“Rather not. But I’ll be glad to get back to the manor.”

“I suppose you intend to have house-parties?”

“I should think so! Dozens have promised to come.”

“Wouldn’t you like to be quiet for a while?”

Gita shook her head. “No, and you wouldn’t, either. You never look as much at home as at a party.”

“But it would be a delightful change to have you to myself for a bit—say a month.”

“ ’Fraid we’d get talked out and bore each other, but a week between each party would strike a happy medium. I never intend to give you a chance to tire of me.” And she gave him a dazzling smile.

He made the proper gallant retort, and asked, “What time do we show up at the Pleydens’?”

“Ten-thirty. You’ve just time for a cigar in my ark. I simply long to see you in your chair again. It’s over a fortnight since you paid me a call.”

CHAPTER III