she accepted him. She knows he's excitable and
undisciplined."

"Well, she's been disciplining him a little--probably the
best thing that could happen. Why not let the matter rest
there?"

"Leave Owen with the idea that you HAVE been the cause
of the break?"

He met the question with his easy smile. "Oh, as to that--
leave him with any idea of me he chooses! But leave him, at
any rate, free."

"Free?" she echoed in surprise.

"Simply let things be. You've surely done all you could for
him and Miss Viner. If they don't hit it off it's their own
affair. What possible motive can you have for trying to
interfere now?"

Her gaze widened to a deeper wonder. "Why--naturally, what
he says of you!"

"I don't care a straw what he says of me! In such a
situation a boy in love will snatch at the most far-fetched
reason rather than face the mortifying fact that the lady
may simply be tired of him."

"You don t quite understand Owen. Things go deep with him,