send them invitations, and I think they will come," Mrs Ingram
said quietly. People had a way of doing what she wished, which seemed
the more extraordinary as she never argued nor persuaded. "Those two
are our only notables; the others are leading quite ordinary lives, so
ordinary that we shall have to resort to the directory to trace one or
two. I have not heard of Francis Manning for years."

"Manning, Manning! Which was Manning? The man who was in such a
dickens of a hurry to get himself into trouble?"

"No, that was Val Lessing. Val is quite a prosperous City man now. He
sends me a Christmas card every year. Francis Manning was the big, lazy
creature who couldn't think of anything he wanted so much as to be let
alone, to jog along in comfort. I have heard nothing of him since he
wrote years ago to tell me of his marriage. I sent him a present."

"I'll bet you did!" commented her husband, laughing. "Oh, well, we can
easily track Mr Manning. Then there comes Juliet! There's no
difficulty about Juliet. Let me see! What was it that Juliet wished
for?"

"Adventure!" Mrs Ingram said, and they both smiled.

"So Juliet wished for adventure, did she? Well! Well!" cried Mr
Ingram nodding. "_How_ many inches should you say she measures round
the waist at the present moment?"

But at this his wife protested strongly.

"Too bad! Too bad! Why should the mere fact of being stout make it
seem ridiculous for a woman to have a share in romance or excitement?
I'm not going to allow you to laugh at Juliet. Wait at least until you
have heard what she has to say. Now we come to the last on the list--
Rupert Dempster, Rupert who wished for love."

"I remember," said her husband shortly. Many things that had happened
on that evening had faded from memory, but the shock occasioned by
Rupert's unexpected confession had impressed it on his mind. In
imagination he could see the firelight playing upon the tired face, and
hear the strong, quiet tone speaking of his ideal love, the primal,
overmastering affinity of mind for mind, soul for soul, body for body.
And it was this Rupert Dempster who had married a woman admittedly
insane! Rumour said that she had to a great extent regained her reason,
but still... Mr Ingram registered a hope that Dempster and his wife
would not accept his wife's invitation for New Year's Eve!

It was New Year's Eve, and throughout the afternoon one batch of
visitors after another dr