‘I will be frank with you,’ I continued, more quietly.  ’I do not read between the lines:  in other words, I do not understand Gladys’s behaviour.  It may be as you say; I do not wish to delude you with false hopes, my poor Max; Gladys may care more for Captain Hamilton than she does for you; but it seems to me that you acted wrongly on one point; you meant it for the best; but you ought to have spoken to Gladys yourself.’

‘I wonder that you should say that, Ursula,’ he returned, in rather a hurt voice.  ’I may be weak about Miss Hamilton, but I am hardly as weak as that.  Do you think me capable of persecuting the woman I love?’

‘It would not be persecution,’ I replied firmly, for I was determined to speak my mind on this point.  ’Miss Darrell may have misconstrued her meaning:  the truth loses by repetition:  she may have added to or diminished her words.  A third person should never be mixed up in a love affair:  trouble always comes of it.  I think you were wrong, Max:  you let yourself be managed by Miss Darrell.  She has nothing to do with you or Gladys.’

‘I could not help it if she came to me.’

’True, she thrust herself in between you.  Well, it is too late to speak of that now.  If you will take my advice, Max,’ for the thought had come upon me like a flash of inspiration, ’you will go down to Bournemouth and speak to Gladys, keeping your own counsel and telling no one of your intention.’

I saw Max stare at me as though he thought I had lost my senses, and then a sudden light came into his eyes.

‘You will go down to Bournemouth,’ I went on, ’and the Maberleys will be glad to see you; you are an old friend, and they will ask no questions and think no ill.  You will have no difficulty in seeing Gladys alone.  Speak to her promptly and frankly; ask her what her behaviour has meant, and if she really prefers her cousin.  If you must know the worst, it will be better to know it now, and from her own lips.  Do go, Max, like a brave man.’  But even before I finished speaking, the light had died out of his eyes, and his manner had resumed its old sadness.

’No, Ursula; you mean well, but it will not do.  I cannot persecute her in this way.  Captain Hamilton is coming home in July:  she has given him permission to come.  I will wait for that.  I shall very soon see how matters stand between them.  I shall only need to see her with him; probably I shall not speak to her at all.’

I could have wrung my hands over Max’s obstinacy and quixotism:  he carried his generosity to a fault.  Few men would be so patient and forbearing.

How could he stand aside hopelessly and let another man win his prize?  But perhaps he considered it was already won.  I pleaded with him again.  I even went so far as to contradict my theory about a third person, and offered to sound Gladys about her cousin; but he silenced me peremptorily.

’Promise me that you will do nothing of the kind; give me your word of honour, Ursula, that you will respect my confidence.  Good heavens! if I thought that you would betray me, and to her of all people, I should indeed bitterly repent my trust in you.’