success, and always remembering the fact that however wilful and
oblivious she might be, she was still to all intents and purposes the
wife of his bosom and equally interested with himself in all his
undertakings, he recounted his triumphs and declared his intention of
leaving Camberwell forthwith and settling in Camelot Square, Bella
smiled, yet proved in no way elated at the intelligence.

"So, my dear, you can go as soon as you like and fix upon a house,"
he said.

Bella yawned and stretched her arms above her head.

"Oh, you will know much better than I what is required," she replied.

"Have you, then, no interest in our new home?" he asked, more hurt
than he could well have expressed.

"Do you ever show the slightest interest in what concerns me?" she
retorted.

He winced. "This is a mutual interest, surely, since we must occupy
it together."

"Must?" she echoed dreamily.

"What do you mean?" he asked sharply.

"Nothing, except that 'must' is the word I have banished from my
vocabulary," and she smiled at him--actually smiled, though she must
have known she was stabbing him to the very heart.