"No," he said. "Don't go. I like to have you there."
She glanced swiftly at the door behind her.
"That's all right," he laughed. "It's shut." Then he moved into the bed-room.
"I'm not going to close the door," he said, "because I like to see you there when I look up from my work."
She lifted her eyes to his, full of confidence and affection. He was not a man; he was a God—and to be treated as such: he could do no wrong.
He smiled at her friendly from his chair.
"I'm going to read Jomini," he said. "Ever hear of Jomini, Ruth?—nice name, isn't it? Joe-mine-eye."
After that Captain Royal was less regular in his attendance at the billiard-room after dinner.
He read in his bed-room; Ruth worked in the dressing-room; sometimes the door between the two rooms was open; and sometimes they talked.
One evening Ernie, descending from a higher floor in the lift, marked Céleste listening at the dressing-room door. She saw him, winked, and tripped away.