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Rh caught a glimpse of her before she was aware that he was approaching. When he finally came in full view of her, she glanced up from a book in her lap with a startled expression. Vincent stopped stock-still when she saw him, as he might had she been a startled deer which he had surprised.

"Where did you drop from?" she asked, with the dear smile he had been treasuring so long.

He pointed skyward. "From Mars, of course," he replied, smiling back.

Elizabeth's smile rippled into a well-remembered laugh. "Do they wear that sort of clothes in Mars now?" she inquired, shaking her head at him accusingly.

He had forgotten, for a moment, that he was in uniform. He was sailing back to France in a fortnight.

"Sorry," he apologized, "but I'm not the only inhabitant from that planet who has got mixed up in this scrap," meaning herself of course. "You know that well enough. But," he added, "don't be afraid. I haven't come to talk to you about the war."

Instantly she dropped all playfulness.

"I was sorry about the way I left you that day," she said. "I've wanted to explain about it lots of times. I think I can do so now, with