; for ten
minutes I have not heard your silvery voice."

"I am attempting," she said, "to fill up our sugar form."

"Is it a tremendous struggle?"

"Yes," she said, "it is a regular brain-smasher."

"Give me the paper, and let me have a go at it."

With a haggard face, but without a word, she handed me the buff form,
and sat silently while I read the various explanations and directions.

"Francesca," I said, "you are doing wrong. It says that the form must
be filled up and signed by a responsible member of the household. Now
you can say that you're brilliant or amiable or handsome or powerful
or domineering, but can you honestly say you're responsible? No, you
can't. So I shall keep this form and fill it up myself in due time,
and leave you to look after the hens or talk to the gardener."

"Anybody," she said, "who can wring a smile from a gardener, as I have
this morning, is entitled to be considered responsible. Infirm of
purpose! hand me the paper."

"Very well," I said, "you can have the paper; only remember that,
if we get fined a thousand pounds for transgressing the Defence of
the Realm Act, you mustn't ask me for the money. You must pay it
yourself."

"I'll chance that," she said, as I handed back the paper.

"Now then, we shan't be long. Which of these two addresses shall we
have?"

"How do you mean?"

"Why, they tell you to fill in the address in capital letters, and
then they give you two to pick from. One is 1000, Upper Grosvenor
Street, W. 1--"

"It is a longer street than I had supposed."

"And the other," she continued, "is 17, Church Lane, Middlewich,
Cheshire."

"Let it be Middlewich," I said. "Since boyhood's hour I have dreamt
of living in Middlewich. As for the other, I simply couldn't live in
a street of a thousand houses. Could you?"

"No," she said, "I couldn't. We'll be Middlewichians.... There, it's
done. Capital letters and all."

"Don't slack off," I said. "Fill it all up now that you've got
started."

"I suppose I'd better begin with myself."

"Yes," I said, "you may have that privilege. Put it down quick:
Carlyon, Francesca; age blank, because they don't want ages over
eighteen; F for female, and Married Woman for occupation. Then treat
me in the same way, putting M for F, and 2nd Lieutenant of Volunteers
instead of Married Woman."

"Why shouldn't I put Married Man as your occupation?"

"Simply because it isn't done. It's a splendid occupation, but it
isn't reco