'We both seem to have come to
this, don't we?' I answered with a shrug and a glance around.
"'I have run down here,' he went on, still betrayed back to his
old Tottenham Court Road manner, 'because I have an announcement
to make to you. . . . Have you read your _Times_ to-day?'
"He was priceless. Oh, he was falling to me--falling to me like
a ripe peach! He held out a scrap of paper.
"'Do I look like a man that takes in the _Times_?' I purred '--at
twopence a day, and the price likely to go up, they tell
me. . . . But I can guess your news, for I've watched the house.
. . . You've come all this way to tell me that you're going to
marry Constantia Denistoun. . . . Well?'
"'You have been watching the house?' asked he, staring, as it
took him aback.
"'Of course I have. . . . And she didn't tell you? . . . Gad! If
she didn't tell you, she isn't yours yet, and I've a doubt if
she's ever like to be. Did she give you leave to put in that
announcement?'
"Farrell cleared his throat.
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