“I owed you something for bringing you on a fool’s errand. Besides, I wanted to show you what Todger’s could do when it liked!” “Todger’s is wonderful,” he smiled. “And how you could ever have thought of leaving Todger’s is more than I can understand.” “Oh, I’m going to leave it, right enough,” she answered. “What on earth do you think a girl all by herself wants with a great big house with ten bedrooms, three reception rooms, bath h. and c., etc., etc.?” “It’s your home, anyhow.” “That’s why I don’t like to let it.” “Then why go away from it? If it is not an impertinent question, what are you going to do?” She met his clear blue eyes and laughed. “I’m going out into the world to seek adventure. There!” “And I,” said he, “want to get out of the world and never have another adventure as long as I live. I’ve had more than enough for one lifetime.” “But still,” she retorted, conscious of his bearing and vigour and other conjectured qualities, “you can’t contemplate fossilizing here till the end of time.” “That’s what I’m literally thinking of doing,” he replied. She felt the reaction of bitter disappointment. A man like him had no right to throw up the sponge. The sudden blankness of her face betrayed her thoughts. He smiled. “I said literally, you know. Fossilizing in the literal and practical sense. Once upon a time I was a geologist. I specialized in certain fossils.” “Oh,” gasped Olivia. “I beg your pardon.” “Very fascinating little fossils,” he went on without reference to her apology, for which Olivia was grateful. “They’re called foraminifera. Do you know what they are?” Olivia shook a frankly ignorant head. “They’re little tiny weeny shells, and the things once inside them belonged to the protozoa, or first forms of life. They’re one of the starting-points to the solution of the riddle of existence. I was dragged away from them to fool about with other kinds of shells, millions of times bigger and millions of times less important. I’ve got what I think are some new ideas about them, and other things connected with them—it’s a vast subject—and so I’m looking for a quiet place where I can carry on my work.” “That’s awfully interesting,” said Olivia. “But—forgive me—who pays you for it?” “Possibly mankind two hundred years hence,” he laughed. “But, if I stick it long enough, they may make me a Fellow of the Royal Society when I’m—say—seventy-three.” “I wish you’d tell me some more about these forami—funny little things I’ve never heard of,” said Olivia. But he answered: “No. If once I began, I would bore you so stiff that you would curse the hour you allowed me to cross your threshold. There are other things just as vital as foraminifera. I’ve made my confession, Miss Gale. Now, won’t you make yours? What are you keen on?”