"
"After proposing to her?"
"Certainly. He wouldn't do it before."
"There's been some frightful mistake," said Meldon. "I must go back
and set things straight at once."
"Wait a minute. Surely this is what you wanted all along?"
"No. It isn't. What I arranged--what do you suppose I brought
Simpkins here for?"
"I don't know in the least. To tell you the truth, Simpkins strikes me
as _de trop_. What did you bring him for?"
"I brought him to marry Miss King, of course."
"I must have misunderstood you this morning," said the judge. "I
thought Major Kent was the man you were backing."
"You can't have thought that," said Meldon. "I spoke quite plainly."
"My niece seems to have made the same mistake," said the judge. "I'm
sure she was quite prepared to take the man you recommended, whoever he
was, and she has taken Major Kent. You can't have spoken as plainly as
you thought you did. We both took you up wrong."
"Who brought the Major here?"
"Till just this minute" said the judge, "I thought you did."
"I didn't. How could I possibly have brought him when I was on at
Donard kidnapping that idiot Simpkins, and carrying him off from the
middle of a tennis tournament.
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