'We see, Merton,' said Clancy, 'that you know a good deal which we did not know ourselves till lately. In fact, we did not know each other till the Church Congress at Leamington. Then the other men came to tea at my rooms, and saw--' 'A portrait of a lady; each of you possessed a similar portrait,' said Merton. 'How the dev--I mean, how do you know _that_?' 'By a simple deductive process,' said Merton. 'There were also letters,' he said. Here a gurgle from behind the screen was audible to Merton. 'We did not read each others' letters,' said Clancy, blushing. 'Of course not,' said Merton. 'But the handwriting on the envelopes was identical,' Clancy went on. 'Well, and what can our Society do for you?' 'Why, we saw your advertisements, never guessed they were _yours_, of course, Pussy, and--none of us is a man of the world--' 'I congratulate you,' said Merton. 'So we thought we had better take advice: it seemed rather a lark, too, don't you know? The fact is--you appear to have divined it somehow--we find that we are all engaged to the same lady. We can't fight, and we can't all marry her.' 'In Thibet it might be practicable: martyrdom might also be secured there,' said Merton. 'Martyrdom is not good enough,' said Clancy. 'Not half,' said Bathe. 'A man has his duties in his own country,' said Brooke. 'May I ask whether in fact your sorrows at this discovery have been intense?' asked Merton. 'I was a good deal cut up at first,' said Clancy, 'I being the latest recruit. Bathe had practically given up hope, and had seen some one else.' Mr. Bathe drooped his head, and blushed. 'Brooke laughed. Indeed we _all_ laughed, though we felt rather foolish. But what are we to do? Should we write her a Round Robin? Bathe says he ought to be the man, because he was first man in, and I say _I_ ought to be the man, because I am not out.' 'I would not build much on _that_,' said Merton, and he was sure that he heard a rustle behind the screen, and a slight struggle. Julia was trying to emerge, restrained by Miss Crofton. 'I knew,' said Clancy, 'that there was _something_--that there were other fellows. But that I learned, more or less, under the seal of confession, so to speak.' 'At a picnic,' said Merton. At this moment the screen fell with a crash, and Julia emerged, her eyes blazing, while Miss Crofton followed, her hat somewhat crushed by the falling screen. The three young men in Holy Orders, all of them desirable young men, arose to their feet, trembling visibly.