She nodded a little curtly but not unkindly, and swept toward the door, which Guy opened and closed after her.  Then he came slowly back, and, putting his arm around Virginia’s waist, kissed her.

“You don’t want to see the house, do you?” he asked.

Virginia shook her head.

“Not a bit,” she answered.  “I think that we had better go away.”

“There is no hurry,” he answered slowly.  “We may as well stay and talk it over a bit.  When one comes to think of it, it is trying the old lady pretty high, isn’t it?  Suppose we just review the situation for a minute or two.  Something might occur to us.”

Virginia leaned back against the cushions.

“Certainly,” she answered.  “You review it and I’ll listen.”

“Right!” Guy answered.  “I met you first, then, never mind exactly how long ago, on the steamer coming from America.  You were quite alone, unescorted, and unchaperoned.  That in itself, as of course you know, was a very remarkable thing.  Nevertheless, I think you will admit that it did not terrify me.  We became—­well, pretty good friends, didn’t we?”

“I think we did,” she admitted.

“Afterwards,” he continued, “we met again at Luigi’s restaurant.  There again I found you alone, in a restaurant where the women who know what they are doing would not dream of entering without a proper escort.  Forgive me, but I want you to understand the position thoroughly.  I saw, of course, that you were being annoyed by the attentions of almost every man who entered the place, and in my very best manner I came over and made a suggestion.”

Virginia sighed.

“You did it very nicely,” she murmured.

“I rather flatter myself,” he continued, “that I showed tact.  I asked simply to be allowed to sit at your table.  Before we had finished dinner I asked you, for the second time, to marry me.”

“That,” she declared, “was distinctly forward.”

“You will remember that I refused to discuss things with you then.  I told you that I was coming for you the next morning, and I mentioned what I thought of bringing with me.  When I arrived at your boarding-house you had gone.  You left no word nor any message.  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.