She withdrew her hand gently and then said smilingly, but without any raillery:

"I thought you would come . . ." And after a fractional pause she added quite softly, raising her eyes and looking straight at him, "I am very glad."

Allison became radiant.

"And I may see you as before." Then he bent nearer to her, and asked slowly, "And must there be an agreement?"

A scarcely perceptible pause, then she said almost shyly, "No".

With a triumphant exclamation he caught her in his arms.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As Ronald Allison went down the drive about three quarters of an hour later, he was feeling very pleased with himself.

"A very nice girl -- charming -- but I knew that would do it," he said to himself. Then after a moment's reflection. "Yes, well now I can call on Esther Waters."

And Agnes Heatherly, stepping back from the window after watching Allison go down the drive, caught sight of herself in the glass, smiled happily at her reflection, and whispered gaily:

"Ah! these flirtations!"

R.H.P.

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