"I believe I should say--yes," he returned. "Yes, in this
instance, just about all of them."

"Is every woman a target for you, Mr. Corliss? I suppose you know
that you have a most uncomfortable way of shooting up the
landscape." She stirred uneasily, and moved away from him to the
other end of the bench.

"I didn't miss that time," he laughed. "Don't you ever miss?"

He leaned quickly toward her and answered in a low voice: "You can
be sure I'm not going to miss anything about _you_."

It was as if his bending near her had been to rouge her. But it
cannot be said that she disliked his effect upon her; for the deep
breath she drew in audibly, through her shut teeth, was a signal
of delight; and then followed one of those fraught silences not
uncharacteristic of dialogues with Cora.

Presently, she gracefully and uselessly smoothed her hair from the
left temple with the backs of her fingers, of course finishing the
gesture prettily by tucking in a hairpin tighter above the nape of
her neck. Then, with recovered coolness, she asked:

"Did you come all the way from Italy just to sell our old house,
Mr. Corliss?"

"Perhaps that was part of why I came," he said, gayly. "I need a
great deal of money, Miss Cora Madison."