"And didn't ask?" Tony panted.
"What does Paul ever ask? He's too stupid! Besides, with all my affairs, he sees my people come and go. Mr. Vidal vanished when he heard that Miss Armiger's here."
Tony went from surprise to mystification. "Not to come back?"
"On the contrary, I hope, as he took my boat."
"But he wishes not to see her?"
"He's thinking it over."
Tony wondered. "What, then, did he come for?"
Mrs. Beever hung fire. "He came to see Effie."
"Effie?"
"To judge if you're likely to lose her."
Tony threw back his head. "How the devil does that concern him?"
Again Mrs. Beever faltered; then, as she rose, "Hadn't I better leave you to think it out?" she demanded.
Tony, in spite of his bewildered face, thought it out with such effect that in a moment he exclaimed: "Then he still wants that girl?"
"Very much indeed. "That's why he's afraid———"
