uld have crowded her out. But here she was definitely
within reach--and he wanted her. He wanted her more than he had ever
wanted Madge, more than he had ever wanted any other woman. There had
been a sweetness about her, a dearness.

He thought it over as he lay in bed waiting for his breakfast. Since
waking, he had led Kemp a life of it.

"Of all the fools," he said, when at last the tray came.

"Anything the matter, sir?"

George lifted a silver cover. "That's not what I ordered."

"You said a kidney omelette, sir."

"I wanted the kidney broiled--not in a messy sauce. Take it away."

"I'll get you another."

"I don't want another. Take it away." He flung his napkin on the tray
and turned his face to the wall. "I've got a headache. Tell Waterman
that if he asks for me, that I've told you to go down and meet Miss
MacVeigh."

Kemp stood and looked at the figure humped up under the light silk
cover. He had long patience. He might have been a stick or stone
under his master's abuse. But he was not a stick or a stone. It
seemed too that suddenly his soul expanded. No man had ever called him
a fool, and he had worn a decoration in France. He knew what he was
going to do. And for the first time in many months he felt himself a
free man.

George's decision to have Kemp meet Madge had been founded on the
realization that it would be unbearably awkward if he should pass Becky
on the road. She had sent back his pendant without a word, and there
was no telling how she was taking it. If the thing were ever
renewed--and his mind dwelt daringly on that possibility, explanations
would be easy--but he couldn't make explanation if she saw him first in
a car with another woman.

It was thus that Madge, arriving on the noon train, found Kemp waiting
for her. Kemp was very fond of Miss MacVeigh. She was not a snob and
there were so many snobs among Dalton's friends. She talked to him as
if he were a man and not a mechanical toy. Dalton, on the other hand,
treated his valet as if he were a marionette to be pulled by strings,
an organ controlled by stops, or a typewriter operated by keys.

Major Prime had come down on the same train. Randy, driving Little
Sister, was there to meet him.

"It is good to get back," the Major said. "I've been homesick."

"We missed you a lot. Yesterday we had a barbecue, and you should have
been here----"

"I wanted to be, Randy. I hope you are not going to turn me o