‘It seems to me,’ she remarked after we had mounted a flight and settled ourselves in someone’s rooms, ‘It seems to me that the world is about equally divided between the loved and the unloved, and the great thing is to avoid being in the second class.’ ‘Well, of course we know which lot you’re in,’ I replied quickly. ‘That’s very nice of you, Marth--, I mean Mr. Cochrane, but I was just thinking of the terrible number of girls who go through all this kind of thing and linger on to become sour old maids.’ Although at that particular moment I happened to be holding Miss MacNeill’s hand in order to keep it warm, it is quite impossible that that could have been any reason for her squeezing it affectionately, and sighing softly; however, it was very stimulating, and I went on to say, ‘I believe the proportion of men to women in the world is about two to three, even including black men, and I’m sure you wouldn’t marry a Fijian or a Sandwichman.’ ‘Oh, why not,’ she put in, ‘I think a Pacific islander would make such a desirable husband. You’d know such a lot about him before your marriage.’ ‘Whatever do you mean, Violet?’ I asked. ‘On, no,’ she said, ‘I only mean that on a little coral island everybody would be sure to know all about their neighbours, so that you wouldn’t be likely to get hold of a post-nuptial surprise packet, and anyhow, he’d be bound to be Pacific.’ It was at this precise moment that Feltham, the owner of the rooms and a distant cousin of mine, arrived and remarked apologetically, ‘I’m awfully sorry that there’s only that one chair in the room, but the fact is they’ve commandeered all my best for the Ladies’ Cloaker at the bottom of the staircase--’, but here I noticed that Violet had departed with unusual shyness, and so I too withdrew hastily, leaving the owner surveying his apartment with a puzzled expression. As I reached the Quad a soft little hand was linked in to my arm, and Violet enquired anxiously, ‘Do you think he thought anything?’ ‘Oh no,’ I replied, ‘he couldn’t have, besides he wouldn’t say anything if he did.’ ‘Oh, all right, take me to get an ice, will you, Frank,’ she said shyly, ‘it was so awfully hot up there, wasn’t it?’ I satisfied the fair lady with a marvellous icy rose with vanilla petals and strawberry leaves in a little white frilling of Japanese paper, and soon afterwards found myself dancing a most energetic set of lancers with Maisie. As we were leaving the floor after it was over, Maisie said to me with a bewitching smile, ‘Have you found my cosy corner?’ ‘I don’t see how anybody could find one with so many people about,’ I very naturally responded. ‘O yes you can,’ she said, ‘come along, I’ll soon show it you.’ And she guided me to a most beautiful arbour in the garden, where we watched the mysterious romantic world outside crawling in and out among the countless little red lights like a scene out of some worm and fire-fly carnival.