“What have I been saying?” I gasped.
“Oh, nothing.” He tried to pass it off carelessly. “Nothing—nothing at
all.”
“Tell me.”
“Oh, just about Brack and Betty; you thought he’d got her.”
He looked away.
“What else?”
“Oh, shut up, Gardy! You were out of your head. D’you s’pose I paid
any attention to what you were saying? Now drop that. How are you
feeling?”
“Embarrassed,” I replied.
“Don’t!” he protested. “Don’t you do it. It—it wasn’t anything like
that. It—it was all right. I knew it anyway.”
“Knew what?”
He looked at me for a long time. Then he appeared to change the
subject.
“Everything’s all right, old man. We’ve come to an understanding,
Betty and I. It’s all settled as it should be. I’ve had a lot of time
for long talks with Betty.” He laughed. “She’s opened her heart to me,
at last, and told me everything. We—we’ve been exploring hidden
country, Betty and I. Good phrase of Brack’s, that.”