“Beautifully!  Oh, he would be wicked; even I couldn’t like a fairy who did that.  Thank you ever so much, Mr. Herrick; I would never have thought of that myself.  What a beautifully wicked imagination you must have!  I’ll make Nettlesting do that very thing.”

“No, don’t change him, please; I like him the way he is.  When will that story he published?”

“Oh, I may never finish it, and, if I do, it may never be accepted.”

Wade pondered a minute.  Then—­“Of course, you know it’s perfect nonsense,” he charged.

“My story?  Isn’t that a little cruel, Mr. Herrick?”

“I don’t mean your story.  I mean the idea of you having to write things to make a living when—­when there’s all that money that really belongs to you.  I wish, Miss Walton, you’d look at it sensibly.”

“Mr. Herrick, you’re not flattering any more.”

“Can’t help it,” answered Wade, doggedly.  “You ought to consider the matter from—­from a practical point of view.  Now you can’t deny—­”

“A woman can deny anything,” laughed Eve, “especially if it’s logic.”

“This isn’t logic; it’s incontrovertible fact.”

“Good gracious!  No, I don’t believe I’d have the courage to deny such a thing as that.  I’m sure it would be quite unlawful, wouldn’t it, Mr. Herrick?”

“Won’t you please be serious?” he begged.

“No, not to-day, thank you.”

“Then we’ll talk about it some other day.”

“No, but we won’t, please.  I’d like you to understand, Mr. Herrick, that I appreciate your—­your kindness, your generosity, but all the argument in the world won’t shake my resolution to take none of Cousin Edward’s money.  Now we understand each other, don’t we?”

“I suppose so,” answered Wade, regretfully.  “But you’re making a mistake, Miss Walton.  Won’t you just think about it?’ Won’t you take advice from—­from your friends?”

“The last thing I’d do,” Eve replied, smilingly.  “One’s friends are the very ones to avoid when you want unbiased advice.  For instance, there’s Carrie Mullett.  I told her what you said the other night, and what do you suppose her advice was?”

“I’m sure it was sensible,” said Wade.  “She’s a very sensible, as well as a very charming, lady.”

“H’m; well, she said:  ’Accept enough to live on, my dear.  Your father would never have wanted you to be dependent on yourself for your living.’”

“Well?” asked Wade, hopefully.

“She never knew papa,” replied Eve.  “Besides, I am not dependent on myself for my living.  I have enough to live on even if I never sold a thing.  I’m not so poverty-stricken as you imagine.”

“If you’d talk it over with a lawyer—­”

“But it isn’t a question of law, Mr. Herrick.  It’s something between me and my conscience, you see.  And surely,” she ended with a smile, “you wouldn’t consult a lawyer about an affair of conscience?  Why, I might have to explain what a conscience was!”