At the Rectory she sang to me even better than she used to; the “Delight” was an achievement, Bogie being most agreeably surprised; there was a glow of firelight such as I love, and a vast comfortable chair.  I felt lazy and very happy.

“This tea idea of yours was simply an inspiration.  I don’t know when I’ve been so pleased with myself and existence generally.  At the moment my moral is as high as Mount Everest.”

“Yes, I noticed something like that,” Woggles agreed.  “More tea?  It’s only about your fifth cup.”  Suddenly serious, she went on:  “I wonder—­is there much to be happy about just now?  Dad thinks not; and so do I, rather.  Do you want to talk about it, or would you rather find faces in the fire?”

“Please I want to talk about it.”

“Carry on then.  Fortify yourself with that last bit of ‘Delight.’”

In spite of this reinforcement I found it wasn’t so very easy to begin.

“Well,” I said slowly, “I expect the foundation of my joie de vivre is a great relief that the War’s over.  Lots of troops celebrated that with song and dance and so forth on November 11th and subsequent nights; I’m spreading it over a much longer time.  In a way it’s like having a death sentence repealed, for millions of us.  Not the heroic spirit, is it?—­but there you are.”

“Of course everyone feels that,” Woggles admitted.  “Only now that it is all over, aren’t we sort of looking round and counting the cost?  Thinking that all this loss of life and suffering hasn’t made the world so very much better?  Look at Russia and our strikes.  Doesn’t Bolshevism worry you?” she asked.

“The fact is,” I told her, “I believe I’ve evolved a philosophy of life which nothing of that kind can seriously disturb—­or I hope not.  It’s very jolly to feel like that.”

“It must be.  May we have this philosophy, please?  Perhaps you’ll make a disciple.”

“It’s an awfully simple one really, only I think people lose sight of it so strangely.  Just to realise the extraordinary pleasure everyday things can give you—­if you’ll only let them.  You compree that?”

“It doesn’t sound very convincing,” Woggles objected.  “Everyday things!  As for instance?”

“Oh, what shall I say?  One of those really fine mornings; huge white clouds in a deep blue sky; the feel of a good drive at golf; smoke from cottage chimneys at dusk; wondering what’s round the next corner of an unknown road; bare branches at night with the stars tangled in them; the wind that blows across these downs of ours; the music of a sentence of STEVENSON’S; Bogie here and his funny little ways—­Well, I needn’t go on?”

“No, you needn’t,” said Woggles thoughtfully and looked at me rather hard for a space.  “We’re old friends, aren’t we, and all that sort of thing?” she demanded.

“What a question!  I hope we are.  But why?”

“Well, I’m going to ask you something.  But I may say I’m rather nervous.  You’ll promise not to set Bogie at me or strangle me with your Sam Browne?”