"They think in the spring; they haven't settled it yet."
"Then you and she will be in the apartment this winter?"
"_Want_ you! It will be paradise! I'll make my salary go as far as it will."
"Indeed, you _won't_! Silvette and I chip in pro rata, or we refuse your marble halls!"
"I'm afraid I'll have to agree, Japonette. My poverty, not my will, consents!"
After a moment she said: "It is a long while since you have called me that."
"Japonette. I like it. There's a sort of an irresponsible frou-frou to the name which suits me. That's all I am, Jim," she added with a laugh--"just a swish of scented skirts."
"Do you? _I_ don't. Reveal me to myself, O Cagliostro!"
"Some particularly sunny day in June, perhaps."
"June! Listen to this man! The very nearest June is seven months off!"
"And I don't believe it will be next June, either," he said with a grin.
"You're a plain masculine brute! You say you know what I am. If you do, tell me _now_! I maintain that I'm only a silken rustle and a hint of scent. Am I a louder episode than that, Jim?"
"The vault of heaven rings with you!" he assured her, laughing.
"Well, that's better," she nodded dubiously. "Evidently I'm not the kind of a noise that gets arrested. Jim, when the others come in, shall we have supper?"
"Tons of it, dear lady. They'll have to push me out of this hotel before I consent to go."
He glanced at her with an odd expression, then turned aside to set his cigarette afire.
She took one of his cigarettes, lighted it, savored it daintily, then leaned back watching mm. Their eyes encountered, and they smiled.
"Jack and Silvette are at the New Theater. Mr. Rivett and Mr. Dineen are sitting somewhere, cheek by jowl, looking wealthy."
"Thank fortune for that. It ought to land me somewhere on the grandstand."
"Haven't you noticed," she said, "that some people always _look_ wealthy? I don't know exactly what it is about them; it has nothing to do with breeding, or clothes, or careful grooming."
"That's trite; you're becoming too prosperous to remain clever. But, oh, Jim! _isn't_ it fine!" she exclaimed impulsively.
"Why, your success, of course! Your splendid interest in the business--your fitting yourself for a position of honor among your peers! It is fine! fine! And it is the happiest thing that has ever happened in my life!"