Let us talk of something else." "It was on the tip of your impulsive tongue," said I cheerfully, "to refer to my attitude towards Miss Faversham." "I'm desperately sorry," said he, reddening.

"It was unpardonable.

But how did you guess ?" I laughed and quoted the Latin tag about the ingenuous boy of the ingenuous visage and ingenuous modesty.
"Because I don't feverishly search the postbag for a letter from Miss Faversham you conclude I'm a bloodless automaton ?" "Please don't say any more about it, Simon," he pleaded in deep distress.
A sudden idea struck me.

I reflected, walked to the window, and, having made up my mind, sat down again.

I had a weapon to hand which I had overlooked, and with the discovery came a weak craving for the boy's sympathy.