the
Park. He crossed to the Achilles monument and debated with himself as to
whether he should sit down or walk about, and decided to sit down. If
Lady Cecily were in the Park, he told himself, she would pass his chair
some time during the morning. He chose a seat near the railings and sat
down and waited. There was a continual flow of carriages and cars, but
none of them contained Lady Cecily, and when he had been sitting for
almost an hour, he told himself that he was not likely to see her that
morning. He rose, as he said this to himself, and turned to walk across
the grass towards Rotten Bow, and as he turned, he saw Jimphy. He was
not anxious to meet Jimphy again, and he pretended not to see him, but
Jimphy came up to him, smiling affably, and said "Hilloa, Quinn, old
chap!" so he had to be as amiable as he could in response to the
greeting.

Jimphy wanted to know why it was that he and Henry had not met again
since the night that "Cecily let a chap in for a damn play," and
reminded him of their engagement to visit the Empire together. "Anyhow,"
he said, "you can come and lunch with us. Cecily'll be glad to see you.
I said I'd come home to lunch if I could find some one worth bringing
with me, so that's all right!"

"How is Lady Cecily?" Henry asked, as he and Jimphy left the Park
together.

"Oh, I expect she's all right," Jimphy answered. "I forgot to ask this
morning, but if she'd been seedy or anything she'd have told me about
it, so I suppose she's all right!"

"When's this play of Farlow's coming on?" Jimphy asked on the doorstep
of his house.

"Wednesday," Henry answered.

"Cecily's made me promise to go and see it with her. What sort of a
piece is it?"

They entered the house as he spoke.

"It's excellent...."

"Is it comic?"

"Well, I suppose it is. He calls it a comedy," Henry said.

"So long as there's a laugh in it, I don't mind going to see it. I can't
stand these weepy bits. 'Hamlet' and that sort of stuff. Enough to give
a chap the pip! Oh, here's Cecily!"

Henry turned to look up the stairs down which Lady Cecily was coming,
and then he went forward to greet her.

"How nice of you," she said. "Has Gilbert come, too?"

"No," he answered, chilled by her question. "He has a rehearsal this
morning!"

"Oh, yes, of course," she said. "His play! I forgot. We're going to see
it on Wednesday. I hope it's good!"

"It's very good," Henry replied.

3

Jimphy left them after lunch. H