"Don't be in a hurry," put in Katherine.
"I haven't been—you don't want me to live here, do you?"
"We should be charmed," replied the Lieutenant, gallantly.
"I'll consider it," she said shortly. "Good-bye!"
"Tempestuous sort of a girl," commented Howard, as Beatrice disappeared. "She'd play the devil with a man, wouldn't she?"
"That's exactly what she's doing."
"Which man?" asked Howard, curiously.
"Messrs. Ronald and Forsyth," answered Katherine, laughing. "How blind and stupid you are!"
The Lieutenant's disposition had undergone outward improvement of late. By common consent he and Katherine had started afresh, making no reference to past disagreements, and he had wisely ceased to question her motives or her actions. He let her understand that she might do as she pleased in all things, and, naturally, she was not willing to take undue advantage of her tacit freedom. Still, the old happiness and confidence were gone.