you'll not tell me, but I like to ask."

Her brother looked at her rather wildly. "Let's go home," he said. He
was astounded and alarmed by the discovery that his infatuation had
whirled him to the lunacy of longing to confide--and he feared lest, if
he should stay on, he would blurt out his disgraceful secret. "Waiter,
the bill."

"Don't let's go yet," urged his sister. "The most interesting people are
beginning to come. Besides, I want more champagne."

He yielded. While she gazed round with the air of a visitor to a Zoo
that is affected by fashionable people, and commented on the faces,
figures, and clothes of the women, he stared at his plate and smoked and
drank. Finally she said, "I'd give anything to see you make a fool of
yourself, just once."

He grinned. "Things are in the way to having your wish gratified," he
said. "It looks to me as if my time had come."

She tried to conceal her anxiety. "Are you serious?" she asked. Then
added: "Of course not. You simply couldn't. Especially now--when
Josephine might hear. I suppose you've noticed how Joe Culver is hanging
round her?"

He nodded.

"There's no danger--unless----"

"I shall marry Josephine."