as, there was a distinctly pleasant zest
in fighting!

"Perhaps of your courtesy, you will take off those glasses now, since I
am aware that you only wear them to conceal your eyes, and not that they
are necessary for your sight."

She flushed with annoyance.

"And if I refuse?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I shall think it very childish of you."

With a petulance which I had never seen in her she tossed her head.

"I don't care, at present I will not."

I frowned but did not speak. This will be discussed between us later.
My fighting spirit is up, she _shall_ obey me!

"Did you order the clothes yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Enough, I hope."

"Yes."

"Well, now, I have a suggestion to make which I am sure will please you,
and that is that you will appoint some meeting place with Mr. Nelson for
Tuesday morning, since you do not trust my good taste far enough even to
let me know your home address. Perhaps at the Hotel de Courville, if the
Duchesse will permit, and that then we do not meet until the seventh of
November at the ceremony. Mr. Nelson will arrange with you all the law
of the thing and what witnesses you must have, and everything, and this
will save these useless discussions, and give you a little breathing
space."

This seemed to subdue her, and she agreed less defiantly.

"And now I will not detain you longer," I said stiffly. "_Au revoir_
until the seventh of November at whatever hour is arranged, or if we
must meet before at the signing of the contract," and I bowed.

She bowed also, and walked haughtily to the door, and left.

And greatly exhilarated, I decided to go and lunch with Maurice at the
Ritz.

As I came from the lift, Madame Bizot's daughter came out of the
concierge's lodge with her baby, and it was making its same little
cooing, gurgling noises that caused me so to feel that time when Alathea
first began to interest me. I stopped and spoke to the mother, a comely
young woman, and the little creature put out its tiny hand and clasped
one of my fingers, and over me there came a weird thrill. Shall I ever
hear noises like that, and have a son of Alathea's and mine to take my
hand. Well the game of her subjection is interesting enough anyway, and
rather ashamed of my emotion, I went on into the Victoria and was
crawled to the Ritz.

Here I ran into a fellow in the Flying Corps, who told me that Nina's
boy, Johnnie, had been killed the night before, in his first fight with
a Boche