Life would be more possible with him than with any man she knew within the enclosure.  If one were to go dancing and smiling and flirting through the world Major Darrett would be the best possible man to go with.

As she looked at him, smiling at her half tenderly and half humorously, life with Major Darrett presented itself as such an attractive thing that there was almost pain in the thought of not being able to take it.

For deep within her she never questioned not being able to take it.  But for the moment—­

“You see, Katie,” he was saying, “I would be the best possible one for you to be married to, because you could go right on having flirtations.  Of course I needn’t tell you, Katie dear, that you’re a flirt.  The trouble with your marrying most fellows would be that they wouldn’t like it.”

“And of course,” she replied, “I would be a good one for you to marry because having my own flirtations I wouldn’t be in a position to be critical about yours.”

He laughed quite frankly.

Katie leaned back and sat there smiling at him, that new baffling smile he found so alluring.

“But do you know, Katie, I think, for a long time, anyway, we could keep busy flirting with each other.”

“And we would keep all the busier,” she said, “knowing that the minute we stopped flirting with each other one of us would get busy flirting with somebody else.”

He laughed delightedly.  “Katie, where did you learn it was very fetching to say outrageous things so demurely?”

“Tell me,” said Katie, more seriously, “why do you want to marry?”

“Until about an hour ago I wanted to marry—­oh for the most bromidic of reasons.  Just because, in the natural course of events, it seemed the next thing for me to do.  I’ll even be quite frank and confess I had thought of you in that bromidic version of it.  Had thought of it as ’eminently suitable’—­also, eminently desirable.  We’d like to do the same things.  We’d get on—­be good fellows together.  But now I want to marry—­and I want to marry you—­because I think you’re quite the most fascinating thing in all the world!”

Lightly and yet seriously he spoke of things—­of his own prospects.  She knew how good they were.  Of where and how they would probably live;—­a pleasant picture it was he could draw.  It would mean life along the sunny paths.  And very sunny indeed it seemed they would be—­if possible at all.  Certainly one would never have to explain any of one’s jokes to Major Darrett.

For just a moment she let herself drift into it.  And knowing she was drifting, and not knowing it was for just the moment, he rose and bent over her chair.

“Katie,” he whispered, and there was passion in his voice, “I think I can make you fall in love with me.”

The little imp in Katie took possession.  And something deeper than the little imp stirred vaguely at sound of that thing in his voice.  She raised her face so that it was turned up to him.  “You think you could?  Now I wonder.”