, I don't know. Passed through my head. BASIL. I say, I've got something to tell you, John. JOHN. Well, don't be so beastly solemn about it. BASIL. [_Smiling._] It's a solemn thing. JOHN. No, it ain't. I've done it myself. It's like a high dive. When you look down at the water it fairly takes your breath away, but after you've done it--it's not so bad as you think. You're going to be married, my boy. BASIL. [_With a smile._] How the deuce d'you know? JOHN. [_Gaily._] Saw it with mine own eyes. I congratulate you, and I give you my blessing. I'll get a new frock-coat to give the lady away in. BASIL. You?... [_Suddenly understanding._] You're on the wrong tack, old man. It's not your sister-in-law I'm going to marry. JOHN. Then why the dickens did you say it was? BASIL. I never mentioned her name. JOHN. H'm! I've made rather more than an average ass of myself, haven't I? BASIL. What on earth made you think ...? JOHN. [_Interrupting._] Oh, it was only some stupid idea of my wife's. Women are such fools, you know. And they think they're so confoundedly sharp. BASIL. [_Disconcerted_--_looking at him._] Has Mrs. Murray ...? JOHN. No, of course not! Well, who the deuce are you going to marry? BASIL. [_Flushing._] I'm going to marry Miss Jenny Bush. JOHN. Never heard of her. Is it any one I know? BASIL. Yes, you knew her. JOHN. [_Searching his memory._] Bush ... Bush.... [_With a smile._] The only Jenny Bush _I've_ ever heard of was a rather pretty little barmaid in Fleet Street. Presumably you're not going to marry her. [JOHN _has said this quite lightly, not guessing for a moment that it can have anything to do with the person_ BASIL _proposes to marry. Then, since_ BASIL _makes no answer_, JOHN _looks at him sharply: there is a silence while the two men stare at one another._ JOHN. Basil, it's not the woman we used to know before you went out to the Cape? BASIL. [_Pale and nervous, but determined._] I've just told you that you used to know Jenny. JOHN. Man alive, you're not going to marry the barmaid of the "Golden Crown"? BASIL. [_Looking at him steadily._] Jenny _was_ a barmaid at the "Golden Crown." JOHN. But, good Lord, Basil, what d'you mean? You're not serious? BASIL. Perfectly! We're going to be married this day week. JOHN. Are you stark, staring mad? Why on earth d'you want to marry Jenny Bush? BASIL. That's rather a delicate question, isn't it? [_With a smile._] Presumably because I'm in love with her. JOHN. Well, that's a silly ass of an answer. BASIL. It's quite the most obvious. JOHN.