sincere. I----"

It was Paliser's turn. With a laugh he interrupted. "Don't. A little
sincerity is a dangerous thing and a great deal of it must be fatal.
Besides I know it all by heart. I am the son of rich and disreputable
people. That is not my fault, and, anyway, it is all one to you. But
what you mean is that, should you consent, the consideration will not
be--er--personal with me or--er--spiritual with you, but--er--just plain
and simple materialism."

Cassy looked wonderingly at him. It was surprising how quickly and how
completely he had nailed it. But into the bewilderment there crept
something else. "Yes, and I am ashamed to look myself in the face."

Paliser gave a tug at the rope. "Then don't do that either. Look at me.
Matrimony is no child's play. It is like a trip to England--close
confinement with the chance of being torpedoed. Interference is the
submarine that sinks good ships. If you consent, there is only one thing
on which I shall insist, but I shall insist on it absolutely."

Visibly the autocrat stiffened. "Shall you, indeed!"

Paliser pounded, or affected to pound, on the table. "Yes, absolutely."

You may go to Flanders then, thought Cassy, but, with that look which
she could summon and which was tolerably blighting, she said, "Ah! The
drill sergeant!"

"Yes, and here is the goose-step. The drill sergeant orders that you
must always have your own way in everything."

Considerably relaxed by that, Cassy laughed. "You are very rigorous. But
don't you think it is rather beside the mark?"

"Beside it!" Paliser exclaimed. "It tops it, goes all over it, covers
it, covers the grass, covers everything--except a fair field, a free
rein and every favour."

Cassy was gazing beyond where the squirrel had been. A limousine passed.
A surviving victoria followed. Both were superior. So also were the
occupants. They were very smart people. You could tell it from the way
they looked. They had an air contemptuous and sullen. The world is not
good enough for them, Cassy thought. In an hour, car and carriage would
stop. The agreeable occupants would alight. They would enter fastidious
homes. Costly costumes they would exchange for costumes that were
costlier. They would sit at luxurious boards, lead the luxurious life
and continue to, until they died of obesity of the mind.

None of that! Cassy decided. But already the picture was fading,
replaced by another that showed a broken old man, without a penn