'I made a lasting impression.'

'So have I for four months. But that didn't console me in the least. I
hated the man. Will you stop smiling in that inscrutable way and
tell me what you mean?'

Mrs. Mallowe told.

'And you mean to say that it is absolutely Platonic on both sides?'

'Absolutely, or I should never have taken it up.'

'And his last promotion was due to you?'

Mrs. Mallowe nodded.

'And you warned him against the Topsham Girl?'

Another nod.

'And told him of Sir Dugald Delane's private memo about him?'

A third nod.

'Why?'

'What a question to ask a woman! Because it amused me at first. I
am proud of my property now. If I live, he shall continue to be
successful. Yes, I will put him upon the straight road to
Knighthood, and everything else that a man values. The rest