broke in.

"--I shouldn't have the pleasure of going to Seasands with you now," he
concluded, and she gave her laugh. "Do I understand that simply my
growing fame wouldn't have prevailed with her?"

Anything seemed to make Miss Macroyd laugh. "She couldn't have cared
about that, and she wouldn't have known. You may be sure that it was a
social question with her after the personal question was settled. She
must have liked your looks!" Again Miss Macroyd laughed.

"On that side I'm invulnerable. It's only a literary vanity to be
soothed or to be wounded that I have," Verrian said.

"Oh, there wouldn't be anything personal in her liking your looks. It
would be merely deciding that personally you would do," Miss Macroyd
laughed, as always, and Verrian put on a mock seriousness in asking:

"Then I needn't be serious if there should happen to be anything so
Westangular as a Mr. Westangle?"

"Not the least in the world."

"But there is something?"

"Oh, I believe so. But not probably at Seasands."

"Is that her house?"

"Yes. Every other name had been used, and she couldn't say Soundsands."