Pat recovered herself. She wrested her hand from his clasp, feeling quite furious over her ridiculous position.

“You must forget all this nonsense, Mr. Wheeler,” she said decisively. “I hadn’t the slightest idea you felt that way about me. And…” Pat was growing angry, “just how did you come to imagine that I would marry you?”

Mr. Wheeler dropped her hand and looked down at her, with something rather unpleasant in his eyes.

“You have encouraged me to think so.” His voice had lost a good deal of its smooth oiliness. “I cannot believe you do not care for me.”

“Please try,” said Pat in a dangerous tone. It flicked on the raw. A dark flush spread over Mr. Wheeler’s face. He seemed all at once to be quite a different person.

“You have shown me very plainly that you liked my society, Miss Gardiner…almost too plainly. I consider that I had every right to suppose that my proposal would be welcome…very welcome. You have flirted with me shamelessly…you have lured me on, for your own amusement I must now suppose. I should have known it…I was well warned…I was told what you were.”

Pat, looking into his angry eyes, felt as she had felt one day when she had turned over an old, beautiful mossy stone in the Whispering Lane and seen what was underneath.

“I think you had better go, Mr. Wheeler,” she said icily.

“Oh, I’m going…I’m going…and rest assured I shall never darken the doors of this place again.”

Mr. Wheeler stalked off, his conceit considerably slimmed down, and Pat, still in a swither of various emotions, rushed into the kitchen, displaced a chairful of indignant cats, and gave tongue.

“Oh, oh, and what were you and His Riverince colloguing in the garden about that sint him down the lane at the rate av no man’s business?” demanded Judy.

“Judy, I’m feeling so many different things I don’t know which I’m feeling most. That horrible creature actually asked me…me, Pat Gardiner…to marry him! And he’d been eating onions, Judy!”

“Sure and weren’t ye by way av knowing he was a vegetarian,” said Judy coolly. “I’ve been ixpicting this for some time.”

“Judy! What made you expect it?”

“The way he had av looking at ye, whin ye weren’t looking at him.”

“Oh, Judy…the worst of it is…he thinks I encouraged him! I feel I’m disgraced. And when he found I wouldn’t marry him…he was horrid. He hasn’t any manners, not even bad ones.”

“The higher a monkey climbs the more he shows his tail,” quoted Judy. “Niver be taking it to heart, Patsy. Ye’re rid av him now for good.”

“I really think so, Judy. I’ve an idea he meant it when he said he would never darken our doors again.”