han incessant occupation that is flattering to the vanity.
She walked with a new air, looked about her with confidence and a sense
of ownership. Above all, she had reached that almost super-human
state--she knew herself to be indispensable.

xiii

When Gaga seemed to be well enough, they went out for a time each day,
and Sally tried to interest him in plans for a change of home. He was
still so feeble that he was rather listless and querulous; but when she
told him the sort of flat she wanted nearer town, and the sort of
furniture, Gaga caught fire, and became enthusiastic. His eyes glowed.
Much more gently than ever before, and to that extent more tolerably, he
kissed her. He proclaimed Sally's genius. Everything she suggested
appeared to him more excellent than the last thing: if she had been a
silly girl she might have been made reckless. But having interested him
she became rather afraid of his eager support. The flat was to be _her_
flat. She did not want Gaga blundering in with enthusiastic mistakes.
And another thing was that the doctor warned her about the dangers of
excitement.

"Your husband's not a strong man, Mrs. Merrick," he said. "He's not
even a sound man. You don't want him to get too excited. It's bad for
him. Go slow."

"I'll try," agreed Sally. But it was with a shrug. "You see how he is. I
mustn't be out of his sight; and yet _something's_ got to be done."

"You're a very plucky girl," remarked the doctor feebly; and he went
away.

Sally's shrug had been sincere. She would have preferred to do
everything alone; but to do so would have been to make Gaga fully as ill
as any over-excitement could do. They accordingly went about together,
looking for a flat. They discovered one at last in Mayfair; and
decorations were begun there. It was not a large flat, and the rooms
were not all large; but it was cosy, and the furnishing of it was going
to give Sally a satisfaction hard to exceed. The two of them exulted in
the flat. They walked through and through it. They saw the wallpapers
and the paint, and admired everything in the most delicious manner
possible.

And then the doctor's warning was justified. Gaga collapsed. He fainted
in the flat, overcome by the smell of paint and the excitement of
proprietorship. With the help of one of the painters Sally took him home
in a cab and put him to bed. The doctor arrived, nodded, and was not in
the least surprised or alarmed. Sally was merely to be Gaga'