t in. "I may, mayn't I?"

"Of course," John assented.

Louise sighed dejectedly.

"I am not at all sure that I shall like having you there," she said. "I
shouldn't be at all surprised if it made me nervous."

He laughed incredulously.

"It's all very well," she went on, watching the champagne poured in to
her glass, "but you won't like the play, you know."

"Perhaps I sha'n't understand it altogether," John agreed. "It's very
subtle, and, as you know, I don't find problem plays of that sort
particularly attractive; but with you in it, you can't imagine that I
sha'n't find it interesting!"

"We were talking about it, coming up in the taxi," Louise continued,
"and we came to the conclusion that you'd hate it. We've had to give way
to Graillot with regard to the last act. Of course, there is really
nothing in it, but I don't know just what you will say."

"Well, you needn't be afraid that I shall stand up in my box and order
the performance to cease," John assured them, smiling. "Besides, I am
not quite such an idiot, Louise. I know very well that you may have to
say and do things on the stage which in private life would offend your
taste and your sense of dignity. I am quite reconciled to that. I am
prepared to accept everything you do and everything that you say. There!
I can't say more than that, can I?"

Louise smiled at him almost gratefully. She drew her hand over his,
caressingly.

"You are a dear!" she declared. "You've really made me feel much more
comfortable. Now please tell me what you have been doing all day."

"Well, Graillot came in and spent most of the afternoon," John answered.
"Since then, Lady Hilda Mulloch has been here."

Louise looked up quickly.

"What, here in your rooms?"

"I didn't ask her," John said. "I have been to see her once or twice,
and she has been very nice, but I never dreamed of her coming here."

"Shameless hussy!" Sophy exclaimed, as she set down her wine-glass.
"Didn't you tell her that Louise and I are the only two women in London
who have the entree to your rooms?"

"I am afraid it didn't occur to me to tell her that," John confessed,
smiling. "All the same, I was surprised to see her. It was just a whim,
I think."

"She is a clever woman," Louise sighed. "She won't know me--I can't
imagine why. She is a cousin of the prince, too, you know."

"She is very amusing," John agreed. "I have met some interesting people
at her house, too. She has asked me down to