"'_Tush!' cried the Marquis, pacing the floor of the bijou boudoir liked a caged lion_," she recited. Timothy uttered an impatient ejaculation, and dropped upon the sofa. "_Then, with a superb gesture of contempt, he turned upon his heel and flung himself into the depths of an abysmal divan_," continued Peggy. "Careful, Timmy! I heard the sofa crack." "I suppose you know, Peggy," announced Timothy in a very ill-used voice, "that you are breaking my heart? Also destroying my faith in women? Mere details, of course," he added, in what was meant to be a tone of world-weary cynicism; "but they may interest you!" He rose, and leaning gloomily against the mantelpiece, glowered his disapprobation of his beloved's ill-timed levity. Once more, just as in her conversation with Philip, Peggy flashed into another mood. She put out an appealing hand, and touched Tim caressingly. "Timmy, dear," she said, "I'm sorry--there! Will you forgive me, please?" "Yes, I forgive you," replied Timothy, reassuming his air of possession at once. "But it must not occur again." "All right," agreed Peggy meekly. Then she looked at Timothy with a troubled expression. "Tim," she said, "I want to talk to you like a mother. I have been thinking." "And have you come to the conclusion that you don't love me!" exclaimed Timothy in a tragic voice. "I know: don't explain! That is a woman all over. A couple of hours--" "I wasn't going to say anything of the kind, Tim," interposed Peggy quietly; "but I have been thinking." She fingered the buttons of Timothy's immaculate waistcoat. "I have been wondering if a man like you _ought_ to marry at present. What lovely buttons!" She played a little tune on them to show her appreciation. "Don't treat me like a child, please," said Timothy stiffly. "At this moment," replied Peggy, "that is just the way I am _not_ treating you." "You think me too young, I know," insisted Tim. "I wasn't thinking of you at all," said Peggy calmly. "I see," said Timothy in a hollow voice. "Yourself? Quite so!" He laughed sardonically. "No," replied Peggy patiently; "of something bigger. Something bigger than either of us. I was thinking--well, of the nation at large." "Peggy," enquired Timothy, entirely befogged but considerably intrigued, "what are you talking about?" "Sit down, and listen," replied Peggy. Timothy obeyed, and the girl continued:-- "It's this way, Tim. Many a man of promise has ruined his prospects by an early marriage. You are a man of promise, Tim." "Oh, rot!" protested Timothy, kindling none the less. "If you were to marry now," continued Peggy, in the same thoughtful voice, "you would settle down into a contented, domesticated husband." Tim nodded. "It's about time I did," he said darkly. "No," countered Peggy; "not yet. You are a man of action, Tim. You ought to be free, at present--free to fight, and climb high, and become famous--" "By Jove!" exclaimed Timothy, despite himself.