The scene on the _Murmania_ did not differ much from the scene on board the same ship six months ago. John had insisted that Doris should wear her misty green suit of Harris tweed; but he himself had bought at the Burlington Arcade a traveling cap that showed plainly the sobering effects of matrimony. In the barber's saloon he invested in a pair of rope-soled shoes; he wanted to be sure of being able to support his wife even upon a heeling deck. Before dinner they went forward to watch the stars come out in the twilight--stars that were scarcely as yet more luminous in the green April sky than daisies in a meadow. They stood silent listening to the splash of the dusky sea against the bows, until the shore lamps began to wink astern. "How savage the night looks coming after us," said John. "It's jolly to think that in the middle of all that blackness James is reading my birthday welcome to the family." "Poor dears!" "Oh, they deserve all they've got," he said, fiercely. "And to think that only six months ago I was fool enough to read their letters of congratulation quite seriously in this very ship. It was you with your remark about poor relations that put your foot through my picture." "You're very much married already, aren't you, John?" "Am I?" "Yes, for you're already blaming me for everything." "I suppose this is what James would call one of my confounded sentimental endings," John murmured. "Whatever he called it, he couldn't invent a better ending himself," she murmured back. "You know, critics are very like disappointed old maids." The great ship trembled faintly in the deeper motion, and John holding Doris to him felt that she too trembled faintly in unison. They stood like this in renewed silence until the stars shone clearly, and the shore lamps were turning to a gold blur. John may be excused for thinking that the bugle for dinner sounded like a flourish from _Lohengrin_. He had reason to feel romantic now. THE END [Illustration: image of the book's back cover] * * * * * The following typogrphical errors have been corrected by the etext transcriber: light of a setting moor.=> light of a setting moon. the attenuated spinsters of Halam=> the attenuated spinsters of Halma Do you thing Stevie wants=> Do you think Stevie wants walk to Chealsea=> walk to Chelsea "It is bcoming every day=> "It is becoming every day that it it worth while making another attempt=> that it is worth while making another attempt taken up a stauesque=> taken up a statuesque caught a faint mumur about=> caught a faint murmur about The tax buzzed off.=> The taxi buzzed off. But I'm serious about the elopment.=> But I'm serious about the elopement.