door, do you mind?" But he went to the door
himself, shut it, and came back to her. Leila looked up at him.

"Jimmy, if ever you loved me a little bit, be nice to me today. And if I
say things--if I'm bitter--don't mind; don't notice it. Promise!"

"I promise."

She took off her hat and sat leaning against him on the couch, so that
she could not see his face. And with his arm round her, she let herself
go, deep into the waters of illusion; down-down, trying to forget there
was a surface to which she must return; like a little girl she played
that game of make-believe. 'He loves me-he loves me--he loves me!' To
lose herself like that for, just an hour, only an hour; she felt that
she would give the rest of the time vouchsafed to her; give it all and
willingly. Her hand clasped his against her heart, she turned her face
backward, up to his, closing her eyes so as still not to see his face;
the scent of the gardenia in his coat hurt her, so sweet and strong it
was.

3

When with her hat on she stood ready to go, it was getting dark. She had
come out of her dream now, was playing at make-believe no more. And she
stood with a stony smile, in the half-dark, looking between her lashes
at the mortified expression on his unconscious face.

"Poor Jimmy!" she said; "I'm not going to keep you from dinner any
longer. No, don't come with me. I'm going alone; and don't light up, for
heaven's sake."

She put her hand on the lapel of his coat. "That flower's gone brown at
the edges. Throw it away; I can't bear faded flowers. Nor can you. Get
yourself a fresh one tomorrow."

She pulled the flower from his buttonhole and, crushing it in her hand,
held her face up.

"Well, kiss me once more; it won't hurt you."

For one moment her lips clung to his with all their might. She wrenched
them away, felt for the handle blindly, opened the door, and, shutting
it in his face, went slowly, swaying a little, down the stairs. She
trailed a gloved hand along the wall, as if its solidity could help
her. At the last half-landing, where a curtain hung, dividing off back
premises, she stopped and listened. There wasn't a sound. 'If I stand
here behind this curtain,' she thought, 'I shall see him again.' She
slipped behind the curtain, close drawn but for a little chink. It was
so dark there that she could not see her own hand. She heard the door
open, and his slow footsteps coming down the stairs. His feet, knees,
whole figure came into sig