Page:The Climber (Benson).djvu/288

278 and struggling, really. I never knew it before. It was rather a surprise."

Edgar was capable of a certain dryness.

"I do not wonder at your surprise," he said. "It was perfectly natural. But how late you are, Lucia! You said you meant to go to bed early."

"I know, but I thought I would sit up for you. Is that quite unheard-of conduct? And I wanted to have a chat. Since we have been in town I have not set eyes on you. Have you been wearing the cap of darkness?"

"No," said Edgar. "The cap of invisibility fits you, not me. At least, you have been visible to so many people that I have seen nothing of you. We have not met all day, have we? I hope you were pleased with your dance last night."

"Ah, it was the greatest success," said Lucia. "In November, too. No one had ever thought of it before. And it is such fun not only hearing about, but doing, some new thing."

"You are a true Athenian," said he.

"Thank you, dear. That is a great compliment, for certainly they realized both the beautiful as well as the intellectual value of the world better than any race before or since."

"Ah, you separate the two," said he. But it was clear that he had no thoughts of a discussion; indeed, he seemed a little distant and preoccupied. Lucia had noticed that for the last month or two such a mood seemed to have grown rather common with him.

He sat down on the sofa opposite her.

"And what are your plans?" he asked. "How long would you like to stop in town?"

"I, too, was going to speak of that," she said. "It is getting rather chilly and foggy, you know, and we have had our ball. And my bones rather long for the sun; there is nothing at this moment I should like so well as to sit and be baked in it for a week or two."

"I am told they are having charming weather on the South Coast," he said.

"Yes, but it is a second-rate sun at the best which is obtainable in England," she said. "Oh, Edgar, why shouldn't we go Darby-and-Joaning in the yacht for a fortnight? We might join her at Marseilles, and have a cruise up the Riviera coast. Oh, think of it, on a day like to-day, when it was so foggy and muddy! At the best, the sun was like a new penny. And you