And when he had departed--all the de la Paule family had been there at Brook Street also--Lady de la Paule wondered at her niece's set face. But what a mercy it was the marriage was such a success after all and that there might be a son! So both Denzil and John went to the war--and Amaryllis was alone. Verisschenzko had returned to Paris without seeing her--and it was the beginning of December before he was in England again and rang her up at Brook Street where she had returned for a week, asking if he might call. "Of course!" she said, and so he came. The library was looking its best. Amaryllis had a knack of arranging flowers and cushions and such things--her rooms always breathed an air of home and repose, and Verisschenzko was struck by the sweet scent and the warmth and cosiness when he came in out of the gloomy fog. She rose to greet him, her face more ethereal still than when he had dined with her. "You are looking like an angel," he said, when she had given him some tea and they were seated on the big sofa before the fire. "What have you to tell me? I know that you are going to have a child; I am very interested about it all." Amaryllis blushed a soft pink--he went on with perfect calm. "You blush as though I had said something unheard of! How custom rules you still! For a blush is caused by feeling some sort of shame or discomfort, or agitating surprise at some discovery. We may get red with anger, or get pale, but that bright, sudden flush always has some self-conscious element of shame in it. It is just convention which has wrapped the most natural and divine thing in life round with discomfort in this way. You are deeply to be congratulated that you are going to have a baby, do you not think so?" "Of course I do--" and Amaryllis controlled her uneasy bashfulness. She really wished to talk to her friend. "Who told you about it?" she asked. "Denzil." Amaryllis drew in her breath suddenly. Verisschenzko's eyes were looking her through and through. "Denzil--?" "Yes,--he is glad that there may be the possibility of a son for the family." "How do you feel about it? It is an enormous responsibility to have children." "I feel that--I want to do the wisest things from the beginning--" "You must take great care of yourself, and always remain serene. Never let your mind become agitated by speculation as to the _presently_, keep all thoughts fixed upon the now." Amaryllis looked at him a little troubled. What did he know? Something tangible, or were these views of his just applicable to any case? Her eyes were full of question and pleading. "What do you want to ask me?" His eyes narrowed in contemplating her. "I--I--do not know." "Yes, you want to hear of Denzil--is it not so?" She clasped her hands. "Yes--perhaps--" "He is well--I heard from him yesterday. He asked me to come to you. His mother is still at Bath--he wishes you to meet."