And Nancy smiled, well pleased at the fantastic compliment.

She pressed more closely to him.

"I wish--I wish--" and then she stopped, for she was unselfish, shy of
expressing her wishes, but that made Dampier ever the more eager to hear,
and, if possible, to gratify them.

"What is it that you wish, dear heart?" he asked.

"I wish, Jack, that we were going straight home to the studio now--instead
of to an hotel."

"We'll get in very soon," he answered quickly. "Believe me, darling, you
wouldn't like going in before everything is ready for you. Mere Bideau has
her good points, but she could never make the place look as I want it to
look when you first see it. I'll get up early to-morrow morning and go and
see to it all. I wouldn't for the world you saw our home as it must look
now--the poor little living rooms dusty and shabby, and our boxes sitting
sadly in the middle of the studio itself!"

They had sent their heavy luggage on from England, and for the honeymoon
Nancy had contented herself with one modest little trunk, while Dampier had
taken the large portmanteau which had been the useful wedding present of
the new friend and patron in whose house he had first seen his wife.

Swiftly they shot through the triple arch which leads from the Rue de
Rivoli to the Carousel. How splendid and solitary was the vast dimly-lit
space. "I like this," whispered Nancy dreamily, gazing up at the dark,