I have promised that she shall." "You are mad," the colonel declared.

"Just think a minute! Think what your feelings will be if she dies!" "I have thought, sir." The dogged note was in Merryon's voice again.

His face was a mask of impenetrability.

"If she dies, I shall at least have the satisfaction of knowing that I made her happy first." It was his last word on the subject.

He departed, leaving the colonel fuming.
That evening the latter called upon Mrs.Merryon.He found her sitting on her husband's knee smoking a Turkish cigarette, and though she abandoned this unconventional attitude to receive her visitor, he had a distinct impression that the two were in subtle communion throughout his stay.
"It's so very nice of you to take the trouble," she said, in her charming way, when he had made his most urgent representations.