"Well," she thought, "if he begins in this style there will soon
be another victim. Miss Van Tyne can talk to as bright a man as he
is and hold her own. Meanwhile she will assail him in a hundred
covert ways. Out of regard for his friend he should have shown
some disapproval of her; but there he sits quietly talking in the
publicity of the parlor."
"Mrs. Alston," said a friend at her elbow, "you ought to forewarn
your cousin and tell him of Mr. Munson's fate."
"He knows all about Mr. Munson," was her reply. "Indeed, the
latter is his most intimate friend. I suppose my cousin is
indulging in a little natural curiosity concerning this destroyer
of masculine peace, and if ever a man could do so in safety he
can."
"Why so?"
"Well, I never knew so unsusceptible a man. With the exception of
a few of his relatives, he has never cared for ladies' society."
Mrs. Alston was far astray in supposing that curiosity was
Ackland's motive in his rather prolonged conversation with Miss
Van Tyne. It was simply part of his tactics, for he proposed to
waste no time in skirmishing or in guarded and gradual approaches.
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