"Well, I'm an authority, too—on phonographs. And if you'd accept this, Miss Fairfax—"
"I shall be delighted!" said Barbara warmly. "I shall value it very, very highly."
She smiled back at them over her shoulder. The frank, honest kindliness of the couple pleased her.
The piazza opened into a small sitting-room with cool bamboo chairs and portières of thin green silk stenciled with maple-leaves.
"Will you wait a moment, Barbara?" asked Ware. "I have something to show you."
She stopped, looking at him with a trace of confusion. "Certainly," she answered. "What is it?"
He put a folded paper into her hands. "To-day is the anniversary of our meeting," he said. "This is a memento."
She took it with a puzzled look and scrutinized it. Wonder filled her face. "You have made over your yacht to me!" she cried.
"My engagement gift," he said. "She is your namesake; I want her to be yours."
A flush crept over her cheek. She knew the yacht was his favorite possession and the action touched her. At the same time it brought swiftly home to her, in a concrete way, a numbing reminder of the imminence of her marriage.