to a girl
until they spent a holiday together. At the end of the first week he
gave her a black eye. What more do you want than that?'

'Nothing,' replied Henry, 'if she was quite satisfied. Do you think
William's disillusionment will be as abrupt as all that?'

'I'm hopeful. Now don't talk to me until I've finished my letter to
Gladys, which demands effort on my part. It must read as if I really
wanted her to come.'

Evidently the letter was effective, for Gladys rang up directly she
received it and told me she'd be simply charmed to come and that it was
perfectly sweet of me to have her. (I rather thought it was myself.)

She came the next day with an abnormal amount of luggage for such a
brief visit. But as I told Henry (who said it looked as though she
intended wintering in our abode), I had distinctly stipulated that the
invitation was for a week only. I was not at that time aware of the
barnacle-like qualities of Gladys.

As I anticipated, William also descended on us when he knew we had
Gladys for a visitor. I left them alone together at every opportunity,
and for a day or two all went well.

Things might have gone better (for Gladys) if she hadn't attempted to
be clever. As a matter of fact she over-reached herself. To this day
I believe she ascribes her failure to Dr. Johnson, though she was far
more to blame than that good old man. She talks very bitterly against
him even now.

You see, knowing William's weakness, she played up to it, but not being
clever she hadn't got her subject properly in hand. I know the poor
girl worked hard at the _Aphorisms_, but she had exhausted what she
knew of those by the end of the first day. She did her best, I will
admit, and even took the _Lives of the English Poets_ to bed with her
and concentrated on them until midnight, while she dipped into _The
Vanity of Human Wishes_ before breakfast. But it was no use. William
discovered her deception rapidly, and it seemed to annoy him unduly.
His visits began to fall off, and after Gladys had artlessly remarked
to him one day, 'Who is that Mr. Boswell you're always talking
about--he must be a great friend of yours. I hope you'll introduce
me,' he ceased to come altogether.

He had, in fact, arrived at the stage where Gladys irritated him. So
had we. But unlike William we could not get away from her. Her visit
had already extended two weeks and was melting into a third, and she
gave no hint of returning h