"I should like to burn that damn band alive!" he remarked as he did so.
Dick shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.
Again Saltash's eyes dwelt upon him with curiosity. "I want to know you,"
he said suddenly. "I hope you don't object?"
"I am vastly honoured by your notice," said Dick.
Saltash nodded. "Well, don't be an ass about it! I am a most inoffensive
person, I assure you. And it isn't my fault that I was on friendly terms
with _Mademoiselle Juliette_ before she forsook the world, etc., etc.,
and turned to you to fill the void. Do you flatter yourself you are going
to marry her by any chance?"
A swift gleam shot up in Dick's eyes. He stiffened involuntarily. "That
is a subject I cannot discuss--even with you," he said.
Saltash smiled good-humouredly. "Well, I expected that. But your
courtship on the lake this afternoon was so delightfully ingenuous that
I couldn't help wondering what your intentions were."
Dick's mouth became a simple hard line. He looked the other man up and
down with lightning rapidity ere he replied with significance. "My
intentions, my lord, are--honourable."
Saltash bowed with his hand on his heart and open mockery in his eyes.
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