"I--I know," he gulped. "But we've just got to tide her over the rough going until she's--until she's ready, you see." He could not force the miserable word out of his mouth. "Now, I have a plan. Are you prepared to back me up in it?" "How can I answer that question?" "Well, I'll explain," he went on rapidly, eagerly. "We've got to make a new position for her. I can't do it without your help, of course, so we'll have to combine forces. Now, here's the scheme I've worked out. You are to give her a place here,--not downstairs in the shop, mind you,--but upstairs in your own, private apartment. You--" "Good heavens, man! What are you saying? Would you have Lady Jane Thorne go into service? Do you dare suggest that she should put on a cap and apron and--" "Not at all," he interrupted. "I want you to engage her as your private secretary, at a salary of one hundred dollars a month. She's receiving that amount from the Smith-Parvises. I don't see how she can get along on less, so--" "My dear man!" cried the Marchioness, in amazement. "What _are_ you talking about? In the first place, I haven't the slightest use for a private secretary. In the second place, I can't afford to pay one hundred--" "You haven't heard all I have to say--" "And in the third place, Lady Jane wouldn't consider it in the first place. Bless my soul, you _do_ need sleep. You are losing your--" "She sends nearly all of her salary over to the boy at home," he went on earnestly. "It will have to be one hundred dollars, at the very lowest. Now, here's my proposition. I am getting two hundred a month. It's just twice as much as I'm worth,--or any other chauffeur, for that matter. Well, now what's the matter with me taking just what I'm worth and giving her the other half? See what I mean?" He was standing before her, his eyes glowing, his voice full of boyish eagerness. As she looked up into his shining eyes, a tender smile came and played about her lips. "I see," she said softly. "Well?" he demanded anxiously, after a moment. "Do sit down," she said. "You appear to have grown prodigiously tall in the last few minutes. I shall have a dreadful crick in my neck, I'm afraid." He pulled up a chair and sat down. "I can get along like a breeze on a hundred dollars a month," he pursued. "I've worked it all out,--just how much I can save by moving into cheaper lodgings, and cutting out expensive cigarettes, and going on the water-wagon entirely,--although I rarely take a drink as it is,--and getting my clothes at a department store instead of having them sent out from London,--I'd be easy to fit, you see, even with hand-me-downs,--and in a lot of other ways. Besides, it would be a splendid idea for me to practise economy. I've never--" "You dear old goose," broke in the Marchioness, delightedly; "do you think for an instant that I will allow you to pay the salary of my private secretary,--if I should conclude to employ one?"