he has ever dreamed of, and
mark his reception of your favour. Ten to one he will be afraid of it.
He will walk about the fragment delicately; possibly he will touch it
with the tip of an envious tongue; presently he will lie down at a
respectful distance, watching it with big eyes. The thing is too vast
for him. He must have time to become familiar with his stupendous luck.

So with Miss French and Lyveden. The gods had tossed the two
title-deeds of a dream so wonderful that they were frightened. The
gift was too precious to be handled at once. Like the poor dog they
must have time....

You will understand, gentlemen, that this was no ordinary affair of
love. Convenience had had no hand in it. My tale had been shorter if
she had thrust but the tip of a finger into the pie. Pity,
Selfishness, Gratitude--none of the stock emotions went to the making
of the foundations of this fabric. It was not founded at all. Neither
had it grown out of friendship. It had no infancy. Had the two never
met, it is probable that--circumstances permitting--each would some day
have fallen in love with somebody else. And that would have been a
regular business. Convenience, Friendship, and other hard-working
matchmakers would all have put shoulders to the wheel and clapped one
another on the back when the banns were published. The fact that the
two had met saved, in a way, infinite trouble.

Valerie had many swains, and more than a few women had looked twice at
Anthony. Such hearts, however, as had bleated for their sympathy had
either bleated altogether in vain, or, finding the sympathy vouchsafed
not at all what they wanted, bleated more fiercely than before. All
the same, the two were not seraphim. They were mortal enough, and, if
more than ordinarily attractive, revealed upon close examination a very
ordinary collection of failings. The wonder was not in themselves.
The fact that their natures were in just accord, was, at the most,
curious. It was true, nevertheless. Each wanted precisely what the
other was ready to give. Their personalities agreed like two
indentures--proved themselves mutual elixirs. The wonder began and
ended when they encountered one another. It was then that the seed of
love flashed into bloom. Miracles alone beget miracles. Parallel
lines had met.

The sight of Valerie gladdened Anthony's eyes. He sat very still in
his seat, staring under the wind screen and wondering whether she woul