Smack! A small white hand struck Cornith's cheek resoundingly and brought the blood stinging to the surface. He almost dropped the girl. She got her long, slender legs under her and supported her own weight. Smack! Another small hand caught Cornith stingingly on the other cheek. He drew a deep breath, felt his muscles contracting. "Now, now, Mr. Cornith!" the blonde warned. "The specifications demand that your wife shall have plenty of fire." "That doesn't give her a right to knock my head off," Cornith blustered. "Besides, she's not my wife!" "Are you hurt, darling?" Lucy Hollowell said sympathetically. "I'm sorry! Here! Let me kiss your cheeks and make them well." "What th--?" "Now, now, Mr. Cornith! She's supposed to be sympathetic and understanding and very tender when you need her." "I don't need that sort of sympathy and understanding." "Look!" Lucy Hollowell cupped his chin in one soft hand and forced him to look at her. "My ears!" They were wiggling again in rhythm with the soft strains of a waltz coming from some hidden source. "Stop that! No, no, no! Don't stop breathing. Just stop wiggling your ears. Don't faint. Stand still. And stop plucking coins out of the air. And if that's you making that music, stop that, too." Silence reigned. Lucy Hollowell remained perfectly still. The expression on her lovely features was one of interest and concern. Her ripe lips quivered slightly. "You don't like me?" she said. "I do, too." Instantly the girl was all over Cornith, hugging him and kissing him at the same time and murmuring endearments. "Hey!" "Now, now, Mr. Cornith. She's supposed to be very responsive to words of love." "I didn't say anything about love." "You said you liked her." "I merely said, 'I do, too'." "But she's supposed to understand even when you don't put everything in words." "When is she supposed to stop this--this necking?" "She will let you alone when you want to be let alone." Lucy Hollowell stepped back, patted her platinum hair and glanced at her image in a small mirror. Then she smiled sweetly at Cornith and returned to his side. "Shall we go?" she said. This sudden change in mood and recovery of self-possession, after her demonstration of a moment before, was more than Cornith could readily grasp. The blonde supplied the answer. "Her moods change with the situation and needs of the moment." * * * * * Cornith scratched his dark head. "I don't know," he commented reflectively. "I didn't think any woman in the world would fit the requirements I put in. At eighteen I thought the whole idea was stupid. I didn't want to get married." "Of course," Lucy said understandingly. "You still think those examinations and tests and specifications are stupid. I understand. And you put in a lot of things you didn't want. But I had to meet the requirements, and my reactions and responses had to be some actual part of me, not ad lib. I can change them in time."