Myra gazed at her fiancé in wide-eyed amazement and consternation when
she heard the news.
"Tony Standish, you must be blind and crazy!" she burst out
tempestuously. "I won't come to Auchinleven if Don Carlos is to be one
of your house party. I won't! Surely you must have seen for yourself
that Don Carlos has been making love to me on every possible occasion
for weeks? Yes, right in front of your very nose, Tony. He said he
would see to it that we were fellow-guests for the shooting--and now
you have invited him to Auchinleven!"
"I--er--I say, Myra, this is news to me," exclaimed Tony,
flabbergasted. "You--er--you don't actually mean to say that Don
Carlos has been making love to you in earnest? I can't imagine his
doing such a thing. I mean to say he--er--he seems an awfully good
sort, although he is a foreigner, and he and I have become quite pally.
He seems quite a good sport, and he does not strike me as being the
sort of chap who would poach on another fellow's preserves. Really,
Myra, this is quite a shock!"
"If you are referring to me as your 'preserves,' Tony, Don Carlos has
certainly been poaching--or trying to poach," said Myra. "He persists
in making love to me and refuses to be rebuffed, and he has repeatedly
sworn that he will take me from you and make me his own at all costs."
"The deuce he has!" ejaculated Tony, surprised, indignant, and
flustered. "I say, Myra dear, I--er--I wish--er--I wish you'd told me
this before--I mean before he and I became pally, I had no idea he was
really making love to you. No idea, I assure you. If I'd known, I
certainly wouldn't have invited him to Auchinleven or accepted his
presents. Now I don't know what the deuce to do. I'm in a frightfully
awkward position. Frightfully awkward!"
"Frightfully awkward!" Myra mimicked. "Oh, Tony, don't be such a
duffer! Unless you want to lose me, you've got to tell Don Carlos de
Ruiz--and tell him very, very plainly--that his attempts to make love
to me and win me away from you have got to stop. You've got to warn
him off."
"Why, of course I will, darling," said Tony, in flustered haste.
"Confound the fellow! I should not have believed it of him. Never
heard of such outrageous conduct. I'll go and see him at once, Myra,
and warn him that if he dares to attempt to make love to you again
I'll--er--I'll show him! Yes, by Jove!"