remembered, she seemed to have the same faculty for critical observation, for although he knew that she used to bestow favours on other boys, she had refused to be anything more than nicely polite to him, and once suggested the reason by referring to another girl whom he . . . . But that was another story . . . . She had greatly improved since then, but . . . it certainly was rather irritating to feel continually her confidence in herself, so far as he was concerned. Not that it was obtrusive, or intentionally displayed -- he did not think it was a subtle challenge -- but it actually was there, and lent a peculiar coolness and aloofness to her most ordinary as to her more intimate remarks. Such self-assurance almost invites attack -- it is almost bound to rub people the wrong way -- o might almost be a challenge. Still a bargain was a bargain and besides . . . . He decided he would try not to notice this self-possession in future.

The next night as he was taking her to the theatre, he was alternately watching the crowd passing along the street and the fleeting expressions on her face, when she suddenly leant slightly forward and said carelessly:

"Oh! Guess whom I met today. Esther Waters! I was at the Foster's. I remember . . . ." She stopped with a discreet smile.

Allison was startled by the tone and the smile. It awoke immediately that slight irritation, deepened by the fact that he knew Esther Waters and liked her. He answered calmly however:

"Oh! How is she? It's a long time since I saw or heard of her."

BC Archives, MS-2570 Box 1 File 6 / MIST, Henry Masterman, Ruhleben magazine, Prisoners' Pie, 1916