He rang the bell, asked for Mr Clott, and when that gentleman appeared,
ordered him to procure a special licence without delay. Mr Clott made
a note of it in his little red book, tucked his pencil behind his ear,
and trotted away, his narrow little back stiffened by elation. He, a
gentleman of the Automobile Club, for whom there was no life outside
the narrow circle whose centre is Piccadilly Circus, had been uneasy in
his mind about the young lady, who was so clearly neither married nor
purchasable, and it was a relief to him that she was to be his new
employer's wife, though he was afraid of her, and shrivelled to the
marrow in her presence.

II

THE DWELLERS IN ENCHANTMENT

'_Ca marche_,' said Charles Mann to his wife a few weeks later.

His programme was maturing. He had arranged for two books to be
published, for an exhibition to be held, for a committee to be formed,
for lectures to be delivered in provincial centres, and he had been
insulted by an offer to play a part in a forthcoming production of
_King Lear_ at the Imperium Theatre. He had forgotten that he had ever
been an actor and did not wish to be reminded of it, and he was
incensed when the manager of the Imperium used the offer as an
advertising paragraph.

'The fellow is jealous of the attention I am receiving in the Press and
wants to divert some of it to himself.'

'You should go and see him,' suggested Clara.

'It is his place to come and see me.'

'No. Go and see him.'

'Are you right?'

'I always am.'

'Clott, take down this letter to Sir Henry Butcher, Imperium Theatre,
S.W.... "Dear Sir Henry, When I declined your kind offer the other
day, my refusal was as private as your suggestion. I can only conclude
that some mistake has been made and I should like to have an
understanding with you before I write a letter of explanation to the
Press....'"

'You think too much of the Press, Carlo.'

'Only now, darling.... Later on the Press will have to come to me.'

Clara looked dubious.

'You're moving too quickly,' she said. 'I'm getting more used to
London now, and I'm afraid of it. It is just a great big machine, and
there's no control over it. There are times when I want to take you
away from it.'

'You gave me no peace until we came here.'

'Yes. But I didn't want to begin at the top. I wanted to come over
and live as we lived in Paris.'

'Impossible. What is freedom in Paris is poverty in London.'

'But a