leaning over him and taking quite unpardonable liberties with
his back hair.

One says that Mr. Carmyle was annoyed. The word is weak. The
interruption coming at such a moment jarred every ganglion in his body.
The clicking noise of the drumsticks maddened him. And the gleaming
whiteness of Mr. Williams' friendly and benignant smile was the last
straw. His dignity writhed beneath this abominable infliction. People
at other tables were laughing. At him. A loathing for the Flower Garden
flowed over Bruce Carmyle, and with it a feeling of suspicion and
disapproval of everyone connected with the establishment. He sprang to
his feet.

"I think I will be going," he said.

Sally did not reply. She was watching Ginger, who still stood beside the
table recently vacated by Reginald Cracknell.

"Good night," said Mr. Carmyle between his teeth.

"Oh, are you going?" said Sally with a start. She felt embarrassed. Try
as she would, she was unable to find words of any intimacy. She tried to
realize that she had promised to marry this man, but never before had he
seemed so much a stranger to her, so little a part of her life. It came
to her with a sensation of the incredible that she had done this thing,
taken this irrevocable step.

The sudden sight of Ginger had shaken her. It was as though in the last
half-hour she had forgotten him and only now realized what marriage with
Bruce Carmyle would mean to their comradeship. From now on he was dead
to her. If anything in this world was certain that was. Sally Nicholas
was Ginger's pal, but Mrs. Carmyle, she realized, would never be allowed
to see him again. A devastating feeling of loss smote her like a blow.

"Yes, I've had enough of this place," Bruce Carmyle was saying.

"Good night," said Sally. She hesitated. "When shall I see you?" she
asked awkwardly.

It occurred to Bruce Carmyle that he was not showing himself at his
best. He had, he perceived, allowed his nerves to run away with him.

"You don't mind if I go?" he said more amiably. "The fact is, I can't
stand this place any longer. I'll tell you one thing, I'm going to take
you out of here quick."

"I'm afraid I can't leave at a moment's notice," said Sally, loyal to
her obligations.

"We'll talk over that to-morrow. I'll call for you in the morning and
take you for a drive somewhere in a car. You want some fresh air after
this." Mr. Carmyle looked about him in stiff disgust, and expressed
his unalterable sentimen