Ivy suddenly became intensely interested in the pattern of the carpet. “There is a⁠—a very good reason,” she said, in a voice hardly above a whisper.

The Professor glanced from one to the other and smiled with the smile of an old man who has not yet lost his sympathy with the dreams of youth.

“Will you tell me the reason, Miss Tovey?” he asked.

“We’re going to get married,” replied Ivy, blushing prettily.