We made a topping foursome"--ingenuously. "And now it's all
over, I feel rather like a kid going back to school after the holidays."
Eliot found himself sympathising against his will. It was as difficult to
maintain an inimical attitude towards Tony as to resist the spontaneous
advances of a confiding puppy.
"Couldn't you persuade your uncle that a more bracing climate might suit
him, too?" suggested Eliot, with a faint smile.
Tony flashed him a quick glance from under his long lashes--half laughing,
half deprecating.
"That's just it," he admitted frankly. "I can't budge him. Doreen and I
are--well, half engaged, you know--"
"Half-engaged?" asked Eliot, lifting his brows.
Tony nodded, suddenly moody.
"Yes. Depending on her health and my good conduct"--rather bitterly. "So
they're swishing her off to the Swiss mountains for the one and my uncle is
removing me from the temptations of Monte Carlo for the other."
"What part of Switzerland are the Nevilles going to?" inquired Eliot, more
for the sake of saying something than because the subject held the remotest
interest for him. "Davos?"
"No. Somewhere up above Montricheux."
"Montricheux?" The word left Eliot's lips involuntarily.
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