"What for?" asked Carrissima.

"You see," he answered, "I'm a bad hand at sitting still with my hands
in my pockets. I suppose surgery makes one think something can always
be attempted."

"Still," suggested Carrissima, with a smile, "you can scarcely dream of
going to Golfney Place and asking Bridget's intentions!"

"The Lord knows!" said Mark. "I shall see how the cat jumps. Anyhow,
I am bound to have a look in."

"I shall feel curious to hear how you get along," answered Carrissima.
"And now suppose we banish the topic. Can't we talk about something
more agreeable? I am afraid I have been making my poor father a little
uncomfortable at home. Mark, I am developing into a little beast."

On the contrary, he thought she had never looked more charming. It is
probable that their recent separation caused him to regard Carrissima
more favourably than when he used to meet her, as a matter of course,
once or twice every week. He had not seen her face for longer than a
month, then only once after two or three months' separation. She came
upon him now as a kind of revelation, the more because of her obvious
anxiety on account of Colonel Faversham. For years he had ever found
her bright and equable; the best of good comrades, but this afternoon
their intercourse seemed for the first time to be touched by emotion.

"Tell me about your plans for the future--if you have made any,"
Carrissima urged.