Page:Georgie by Dorothea Deakin, 1906.djvu/55

The Goddess Girl deed, I had never for a moment imagined that this engagement had been the unassisted doing of our light-hearted, ingenuous Georgie. I knew Anne too well. I knew the value she set on Georgie's pretty property, and a certain speculative light, dominating her steady brown eyes, had illumined the dark pages of her mind for me to some purpose. I was, however, to marry her sister. And I was too fond of Georgie to wish him to do anything dishonorable. So far as I could see at present, there was no decent way of putting an end to the absurd engagement.

"Everyone tells me," Georgie said sadly, "that Anne is a born manager. By the expression in her eye, I sometimes think she is going to manage me."

I laughed. I rather thought she was.

"Before we were engaged," he went on, "she was as sweet as sugar. She listened to me for hours at a time, and never seemed bored—as you do."

"Thanks," said I shortly. "I don't expect gratitude from you, but a little common—" 39