Page:Tales of the long bow.pdf/79

 By the insight of his own insanity, he knew well enough that she would have known well enough whether Hunter was standing, if—if there had been anything like what he supposed. The removal of the steadying weight staggered him, and he had said something quite indefensible.

"I thought you would know. I thought you and he were probably—well, the truth is I thought you were engaged, though I really don't know why."

"I can't imagine why," said Elizabeth Seymour. "I heard he was engaged to Lord Normantower's daughter. They've got our old place now, you know."

There was a silence and then Hood spoke suddenly in a loud and cheerful voice.

"Well, what I say is `Vote for Hunter,'" he said heartily. "After all, why not vote for Hunter? Good old Hunter! I hope he'll be a Member of Parliament. I hope he'll be Prime Minister. I hope he'll be President of the World State that Wells talks about. By George, he deserves to be Emperor of the Solar System."

"But why," she protested, "Why should he deserve all that?"

"For not being engaged to you, of course," he replied.