Page:Firecrackers a realistic novel.pdf/177

 You don't say. And the girl with the green hair?

I don't know her.

And where do you buy your gowns?

I have a little woman who comes in.

Chéruit or Jenny's her name, I suppose.

How do you go about constructing your plots, situations, and characters?

By spending as much of this evening as possible with you!

I was convinced you drew from the life. Do you work fast or slow?

Fast. I hope some day you will give me the opportunity to be unfaithful to you.

Laura, an anxious expression distorting her features, now hovered in the doorway. She brightened when she observed Campaspe.

O, Campaspe, have you seen George? I want to go home.

Saw him half-an-hour ago in the library. Have you met Mr. Johns?

O, Mr. Johns, I'm so glad! There is a question I want to ask you. I hope you will understand. I read Two on the Seine and I appreciate the style and the way you have drawn the characters and the art of it all, but why do you devote your genius to such sordid subjects?

My subjects choose me, Gareth replied. I have nothing to do with the selection.

Laura evidently regarded this as an attempt at