to hold that she could love no man, had she stopped to give it
thought. Her advance to the skirmish was most spirited.

"Your opinion has the merit of sincerity," she said, "although, looking
back upon a--a certain day, I can't help but wonder whether you haven't
been guilty of mouthing pretty nothings for my poor ears."

"That proves my point right now." He was imperturbable. "You're
begging the question to gain----"

"You said----" she flashed, and then grew red.

"I said I'd let you ask no pardon of me. I said I'd let myself find no
flaw in you. But how does that embarrass my present argument?
Flawless perfection would be a mighty difficult thing to live with, day
in and day out. Living with a woman who never made a mistake could
have no appeal for me. She'd always be emphasizing my own
shortcomings. You become consistent and you'll catch me yawning some
day; grow logical and you'll almost scare me off! Why, you're a girl!"

Her laughter was like a bell on the still air.

"And you--you still sit there and insist that perfection has no
attraction for you? When you've just described, without knowing it,
the--the sort of a girl you think is perfect."

His lips curled in a way to quicken any woman's pulse.

"You have me beaten," he laughed. His eyes, dark as was the shadow
upon his face, made her breath unsteady. "I would like to watch you
play poker with Fat Joe. Your game would puzzle him more than a
little. Yes, you've surely left me without a leg on which to hobble
off, because it would be small spirited in me, wouldn't it, if I were
to tell you that you are the exception that makes my general rule hold
sound? I wouldn't, however, prescribe such a degree of perfection for
any other man's daily diet. It would prove his destruction."

"Your own superiority, of course, rendering you immune?"

"Maybe." At least, whether she knew it or not, she loved his serenity.
"Maybe--and maybe I'm an exception too."

He sat very still. She had turned away once more.

"You'll be back again in the spring?" he asked with that gentleness he
saved for her alone.

"I hope--I think so." The smallness of her voice angered her. She
feigned a short, carefree laugh. "Unless I am too busy. Getting
married seems to become a more and come complicated problem of proper
costuming, doesn't it, with every passing season!"

She couldn't have told why she said it; she was trying to think of
something else to say wh