“By the Lord Harry!” exclaimed Junius, “you are the rarest wooer I ever heard of.”

“I assure you,” said Lawrence, his face flushing somewhat, “that it is not my desire to carry on my wooing in this fashion.  My whole soul is opposed to it, but circumstances will have it so.  And as I don’t intend, if I can help it, to have my life determined by circumstances, I must go ahead in despite of them, although I admit that it makes the road very rough.”

“I should think it would,” said Junius.  And then there was a pause in the conversation.

“Well, Mr Keswick,” said Lawrence, presently, “Will you do this thing for me?”

“Am I to understand,” said Junius, “that if I don’t do it, it won’t be done?”

“Yes,” said Lawrence, “you are positively my last chance.  I have racked my brains to think of some other way of presenting my case to Miss March, but there is no other way.  I might stand at my door, and call to her as she entered the carriage, but that would be the height of absurdity.  I might hop on one foot into the house, but, even if I wished to present myself in that way, I don’t believe I could get up that long flight of steps.  It would be worse than useless to write, for I should not know what was thought of my letter, or even if it had been read.  Mrs Keswick cannot carry my message; Mrs Null will not; and I have only you to call upon.  I know it is a great deal to ask, but it means so much to me—­to both of us, in fact—­that I ask it.”

“You were kind enough to say a little while ago,” said Junius, “that you considered me an honorable man.  I try to be such, and, therefore, will frankly state to you that I can think of but three motives, satisfactory to myself, for undertaking this business for you, and not one of them is a generous one.  In the first place, I might care to do it in order to have this matter settled, for you are such an extraordinary suitor, that I don’t know in what form you may turn up, the next time.  Secondly, from what you tell me of Miss March’s repugnance to meet you, I don’t believe my mission will have an issue favorable to you, and the more unfavorable it is, the better I shall like it.  My third reason for acting for you is, that the whole affair is such an original one that it will rather interest me to be engaged in it.  This last reason would not hold, however, if I had the least expectation of being successful.”

“You consent then?” said Lawrence, quickly, turning towards the other.  “You’ll go to Miss March for me?”

“Yes, I think I will,” said Junius, “if you will accept the services of a man who is decidedly opposed to your interests.”

“Of course I never expected you to favor them,” said Lawrence, “nor is it necessary that you should.  All I ask is, that you carry a message to Miss March, and if she needs any explanation of it, that you will explain in the way that I shall indicate; that you shall tell me how she received my message; and that you shall bring me back her answer.  There is no need of your making any proposition to her; that has already been done; what I want is, that she should not go away from here with a misunderstanding between us, and that she shall give me at least the promise of a hearing.”