ld read nothing from the lowered, pinched countenance.

"We could leave together if you are tired of us," Mariana continued.
"It's James, really, who is making all the trouble. He has some stupid
idea about nobility of conduct and my best good. But the real truth is
that he's afraid, for me, of course, and so he won't listen."

"Won't you show her that it is impossible?" the younger man cried at
Howat Penny. "I can't take advantage of her heavenly courage. She
doesn't realize the weight of opinion. It would make--"

"Stuff," she interrupted. "You'd make steel, and I would make an
occasional dessert. You must be told, Jimmy, that the afternoon calling
you have confused with life really isn't done any more. You have been
brought up in rather a deadly way. You ought to be saved from yourself.
I am a very mature person, and I am advising you calmly."

The dinner had come to an end; a decanter, in old-fashioned blue and
gold cutting, of brandy, a silver basket of oranges, the coffee cups and
glasses, were all that remained; and James Polder played with the cut
fruit, the half-full cordial glass before him. "I am going to be
brutally frank, Jimmy," she said again. "You know that is a habit of
mine, too. You are a very brilliant young man, but you are not
omnipotent--you require stiffening, like a collar. And I would be a
splendid laundress for you. Harriet is a long shot too lenient. I might
not be so comfortable to live with, but I'd be bracing. I'd have you in
that dirty little superintendent's box in no time."

He made no reply; and, obviously tormented, automatically squeezed a
half orange into his goblet. Then he took a sip of brandy.

"Together, James," Mariana asserted, "we would go up like a kite. By
yourself--forgive me--you haven't enough patience, enough balance; you
wouldn't fly steadily. You might break all your sticks on the ground."
He moodily emptied what remained of his brandy into the goblet and
orange juice, and pushed it impatiently away. "I'd rather do that," he
answered, "than try to carry you with me on such a flight."

Howat Penny was conscious of a diminution of his fears. He had entirely
underrated James Polder; the latter was an immense sight steadier than
Mariana. His thoughts strayed momentarily to Harriet, back again in her
public orbit. He could imagine that she had found Harrisburg insuperably
dull, the hours with only Cherette empty after the emotional debauches
of the plays elected by V