ely roses," she said, smiling and permitting
me to press her hand.

"Don't mention it," I replied. It is so difficult for a man to say
original things in the presence of the woman he loves! "I have great
news for you. It reads like a fairy tale, you know; happy ever
afterward, and all that."

"Ah!"

"Yes. Do you remember my telling you of a rich uncle who lived in the
South?"

"Is it possible that he has left you a fortune?" she cried, her eyes
shining.

"You have guessed it."

"I am very glad for your sake, Jack. I was beginning to worry about
you."

"Worry about me?"

"Yes. I do not understand how a newspaper man can afford to buy roses
four or five times a week--and exist." She had the habit of being
blunt and frank to her intimate friends. I secretly considered it an
honor when she talked to me like this. "I have told you repeatedly to
send me flowers only once a week. I'd rather not have them at all.
Last week you spent as much as $30 on roses alone. Mr. Holland does
not do that for Ethel, and he has a million."

"I'm not Holland," I said. "He doesn't--that is--I do not think he--."
Then I foundered. I had almost said: "He doesn't care as much for
Ethel as I do for you."

Phyllis pretended not to note my embarrassment. The others came in
then, and conversation streamed into safer channels.

When we entered the box at the opera the curtain had risen. Phyllis
and I took the rear chairs. They were just out of the glare of the
lights.

"You are looking very beautiful to-night," I whispered lowly. I was
beginning business early. There was no barrier at my lips.

"Thank you," she replied. Then with a smile: "Supposing I were to say
that you are looking very handsome?"

"Oh," said I, somewhat disconcerted, "that would be rather
embarrassing."

"I do not doubt it."

"And then it would not be true. The duty we men owe to a beautiful
woman is constantly to keep telling her of it."

"And the duty we women owe to a fine-looking man?" a rogue of a dimple
in her cheeks.

"Is to explicitly believe all he says regarding your beauty," I
answered, evading the question. "A man may tell a woman that she is
beautiful, but a woman may not tell a man that he is fine-looking, that
is, in public."

"The terms are not fair."

"That may be true, but they make the wheels of the social organization
run smoother. For instance, if I met a strange woman and she told me
that I was handsome, I sh