I don't
consider that that was treating me nicely."
"It wasn't," she admitted, "but you have forgiven me for it."
He nodded.
"Of course I have. Well, a few nights later I saw you dining with a man
whom I know slightly, a clever fellow, distinctly a man of the world.
You were dining with him alone. I followed you home to Coniston
Mansions. Then I came away, and hesitated for some time whether to get
drunk or go for a swim in the Thames. Eventually I went home to bed."
"It was very sensible," she murmured.
"The next night," he continued, "you were dining with the same man
again, only this time he did not go back with you to Coniston Mansions.
I did, and before I left you, you had promised to be my wife. You warned
me to ask you no questions, and I didn't. I know as little of you now as
I did on the steamer. I know that this man Norris Vine has a flat within
a few yards of yours, and in the same building, but I ask no questions.
I think that you must certainly acquit me of anything in the shape of
undue curiosity. I was content to know that I had fallen in love with
the sweetest little girl I had ever set eyes on."
She pressed his hand and sighed.
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