The hour was late, but in spite of Heriot's kindly suggestion that the rapture he anticipated from her conversation should be postponed till she had recovered from the fatigues of her journey, his fiancee unselfishly preferred to recompense him immediately for his prolonged deprivation of her society. He acceded at once to her wishes, with the most amiable air imaginable. "And now, my dear Madge," said he, when they were seated in a secluded corner of the lounge, "tell me all your news. In the first place, how's my own precious?" "I am very well, thank you," replied the lady, a little coolly. "Delighted to hear it!" "You could, of course, have discovered it sooner by simply writing to inquire," she pointed out, with the same air. "But I did, my dear girl, I did." "Once." "Only once, was it? Now, I could have sworn it was twice." "And did you think twice was often enough?" "Well, you see, Madge," he explained, "we got engaged in such a deuce of a hurry, and I had to rush off next morning, and so on. I didn't have time to ask you how often you wished me to write." "Didn't my last two unanswered letters give you any idea on the subject?" "Two letters, Madge? Now, do you know, I could have sworn it was only one." She looked at him steadily. "Heriot, what is the meaning of your conduct?" "To what points in it do you refer, my dear?" "I may tell you I have heard from Charlie Munro." It was remarkable how quickly Mr. Walkingshaw had developed. That reputation he still clung to when he saw her last was no longer a brake upon his downward career. "Poor old Charlie!" he laughed. "By Jove, Madge, I jolly well hoisted him with his own thingamajig!" She regarded him stonily. "And what of the business you went to see him about?" "Did I say I was going to see him on business?" "You did!" "Oh, no, no, my dear girl; you must have misunderstood me. Of course, it was natural enough; we were both rather carried away by our feelings that night, weren't we, Madge?" He took her hand and pressed it affectionately, but it made no response. "Why didn't you come to see me when you were in Edinburgh?" she inquired. "I ought to have," he answered, with an expression of the sincerest apology. "Yes, I suppose I ought to have." "You suppose! Didn't it occur to you at the time?" "Oh, yes, it occurred. In fact, my difficulty was to keep myself away from you." "May I ask why it was necessary to make the effort?" "Well, the fact is," he explained, "I had a little scheme for Jean which I wanted to keep a secret--" "And you couldn't trust me!" she interrupted. "A charming woman and a secret?" he smiled archly. "My dear girl, your rosy lips would have gone chatter, chatter, chatter all over the town!" She snatched her hand away with some degree of violence. "You talk like an idiot!" she replied. "My dear Madge! This is your own Heriot?" She took out a little handkerchief of lace and gently touched first one eye and then the other.