For a space I was speechless.  Then the ludicrous side of the matter struck me, and I laughed in spite of myself.  Better, after all, to deal with a fool according to his folly.  The Celebrity glanced at the door and drew his chair closer to mine.

“Crocker,” he said confidentially, “I’m glad you came here to-day.  There is a thing or two I wished to consult you about.”

“Professional?” I asked, trying to head him off.

“No,” he replied, “amateur,—­beastly amateur.  A bungle, if I ever made one.  The truth is, I executed rather a faux pas over there at Asquith.  Tell me,” said he, diving desperately at the root of it, “how does Miss Trevor feel about my getting out?  I meant to let her down easier; ’pon my word, I did.”

This is a way rascals have of judging other men by themselves.

“Well;” said I, “it was rather a blow, of course.”

“Of course,” he assented.

“And all the more unexpected,” I went on, “from a man who has written reams on constancy.”

I flatter myself that this nearly struck home, for he was plainly annoyed.

“Oh, bother that!” said he.  “How many gowns believe in their own sermons?  How many lawyers believe in their own arguments?”

“Unhappily, not as many as might.”

“I don’t object to telling you, old chap,” he continued, “that I went in a little deeper than I intended.  A good deal deeper, in fact.  Miss Trevor is a deuced fine girl, and all that; but absolutely impossible.  I forgot myself, and I confess I was pretty close to caught.”

“I congratulate you,” I said gravely.

“That’s the point of it.  I don’t know that I’m out of the woods yet.  I wanted to see you and find out how she was acting.”

My first impulse was to keep him in hot water.  Fortunately I thought twice.

“I don’t know anything about Miss Trevor’s feelings—­” I began.

“Naturally not—­” he interrupted, with a smile.

“But I have a notion that, if she ever fancied you, she doesn’t care a straw for you to-day.”

“Doesn’t she now,” he replied somewhat regretfully.  Here was one of the knots in his character I never could untie.

“Understand, that is simply my guess,” I said.  “You must have discovered that it is never possible to be sure of a woman’s feelings.”

“Found that out long ago,” he replied with conviction, and added:  “Then you think I need not anticipate any trouble from her?”

“I have told you what I think,” I answered; “you know better than I what the situation is.”

He still lingered.

“Does she appear to be in,—­ah,—­in good spirits?”

I had work to keep my face straight.

“Capital,” I said; “I never saw her happier.”

This seemed to satisfy him.

“Downcast at first, happy now,” he remarked thoughtfully.  “Yes, she got over it.  I’m much obliged to you, Crocker.”