used positively to sit with her back to any door or to retire
for the night until her quarters had been examined, if (as Lanyard
suspected) she was never unarmed for a moment, day or night, she
permitted no signs of mental strain to mar the serenity of her
countenance or betray the studied graciousness of her gestures.

Toward Lanyard she bore herself precisely as though nothing had
happened to disturb the even adjustment of their personal relations;
or, perhaps, as if she considered everything had happened, so that
their rapport had become absolute; at all events, with a pleasing
absence of constraint. He really couldn't make her out. Sometimes he
thought she wished him to believe she was not as other women and could
make rational allowance for his poor response to her naive overtures.
But that seemed so abnormal, he felt forced to fall back on the theory
that her declaration had been nothing more than a minor gambit in
whatever game she was playing, and that consequently she bore no malice
because of its failure. No matter which explanation was the true one,
no matter which keyed her temper toward him, Lanyard found himself
liking the woman better, not as a woman but as another human being,
than he had ever thought to. Say what you liked, in this humour she was
charming.

But he never for an instant imagined she was meekly accepting defeat at
his hands instead of biding her time to resume the attack from a new
quarter. So he wasn't at all surprised when, one evening, quite early
after dinner, she contrived another tete-a-tete, and with good
conversational generalship led their talk presently into a channel of
amiable personalities.

"And have you been thinking about what we said--or what I said, my
friend--that night--so long ago it seems!--three nights ago?"

"But inevitably, Liane."

"You have not forgotten my stupidity, then."

"I have forgotten nothing."

She made a pretty mouth of doubt. "Would it not have been more kind to
forget?"

"Such compliments are not easily forgotten."

"You are sure, quite sure it was a compliment?"

"No-o; by no means sure. Still, I am a man, and I am giving you the
full benefit of every doubt."

She laughed, not ill-pleased. "But what a man! how blessed of the gods
to be able to laugh at yourself as well as at me."

"Undeceive yourself: I could never laugh at you, Liane. Even if one did
not believe you to be a great natural comedienne at will, one would
always wonder w