nother couple were leaving it. One of the waiters
had recognised her as she came in, and, with the astute alacrity of his
kind, had taken possession of them and pre-empted the table before
anyone else could get near it. There were, in fact, others waiting who
had a prior right, but the gentleman in the plum coat and gold buttons
made it impossible for the superintendent of the room to interfere by
saying to Maxwell in his blandest tone:

"Good evening, sir; it's all right, sir. This is the table you engaged."

"He's a smart youth, that Fritz," said the girl as they sat down. "These
fellows here know which side their bread's buttered on, and they look
after their own customers."

"Yes, he seems to know his business," said Maxwell, "and now I suppose
the question is, what are we going to have?"

Fritz had come back, and was swiftly and rapidly removing the debris
left behind by their predecessors. The girl looked up at him with an air
of familiarity which Maxwell didn't altogether like, and said:

"What's good for supper, Fritz? I am hungry."

"A few oysters, miss, grilled sole, and a nice little porterhouse steak
between two. How's that, miss?"

She looked across at Maxwell and nodded, and he said, "Yes, I think that
will do very nicely. Let's have the oysters at once, and some brown
bread and butter."

"Yes, sir, certainly. Any wine, sir?"

The list was presented, opened, of course, at the champagne page.

"You'll have something fizzy, won't you?" he said, looking up from the
list.

"I suppose we may as well," she said, "only I don't want you to think me
too extravagant."

"Nonsense," he laughed, and then he told the waiter to bring a bottle of
Kock Fils '89.

When the man had gone on his errand Maxwell said somewhat diffidently:

"By the way, we seem to be getting to know each other pretty well, but
we've not exactly been introduced. I mean we don't know each other's
names yet."

"Oh, introductions are not much in fashion in the world that I live in,"
she said with a little flush. "Of course you don't need telling which
half of the world that is."

For the moment he felt an unreasonable resentment, either at the words
or the half defiant way in which she spoke them. He was quite old enough
both in years and the ways of the world to know exactly what she meant,
and he was perfectly well aware that she would not have accepted his
invitation to supper any more than she would have been in the promenade