sume?"

"Yes--if"--her lip quivered--"if you'll let me."

"There can be no question of that," said he with the same polite gravity
he had maintained throughout.

"You want me to leave you alone?"

"Please. I need sleep badly--and I've only three hours."

"You are--angry with me?"

He looked placidly into her lovely, swimming eyes. "Not in the least."

"But how can you help being? I acted dreadfully."

He smiled gently. "But you are back--and the incident is closed."

She looked down at the carpet, her fingers playing with her braid,
twisting and untwisting its strands. He stood waiting to close the door.
She said, without lifting her eyes--said in a quiet, expressionless way,
"I have killed your love?"

"I'll not trouble you any more," evaded he. And he laid his hand
significantly upon the knob.

"I don't understand," she murmured. Then, with a quick apologetic glance
at him, "But I'm very inconsiderate. You want to sleep. Good night."

"Good night," said he, beginning to close the door.

She impulsively stood close before him, lifted her small white face, as
if for a kiss. "Do you forgive me?" she asked. "I was foolish. I didn't
understand--till I went back. Then--nothing was the same. And I knew I
wasn't fitted for that life--and didn't really care for him--and----"

He kissed her on the brow. "Don't agitate yourself," said he. "And we
will never speak of this again."

She shrank as if he had struck her. Her head drooped, and her shoulders.
When she was clear of the door, he quietly closed it.

XIX

It was not many minutes after ten when Tetlow hurried into Norman's
office. "Galloway's coming at eleven!" said he, with an air of triumph.

"So you mulled over what I said and decided that I was not altogether
drunk?"

"I wasn't sure of that," replied Tetlow. "But I was afraid you'd be
offended if I didn't try to get him. He gave me no trouble at all. As
soon as I told him you'd be glad to see him at your office, he astounded
me by saying he'd come."

"He and I have had dealings," said Norman. "He understood at once. I
always know my way when I'm dealing with a big man. It's only the little
people that are muddled and complex. I hope you'll not forget this
lesson, Billy."

"I shan't," promised Tetlow.

"We are to be partners," pursued Norman. "We shall be intimately
associated for years. You'll save me a vast amount of time and energy
and yourself a vast amount of fuming and fretting, i