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146 Yes, he had capped it, as you cap a candle with an extinguisher. Out it went. It was his very precision of thought that deprived it of all its meaning.

"And you have cooped yourself up all afternoon?" he asked.

"I haven't stirred. I expected Maud, you see, and then I had my new friends." And she nodded and just kissed her hand to the regiment of the Kelmscott Press.

"Oh, and it is too exciting about Maud," she said. "She told me that it was to be announced to-morrow, and that I might tell you now. She's engaged. Guess? No, don't guess, because you might guess right, and then I should be deprived of the pleasure of telling you. Charlie Lindsay, my scarcely-seen cousin."

"Ah, lucky fellow!" said Edgar. "I am delighted though; Miss Eddis will be exactly the wife for him. Charlie is too much of the disinterested critic with regard to life, instead of being an actor in it. She will make a man of him instead of letting him remain a Skimpole all his life. I like Charlie very much, but he is a little Skimpolian."

"Oh, but I hope Maud won't entirely cure him," she said. "Skimpoles aren't common; I think they should be preserved. It is rather nice that there should be a few people with no sense of duty or responsibility. They make one feel young."

Edgar did not in the least agree with this.

"We will discuss that," he said (and instantly Lucia felt as if she never wanted to hear the word Skimpole again), "though I do not think you could really justify what you say, dear. By the way, a curious coincidence. The first man I saw to-day at the club was Charlie, and being afraid I might not see anyone else, I asked him to dine to-night to fill your vacant place. He had another engagement, and though I urged him not to throw it over when I heard that, he really insisted on coming. He said the other engagement was a nightmare, and he proposed to have a sharp attack of influenza, especially as he is going out of town to-morrow for a few days. It was a little annoying, for at that moment Gerald Plympton came in, whom I would far rather have secured for you if possible."

"Oh, Edgar," said she, "I am glad you didn't. He would have had to sit next me, and he is heavy—heavy. He has a greater sense of responsibility than anyone I know."

Edgar considered this.