ed or single--and the girl you
think the most matter-of-fact is the one who most often slips out of
bed, sits by her window, and looks at the moon."

"Do _you_ want to get married?"

"There, you're not merely surprised, you're shocked at the idea. Of
_course_ I do. Look now the coffee's running down into the bottom
thing. What do we do next?"

"It's too pale," I said. "Put the lamp back and send it through again.
And pray that it don't explode. But listen--for the sake of
argument--I want to get married, too."

"_You_! A nice husband _you'd_ make!"

"That's what I wanted to know. So even I have had my matrimonial
possibilities examined into by matter-of-fact ladies, who sit at
windows in their nightgowns, and look at the moon! I didn't like to
ask more directly. Now tell me what's wrong with me?"

Her eyebrows rose mirthfully. "Are we playing truths, or shall I let
you down easily?"

"I want the truth."

"Well, if your father lost his money, or disinherited you, you couldn't
support a wife."

"Decision deferred," I said.

"You would begin married life with the highest and most generous
resolutions; your subsequent fall would be all the harder for your wife
to bear. You have a certain something about you that few really good
men have, that attracts women. How long could you let that power rest
without experimenting to see if you still had it? Not very long. You
are the kind of man whose wife doesn't dare to have a good-looking
maid."

"There," I said somewhat nettled, "you do me an injustice."

"You are a faithful friend," she said, "but you wouldn't be a faithful
lover. Change and excitement and risk are bread and meat to you."

"Look here," I said, laughing, "you've not only considered me, you've
considered me more than once, and seriously!"

"You have always," she said, "charmed me far more than was good for me."

I answered her mocking look with one as mocking.

"I should like," I said, "nothing better than to disprove all the
things you think about me."

"You never will."

"Do you know what I think about myself? I think that I shall astonish
the world with one of those grand passions which make history worth
reading. The girl who gets me will be very lucky!"

"If you ever do have a grand passion," said Evelyn thoughtfully, "and
it's just barely possible, it won't be for a girl. It won't be the
kind that brings any good to anybody."

As they appeared in the door of the liv