"Can one what?" she asked coolly.

"Scenting a romance or a mystery," he replied. "In any case, Mr.
Phillips must be a man of some determination, to risk so much just for
the sake of getting home."

She turned and recommenced their promenade.

"I wonder whether you realise that it isn't etiquette to question a
nurse about her patient," she reminded him.

"I'm sure I am very sorry," he assured her. "I didn't imagine that my
questions were in any way offensive. I told you from the first that I
was always interested in invalids and cases of illness."

She turned her head and looked at him. Her glance was reproving, her
manner impatient.

"Really, Mr. Crawshay," she said, "I think that you are one of the
most inquisitive people I ever met."

"It really isn't inquisitiveness," he protested. "It's just obstinacy.
I hate to leave a problem unexplained."

"Then to prevent any further misunderstanding, Mr. Crawshay," she
concluded, a little coldly, "let me tell you that there are private
reasons which make any further questioning on your part, concerning
this matter, impertinent."

Crawshay lifted his cap. He had the air of a man who has received a