In the midst of trying to say that it was getting late, that she must return, that no doubt she would have the pleasure of meeting him again sometime at the President's mansion, Theo found herself strolling down the road at his side, while Wildair stamped resentfully at their heels.

When they reached the riverbank, Lewis tethered the stallion, and turning quickly peered into the brush. She heard a tiny rustic.

My Theodosia 'What is it?' she asked.

'Fox. A little red vixen. Look!' She followed his pointing finger, but her untrained eyes could see nothing except a tangle of underbrush.

'Tis a pity you have no gun,' she remarked politely. Lewis frowned. 'Why so? I do not shoot animals, unless I need them for food. I don't think killing a sport.'

Her surprise at this unfamiliar viewpoint held her quiet a moment, then she said, 'But you must have killed many men. You're a soldier.'

'That's different. Men can take care of themselves. And a good part of mankind,' he added calmly, 'should be shot'. 'La, mercy on us! How fierce you sound!' cried Theo. 'I trust you do not include me in that number'. She fluttered her eyelashes. Perhaps, after all, a tone of airy flirtatiousness was the easiest to maintain.

He gave her a long, cool look. 'Don't coquet with me, Mrs. Alston. It does not become you.'

She reddened, her eyes flashed. 'You're insolent, Captain Lewis.'

He laughed grimly. 'Then-I apologize. But there is that between us that forbids coquetting or gallantry.'

Her heart gave a frightened thump. She stiffened, twisting her fingers together. 'You talk folly. There is nothing between us. I have never seen you but once in my life, nor— nor thought of you since——' She faltered, remembering the strange stab of blind pain dealt her by the sailor's flute on the Enterprise.

He shrugged. 'I believe you. For you would never admit a thought which was not approved by your father, would you?'

He spoke with a quiet matter-of-factness which robbed his words of offense But they hurt her sharply.

'You seem to forget that I have a husband and son as well as a father,' she answered coldly. 'Or perhaps you did not know that I had a son?'

He nodded. 'I had heard it.'

He was silent, staring out over the bright Potomac in front of them. He was disagreeably surprised at the emotion which the sight of her had again aroused. Women as romantic creatures had no place in his life. He had nothing but contemptuous amusement for the philandering of his brother officers, and complete boredom with the nebulous state called 'love.'