She gave her sudden burst of laughter. "How perfectly ridiculous! Two and eightpence! Whyever did you take it?"
"Take it? Why, it's my pay. My army pay. I've never been so proud of anything in my life. I'll keep these coins forever. Where shall I put them?" He looked around for a shrine worthy enough. "No, I can't put them anywhere yet. I want to keep looking at them. I say, you're glad I'm in, aren't you? Do say something."
She gave her laugh. "But you're not in. You do get so fearfully excited. After all, it's only this Lord Derby thing where they call the men up in age classes, the papers say. Yours can't come for months. You may not go at all."
He dropped the coins slowly into his pocket,--chink, chink, chink. "Oh, well, if that's all you've got to say about it."
"Well, what do you expect? You just come rushing in and telling me without ever having said a word that you were going. And for that matter you seem to forget the extraordinary way in which you went off this morning. I haven't."
"I had forgotten. I was upset. I went off, I know; but I don't remember--"
"You bawled out, 'For God's sake.' I call that swearing. I don't mind. It's not particularly nice for the servants to hear, but I'm not saying anything about that."
His brows were puckered up. "What is it you are saying?"
"I'm simply saying that, behaving like that, it's not quite fair to pretend that I'm not enthusiastic enough for you about this Lord Derby thing. It isn't as if you were really in the Army--"
He wished not to speak, but he could not let this go. "But I _am_ in."
"Yes, but not properly in--yet. And perhaps you won't ever be. It doesn't seem like being in to me. That's all I'm saying. Surely there's no harm in that?"
He was at the window staring out into the garden. "No, there's no _harm_ in it."
"Well, then. What are we arguing about it for?"
He turned towards her. "Well, but do understand, Mabel. If you think I was a fool rushing in like that, as you call it. Do understand. It's a Government scheme. It's binding. It isn't a joke."
"No, but I think they make it a joke, and I can't think why you can't see the funny side of it. I think giving you two and eightpence like that--a man in your position--is too lovely for words."