It would be nice for Scott and the servants and the horses; and you and I need not stay there if it bores us----" "Is he still thinking of that Roya-Neh place?
It's horridly expensive to keep up.

Oh, I knew quite well that Scott would bully you into consenting----" "Roya-Neh seems to suit us both," admitted the girl indifferently.

"The shooting and fishing naturally attract Scott; they say it's secluded enough for you and me to recuperate in; and if we ever want any guests, it's big enough to entertain dozens in....

I really don't care one way or the other; you know I never was very crazy about the country--and poison ivy, and mosquitoes and oil-smelling roads, and hot nights, and the perfume of fertilisers----" "You poor child!" laughed Kathleen; "you don't know anything about the country except where you've been on Long Island in the immediate vicinity of your grandfather's horrid old place." "Is it any more agreeable up there near Canada ?" "Roya-Neh is very lovely--of course--but--it's certainly not a wise investment, dear." "Well, if Scott and I buy it, we'd never wish to sell it----" "Suppose you were obliged to ?" Geraldine's velvet eyes widened lazily: "Obliged to?
Oh--yes--you mean if we went to smash." Then her gaze became remote as she stood slowly tapping her gloved palm with her riding-crop.
"I think I'll dress," she said absently.
"Good-bye, then," nodded Kathleen.
"Good-bye," said the girl, turning lightly away across the hall.
Kathleen's eyes followed the slender retreating figure, so slimly compact in its buoyancy.

There was always something fascinatingly boyish in Geraldine's light, free carriage--just a touch of carelessness in the poise--almost a swing at times to the step.