ix months of intimate association, Cairns did not yet know why he
had never seen Victoria without her stockings. Being man of the world
enough to know that discretion is happiness, he had never pressed the
point; a younger or more sensitive man would have torn away the veil, so
as to achieve total intimacy at the risk of wrecking it. He was not of
these, and vaguely Victoria did not thank him for a sentiment half
discreet, half indifferent; such an attitude for a lover suggested
disregard for essentials. As she grew stronger and healthier her brain
worked more clearly, and she began to realise that even ten years of
association with this man would yield no more than a pittance. And it
would be difficult to hold him for ten years.

Victoria certainly went ably to work to preserve for Cairns the feeling
of novelty and adventure. It was practically in deference to her
suggestions that he retained his chambers; he soon realised her wisdom
and entered into the spirit of their life. He still understood very well
the pleasure of being her guest. Victoria found no decline in his
desire; perhaps it was less fiery, but it was as coarse and as constant.
Certainly she was woman for him rather than merely a woman; moreover she
was a habit. Victoria saw this clearly enough and resolved to make the
most of it.

In accordance with her principles she kept her expenses down. She would
not even allow herself the luxury of a maid; she found it cheaper to pay
Mary higher wages. When Cairns was not expected her lunch was of the
simplest, and Charlotte discovered with amazement that her rakish
mistress could check a grocer's book. Victoria was not even above
cheating the Water Board by omitting to register her garden tap. All
these, however, were petty economies; they would result in a saving of
perhaps three hundred a year, a beggarly sum when pitted against the
uncertainties of her profession.

She realised all this within three or four months of her new departure,
and promptly decided that Cairns must be made to yield a higher revenue.
She felt that she could not very well tell him that a thousand a year
was not enough; on the face of it it was ample. It was necessary
therefore to launch out a little. The first step was to increase her
visible supply of clothes, and this was easily done by buying the cheap
and effective instead of the expensive and good. Cairns knew enough
about women's clothes to detect this now and then, but the change