come to curse the day when we met, you may
find I've spoiled your life and broken your luck."

"Luck?" Eric laughed a little scornfully. The success of the
"Bomb-Shell" ensured that, if he never wrote another line, he would at
least not starve. "When are we going to meet again, Babs?"

Looking out of the window, she saw that their cab was opposite the Ritz
and that she had three hundred yards more of him.

"Does it matter?" she asked. "If you're so independent of me?"

"I can live without peach-brandy, but I like it. If you'll dine with me,
I'll give you some--and all the food you most like. I owe the O'Ranes a
dinner----"

"Oh, we won't have any one else!" she interrupted. Her use of the plural
lost none of its charm by familiarity. "I'll come on Friday, if you
like."

"On Friday old Ettrick is giving a dinner in my honour at the club. What
about Monday? But I shan't let you come alone; as a matter of fact, I've
invited the O'Ranes for that night."

"You don't like being alone with me?"

"I'm thinking solely of what would be said."

Barbara pouted and sat silent until she could launch an ultimatum as the
cab stopped at her door. The success of his first night was making Eric
masterful; and she wanted to test her power.

"If I can't dine with you in the way I like . . ." she began fretfully.
"You only want to shew me off to the O'Ranes. . . ."

Eric forgave the petulance because he could see that she was tired. But
he was tired too. . . .

"If you don't care about the O'Ranes, I'll see if I can get some one
else some other time," he said. "It wouldn't do for you to _dine_ with
me alone."

"I believe you're in love with Sonia," she rejoined ill-humouredly.

"What nonsense! . . . Good-night, Babs. Thanks so much for coming."

On reaching home, he wrote to invite Mrs. Shelley for Monday. If Barbara
rang him up in the morning, her repentance would be too late; he had
only four arm-chairs in the dining-room.

There was no call from Barbara in the morning, neither note nor meeting
throughout the day and no call at night. Such a thing had never happened
before; there might be some occult cause of offence; his experience of
Barbara taught Eric that she would cease to sulk when she wanted him; it
was his experience of all women that none repaid a man the trouble of
trying to understand her moods. Thursday was like Wednesday (and he knew
that she was not returning to Crawleigh until Saturday); Friday was like