"We can go now," she said, a note in her voice that he had never heard before. They did not speak as they walked toward the gates of the studio and it was then he realized that he loved her. In that moment he was transported to an indescribable happiness. She seemed a fairy creature at his side, too beautiful to touch, too wonderful to speak to. An automobile stopped beside them. Bonwit, at the wheel, leaned out over the side. "Can't I give you two a lift home?" he asked. John looked toward Consuello and heard her say: "No, thanks; it's only a few blocks home and we'll walk--it's such a--a--a glorious night." CHAPTER XVIII Consuello was the first to speak as they passed through the studio gateway to the sidewalk overhung by the drooping branches of tall pepper trees. "It's not far," she said. The words awoke John from his enthrallment and she saw by his glance toward her that he did not comprehend their meaning. "It's not far to the house," she explained. Not far! He wished it were miles away, that they might walk on together for hours. "I could not bear being cramped up in an apartment," she added. "When it became necessary for me to find some place to live in Los Angeles, a dear friend--you must meet her--and I hunted up this little place for our home. It wasn't much to look at when we found it, but we have made it over to suit us and we have both grown to love it." "Your friend--is she in pictures, too?" he asked. "Betty is an artist," she replied. "She designs sets and costumes for pictures and she is wonderful. She knows everything about her work, more than anyone else in Hollywood, they say. She deserves all the credit for turning our little home into a dream place." "You will miss her when----" he found himself unable to finish the sentence, "you are married." "Yes," she said. "I'll miss her and our little home. Really, I don't believe I will know how to act if I become the wife of the mayor of Los Angeles. I have grown to detest formality, dances and dinners and receptions and things. If there is one thing Reggie and I will quarrel about that will be it. He has always been invited everywhere and he enjoys the niceness of conventionality." He was glad that there was not complete compatibility between her and Gibson. It was selfish and wrong for him to rejoice that she and Gibson were not perfectly suited in their likes and dislikes and he knew it, but nevertheless it gladdened him. "I nearly died of fright that day at the lawn fete, when I met you," he said. "I believe I would have done something disgraceful to that servant who was asking me to leave if you hadn't appeared." "You told me you thought Reggie to be a villain," she reminded him, laughing. "You don't think him one now, do you?" How close he came to telling her then what he had reason to believe Gibson actually was, a villain beyond all understanding, she never knew. "No," he lied.