uppose I shall even have to beg you to kiss me," she cried.

"Not at all. That is one thing I'll beg of you. Lean over here, do, and
kiss me, please," he said invitingly.

She placed a hand on each arm of the chair and leaned forward
obediently. Their lips met in a smile.

"You lazy thing!" she exclaimed, her face slightly flushed. Then she
seated herself on one of the big arms, resting her elbow on the back of
the chair beside his head. For a few minutes both were silent, gazing at
the bright coals before them, the smile remaining upon their lips. Hugh
had been squinting between the toes of his shoes at a lonely black chunk
in the grate for some time before he finally spoke reflectively.

"I can't afford to be lazy much longer, can I? Married men never have a
minute's rest, you know."

"We're not married."

"No; but we're going to be, let me remind you. We are to--to announce it
to-morrow night, are we not? It has come to that, you see." He did not
look very cheerful, nor did she.

"Yes, I suppose it's imperative. That is why aunt is giving her
reception,--just to tell everybody we're engaged."

"And then everybody will shake hands with us and say,
'Congratulations,' 'How lovely,' 'So surprised,' 'Howdy do,' and so
forth, and we say 'Thanks,' 'How good of you,' and more so forth. It
will be great!" Another silence and inspection of the fire, he taking an
altered aim at the black chunk. "Say!" he exclaimed, "wouldn't it do
just as well if I didn't put in an appearance to-morrow night? Your aunt
can announce the thing, as agreed, and you can tell 'em that I have a
sick uncle in Indianapolis, or have had my leg broken, or something like
that. Now, there's a good girl."

"No," she said. "We fell in love because we couldn't help it, and this
is the penalty--an announcement party."

"I'll never quite understand why _you_ fell," said he dubiously.

"I think we were both too young to know," she responded. "It seems to me
that we've been in love ever since we were babies."

"And it never hurts a baby to fall, you know," said he, with fine logic.
"Of course it may cripple 'em permanently, but they don't know how it
happened."

For some moments she caressed his brown hair in silence, the smile
lingering on her lips after it had left her eyes. His eyes closed
dreamily under the gentle touch of her fingers. "But, dear," she said,
"this is no joking matter. We have been engaged for nearly three months
and not a soul