"I'm on the anxious seat, you know--waiting to find out whether I'm to be
the happiest man alive."

"You know as much about it as I do." She echoed his laugh ruefully. "I'm
still as much at sea as I was last week. I couldn't tell then, and I can't
now."

"No news is good news, they say."

"I don't want to marry you a bit, but you're a great catch, as you are
very well aware."

"I suppose I am rather a catch," he agreed, the shadow of a smile at the
corners of his mouth.

"It isn't only your money; though, of course, that's a temptation," she
admitted audaciously.

"I'm glad it's not only my money." He could laugh with her about it
because he was shrewd enough to understand that it was not at all his
wealth. Her cool frankness might have frightened away another man. It
merely served to interest Ridgway. For, with all his strength, he was a
vain man, always ready to talk of himself. He spent a good deal of his
spare time interpreting himself to attractive and attracted young women.

Her gaze fastened on the tip of her suede toe, apparently studying it
attentively. "It would be a gratification to my vanity to parade you as
the captive of my bow and spear. You're such a magnificent specimen, such
a berserk in broadcloth. Still. I shan't marry you if I can help it--but,