d in a white tea gown of chiffon
and lace, she looked like a moonbeam, and as if no mortal indisposition
had ever brushed her in passing. Instead of her pearls she wore a long
thin necklace of diamonds that seemed to frost her gown. She was smiling
and gracious and infinitely remote. The effect was as cold and steadying
as his morning's icy shower.

He shook her hand firmly. "Sorry you've been seedy. Hope it didn't lay
you up."

"Oh, no. I fancy I merely wanted an excuse to see Atlantic City. It was
just a touch of bronchitis and fled at once."

"Like Atlantic City?"

"No. It is merely an interminable line of ostentatiously rich hotels on
a _board walk_! None of the grace and dignity of Ostend--poor Ostend as
it used to be. The digue was one of the most brilliant sights in
Europe--but no doubt you have seen it," she added politely.

"Yes, I spent a week there once, but Bruges interested me more. I was
very young at the time."

"You must have been! Don't you like to gamble? The Kursaal could be
very exciting."

"Oh, yes, I like to gamble occasionally." (God! What banal talk!)
"Gambling with life, however, is a long sight more exciting."

"Yes, is it not? Atlantic City might do you good. You do not look at
all well."

"Never felt better in my life. A bit tired. Generally am at this time
of the year. May take a run down to Florida."

"I should," she said politely. "Shall you stay long?"

"That depends." (Presence of servants superfluous!) "Are you fond of
the sea?"

"I detest it--that boundless flat gray waste. A wild and rocky coast in
a terrific storm, yes--but not that moving gray plain that comes in and
falls down, comes in and falls down. It is the mountains I turn to when
I can. I often long for the Austrian Alps. The Dolomites! The
translucent green lakes like enormous emeralds, sparkling in the sun and
set in straight white walls. A glimpse of pine forest beyond. The roar
of an avalanche in the night."

"New York and Atlantic City _must_ seem prosaic." He had never felt so
polite. "I suppose you are eager to return?" (Why in hell don't those
servants bring the dinner!)

"I have not seen the Alps since two years before the war. Some day--yes!
Oh, yes! Shall we sit down?"

The two men entered with enormous dignity bearing plates of oysters as if
offering the Holy Grail and the head of Saint John the Baptist on a
charger. Impossible to associate class-consciousne