“Good morning,” I said. “I’m afraid this isn’t a professional call, but a personal one. I’ll put it plainly. I dare say you’ll have realized that I’m in love with Megan. I’ve asked her to marry me and she has refused. But I’m not taking that as final.”

I saw Symmington’s expression change, and I read his mind with ludicrous ease. Megan was a disharmonious element in his house. He was, I felt sure, a just and kindly man, and he would never have dreamed of not providing a home for his dead wife’s daughter. But her marriage to me would certainly be a relief. The frozen halibut thawed. He gave me a pale cautious smile.

“Frankly, do you know, Burton, I had no idea of such a thing. I know you’ve taken a lot of notice of her, but we’ve always regarded her as such a child.”

“She’s not a child,” I said shortly.

“No, no, not in years.”

“She can be her age anytime she’s allowed to be,” I said, still slightly angry. “She’s not twenty-one, I know, but she will be in a month or two. I’ll let you have all the information about myself you want. I’m well off and have led quite a decent life. I’ll look after her and do all I can to make her happy.”

“Quite—quite. Still, it’s up to Megan herself.”

“She’ll come round in time,” I said. “But I just thought I’d like to get straight with you about it.”

He said he appreciated that, and we parted amicably.

III

I ran into Miss Emily Barton outside. She had a shopping basket on her arm.

“Good morning, Mr. Burton, I hear you went to London yesterday.”

Yes, she had heard all right. Her eyes were, I thought, kindly, but full of curiosity, too.

“I went to see my doctor,” I said.

Miss Emily smiled.

That smile made little of Marcus Kent. She murmured:

“I hear Megan nearly missed the train. She jumped in when it was going.”

“Helped by me,” I said. “I hauled her in.”

“How lucky you were there. Otherwise there might have been an accident.”

It is extraordinary how much of a fool one gentle inquisitive old maiden lady can make a man feel!

I was saved further suffering by the onslaught of Mrs. Dane Calthrop. She had her own tame elderly maiden lady in tow, but she herself was full of direct speech.

“Good morning,” she said. “I heard you’ve made Megan buy herself some decent clothes? Very sensible of you. It takes a man to think of something really practical like that. I’ve been worried about that girl for a long time. Girls with brains are so liable to turn into morons, aren’t they?”

With which remarkable statement, she shot into the fish shop.