The party was pleasant--Belfield flirting with the Nun, Gilly discoursing in company with Mrs. Belfield, who thought him a most intelligent young man (as he was), Harry and Billy both in high spirits and full of sallies, for which Vivien and Andy, both ever choosing the modest _rôle_, made an applauding audience. Yet for most of the company dinner was but a prelude to the real business of the evening. The Nun had no opinion of evenings which ended at ten-thirty. For this reason, and in order to welcome Gilly and, if possible, please his palate, she had organized a supper at the Lion, and exhorted Mr. Dove, and Chinks, and the cook--in a word, everybody concerned--to a great effort. One thing only marred the anticipations of this feast; Vivien had failed to win leave to attend it. "What do you want with supper after a good dinner?" asked Wellgood brusquely. "Come home and go to bed, like a sensible girl." So Harry was to take Vivien home, and come back to supper with all reasonable speed. The Nun pressed Mr. Belfield to join her party after his own was over, but gained nothing thereby, save a disquisition on the pleasures appropriate to youth and age respectively. "Among the latter I rank going early to bed very high." "Going to bed early is a low calculating sort of thing to do," said Harry. "It always means that you intend to try to take advantage of somebody else the next morning." "In the hope that he'll have been up late," said Billy. "And eaten too much," added Gilly sadly. "Or even drunk too much?" suggested Belfield. "Anyhow, being sent to bed is horrid," lamented unhappy Vivien. "You've a life of suppers before you, if you choose," Billy assured her consolingly. "When I was a girl, we always had supper," said Mrs. Belfield. "Quite right, Mrs. Belfield," said Gilly, in high approval. "Instead of late dinner, I mean, Mr. Foot." Gilly could do no more than look at her, finding no adequate comment. "Supper should be a mere flirtation with one's food," said Billy. "A post-matrimonial flirtation?" asked Belfield. "Because dinner must be wedlock! We come back to its demoralizing character." "Having established that it's wrong, we've given it the final charm, and we'll go and do it," laughed Billy. Mrs. Belfield had already looked once at the clock.