It was about five months later that Cecil Reeve wrote his long reply
to a dozen letters from Clive Bailey which heretofore had remained
unanswered and neglected: "--For Heaven's sake, do you think I've nothing to do except
to write you letters? I never write letters; and here's the
exception to prove it. And if I were not at the Geyser Club,
and if I had not dined incautiously, I would not write this!

"But first permit me the indiscretion of asking you why an
engaged man is so charitably interested in the welfare of a
young girl who is not engaged to him? And if he is
interested, why doesn't he write to her himself and find out
how she is? Or has she turned you down?

"But you need not incriminate and degrade yourself by
answering this question.

"Seriously, Clive, you'd better get all thoughts of Athalie
Greensleeve out of your head as long as you intend to get
married. I knew, of course, that you'd been hard hit.
Everybody was gossiping last winter. But this is rather raw,
isn't it?--asking me to find out how Athalie is and what she
is doing; and to write you in detail? Well anyway I'll tell
you once for all what I hear and know about her and her
family--her family first, as I happen to have had dealings
with them. And hereafter you can do your own philanthropic
news gathering.