"I do, indeed, but that is no reason. You are no more sixty-five than I am. The cap, if you will pardon me, only proclaims your immunity from the blasts of Time." "I wish I had known you at twenty," she said brightly, as we went on together. "My subjection could not have been more complete." "Do you make speeches like that to Helen?" "If I do it is with less inspiration!" "You must stop chaffing me. I am not sixty-five for nothing and I don't think you are naturally disrespectful." When we reached the boat-house she took a chair on the little veranda and smiled as though something greatly amused her. "Mr. Donovan--I am sixty-five, as I have said before--may I call you--" "Larry! and gladden me forever!" "Then, Larry, what a lot of frauds we all are!" "I suppose we are," I admitted doubtfully, not sure where the joke lay. "You have been trying to be very kind to me, haven't you?" "I have accomplished nothing." "You have tried to make my way easy here; and you have had no end of trouble. I am not as dull as I look, Larry." "If I have deceived you it has been with an honest purpose." "I don't question that. But Helen has been giving you a great deal of trouble, hasn't she? You don't quite make her out; isn't that true?" "I understand her perfectly," I averred recklessly. "You are a daring young man, Larry, to make that statement of any woman. Helen has not always dealt honestly with you--or me!" "She is the noblest girl in the world; she is splendid beyond any words of mine. I don't understand what you mean, Miss Holbrook." "Larry, you dear boy, I am no more blind or deaf than I am dumb! Helen has been seeing her father and Reginald Gillespie. She has run off at night, thinking I wouldn't know it. She is an extremely clever young woman, but when she has made a feint of retiring early, only to creep out and drop down from the dining-room balcony and dodge your guards, I have known it. She was away last night and came creeping in like a thief. It has amused me, Larry; it has furnished me real diversion. The only thing that puzzles me is that I don't quite see where you stand." "I haven't always been sure myself, to be frank about it!" "Why not tell me just how it is: whether Helen has been amusing herself with you, or you with Helen." "Oh!" I laughed. "When you came here you told me she was the finest girl in the world, and I accepted your word for it. I have every confidence in your judgment, and you have known your niece for a long time." "I have indeed." "And I'm sure you wouldn't have deceived me!" "But I did! I wanted to interest you in her. Something in your eye told me that you might do great things for her." "Thank you!"