over her all alone
for a while. Then I want Prince Charming to come along and snatch her
up quickly, and set her behind his milk white charger and ride away
with her. If we've all got to get together and connive at marrying her
off there won't be any comfort in having her."

"I don't know," David said thoughtfully; "I think that might be fun,
too. A vicarious love-affair that you can manipulate is one of the
most interesting games in the world."

"That's not my idea of an interesting game," Margaret said. "I like
things very personal, David,--you ought to know that by this time."

"I do know that," David said, "but it sometimes occurs to me that
except for a few obvious facts of that nature I really know very
little about you, Margaret."

"There isn't much to know--except that I'm a woman."

"That's a good deal," David answered slowly; "to a mere man that seems
to be considerable of an adventure."

"It is about as much of an adventure sometimes as it would be to be a
field of clover in an insectless world.--This is wonderful tea, David,
but your cream is like butter and floats around in it in wudges. No,
don't get any more, I've got to go home. Grandmother still thinks it's
very improper for me to call upon you, in spite of Mademoiselle and
your ancient and honorable housekeeper."

"Don't go," David said; "I apologize on my knees for the cream. I'll
send out and have it wet down, or whatever you do to cream in that
state. I want to talk to you. What did you mean by your last remark?"

"About the cream, or the proprieties?"

"About women."

"Everything and nothing, David dear. I'm a little bit tired of being
one, that's all, and I want to go home."

"She wants to go home when she's being so truly delightful and
cryptic," David said. "Have you been seeing visions, Margaret, in my
hearth fire? Your eyes look as if you had."

"I thought I did for a minute." She rose and stood absently fitting
her gloves to her fingers. "I don't know exactly what it was I saw,
but it was something that made me uncomfortable. It gives me the
creeps to talk about being a woman. David, do you know sometimes I
have a kind of queer hunch about Eleanor? I love her, you know,
dearly, dearly. I think that she is a very successful kind of
Frankenstein; but there are moments when I have the feeling that she's
going to be a storm center and bring some queer trouble upon us. I
wouldn't say this to anybody but you, David."

As David tuc