"There need be no haste in your decision," he said, graciously.

"Needn't there? Then you will give me a long time to think it over?"

"Not too long, I hope," he answered, significantly.

"But, truly," Alice's pout was exceedingly becoming, "I don't want to be married at all. Why should I when I am so happy?"

"Isn't that an unusual position for a young girl to take?"

"Perhaps it's because I am young," she admitted, smiling. "But I see so many—what shall I call them?—semi-detached couples, that it makes me wonder."

"Semi-detached?" Covington queried.

"Why, yes," she explained; "you know what I mean: the only way they can live happily together is to live apart."

"You are not very complimentary to me."

"Oh, please!" Alice interrupted quickly. "But you've noticed it, haven't you?"