"You must come and dine with me to-night, won't you, Miss Chivvey?"

She was rather pretty, rather amusing, and she was English. He liked
talking English again.

"Well, I should like to very much, Mr. Hillier. Is your wife here?"

"No; she's going to Felixtowe in a week or two with the children, and
I'm going to join her there. I'm quite alone, so you must take pity on
me. Must we have your friend Miss Sutton too?" he asked.

"Oh no--I don't think it's necessary; it will be a change to go out
without her. You see, here I am a worker and a Bohemian," she explained.
"I don't go in for chaperons. I'm not social here!"

"Besides, I'm English. You're all right with me," he returned in his
most charming way. "Have you many English friends here?"

He wanted to find out whether she was seeing Rupert; he soon discovered
she was not, and he determined not to tell her of the presence of that
young man. They might make it up, and Nigel thought it would be far
better for Rupert to come back to Madeline. He was sure she was his real
taste. And he still wanted to please Bertha.

* * * * *

They dined in a small but particularly excellent restaurant. She seemed
to enjoy herself immensely, and grew every moment more confidential.
Nigel tried not to flirt. He had no intention of doing so, and, had they
met in London, would not have dreamt of such a thing; but meeting an
English girl placed as she was gave a tinge of adventure and romance to
his taking her out.

She told him she had no flirtations and cared for no man in the world.
He then led the conversation gradually to Rupert Denison. It did not
take long for her to work herself up to give him a somewhat highly
coloured version of their quarrel, which amused him. It ended with "and
so I never saw him again."

"I can't see that you have any real grievance, I must say. He seems to
have been very nice to you, taken you out a great deal, and gone to see
you pretty often. Did he not make love to you?"

"Never, never, never," she replied. "He was just like a brother, or,
rather, a sort of schoolmaster."

"Then I believe that's what made you angry," he replied.

"Indeed it isn't. At any rate, if it was a little, I assure you I'm not
in love with him."

He laughed, teased her about it, and now he found that she wished to go
home. Feeling he ought not to take advantage of her position here, he
was exceedingly respectful, and drove her to her fl