H. B. Marriott Watson

“ And one of the most important pieces of knowledge to gain, if you want to live with ease and without friction, concerns the appetites and tastes of men.”
She spoke very slowly, as if she were thinking. She had sat down, and leaned her chin on her hand, her elbows on the table. She was not looking at de Lys, but abstractedly at the table-cloth or a plate. Her cloak had been laid aside, and she was in the full glory of evening dress. Half consciously de Lys glanced at his own rough lounging-suit, which was in evidence, now that he had thrown off his overcoat. ”

“ She sat down, and gazed at the fire. “Unhappily our emotions are made for most of us; they are not the work of our own hands.”
“'Lightly come, lightly go' is an admirable watchword,” he declared. “We should take it with us, and it will prove an excellent passport, giving us the freedom of our circumstances.”
“Yes, men can and do,” she said bitterly.
“Come,” said de Lys, moved to boldness by her attitude and the strangeness of the situation. “You yourself can rise to it—have risen. ”

“ De Lys turned. “Certainly, sir,” he acquiesced, and departed through the baize door in search of the butler. He found him alone in the kitchen, for seemingly the other servants were in bed, and saluted him genially.
“I dare say we can make ourselves comfortable, Mr. Simpson,” he insinuated. “A drop of something, eh? I suppose you've got a steward's pantry handy, seeing your position, and all that.”
Mr. Simpson took the suggestion well. He was staggered by the presence of this unwelcome visitor, but he had come to close quarters with the gentry before, and he was a man of the world. ”

“ Sir Charles's voice burst out of his control. The card-players stared. An awkward silence fell on the room.
“What can I get, sir?” asked de Lys cheerfully, breaking this.
“I say, Winterbotham!” a man's voice issued from the card-table, where the second party were finishing. A fair, big bluff man came forward. “Look here, we're in the way,” he said in a lower voice. “I guess we'll go now.”
De Lys slipped out of the room, leaving the master of the house a prey to bitter shame. He was not penitent, as he glanced down the hall toward the room in which the lady had entertained him. ”

“ And besides, the entire freedom you speak of does not amount to real liberty. Man is always conditioned by his affections, and—”
It was she who interrupted now. “His affections!” She threw out her hands. “They derive from base metal. Oh, I have no patience with these affections of yours.”
She rose and crossed the room. She seemed to listen by the door, and it was as if a great change had come over her. Watching her, de Lys had the feeling that something was impending; there was the atmosphere of a crisis in all the scene. ”

“ De Lys saw him now in the light for what he was, a dull, unimaginative, and highly respectable man servant of fifty.
“The lady, I say,” he said with some show of impatience. “I've tried to give her some whiskey, but she won't have it. Come along, man, do. It ain't a time to stare and gape.” ”

“ Some bitterness was evident in her voice, which he ignored when he said, “That generalization of yours interests me.” Her eyes inquired of him. “I mean as to the obligation to learn men's appetites and tastes if you wish to live without friction. I suppose there is the usual stratum of truth in it.”
He helped himself from one of the dishes, after serving her. She stared at the plate, but said nothing.
“Oh, we women know it best, don't we?” she said abruptly.
“You are in a position of vantage for making observations,” he replied reflectively. ”

“ He seized the astonished butler and conducted him into the hall and toward the door of the room in which he had left the lady, talking the while.
[Illustration: HIS EXPERIENCES STARTLED SIMPSON, PARTICULARLY THE CASE OF THE PEER WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE BY TAKING POISON IN HIS WINE, “JUST AS IT MIGHT BE YOU AND ME DRINKING, MR. SIMPSON”]
“They sometimes take it like this, but as often as not they don't mind, bless you. It's the man that's got to pay up and grin. Still, I'm always sorry for 'em, poor things. That's why I like to do it when there's a man about. ”

“ WHEREIN A GENTLEMAN BECOMES A SCAPEGOAT FOR A LADY IN DISTRESS
By H. B. Marriott Watson
Author of “Galloping Dick,” “Captain Fortune,” “Hurricane Island,” etc.
THE clock in a small church hidden among the huddle of houses had struck twelve, and a fine moon brightened the almost silent street, as Lord de Lys quickened his steps to draw closer to the woman. ”

“ I have the misfortune to be one of those women whom I believe you were good enough to except from your statement as to the balance of vantages. I—I am married, and my husband is, I suppose, a good specimen of a fine animal. ”

“ Moreover, he remembered vaguely that the sheriff's bailiff must be treated considerately, according to the law. And again this revolution in the house dispensed naturally with the ordinary forms and conventions; and a drop of something would be acceptable. ”