He went away, but he came back once—­twice—­thrice in quick succession.  On business, so he said casually to Mr. and Mrs. Price, but his language to their daughter was a declaration of personal devotion.  It remained for her to say whether she would marry him or no.  Of one thing she was sure without need of reflection, that she loved him ardently.  As a consequence she surrendered at once, though, curiously enough, she was conscious when she permitted him to kiss her with effusion that he was not the sort of man she had intended to marry—­that he was not fit in her sense of the word.  Yet she was determined to marry him, and from the moment their troth was plighted she found herself his eager and faithful ally, dreaming and scheming on their joint account.  She would help him to succeed; they would conquer the world together; she would never doubt his ability to conquer it.  And in time—­yes, in time they would make even the Morton Prices notice them.

And so after some bewildered opposition on the part of Mr. Price, who was alternately appalled and fascinated by the magniloquent language of his would-be son-in-law, they were married.  Flossy gave but a single sign to her husband that she understood him and recognized what they really represented.  It was one evening a few months after they had set up housekeeping while they were walking home from the theatre.  They had previously dined at Delmonico’s, and the cost of the evening’s entertainment, including a bottle of champagne at dinner, their tickets and a corsage bouquet of violets for Flossy, had been fifteen dollars.  Flossy wore a resplendent theatre hat and fashionable cape—­one of the several stylish costumes with which her husband had hastened to present her, and Gregory was convoying her along the Avenue with the air of a man not averse to have the world recognize that they were a well set up and prosperous couple.  Flossy had put her arm well inside his and was doing her best to help him produce the effect which he desired, when she suddenly said: 

“I wonder, Gregory, how long it will be before we’re really anybody.  Now, of course, we’re only make believe swell.”

Gregory gave an amused laugh.  “What a clever little woman!  That’s just what we are.  We’ll keep it a secret, though, and won’t advertise it to the world.”

“Mum’s the word,” she replied, giving his arm a squeeze.  “I only wished you to know that I was not being fooled; that I understood.”

Fate ordained that the Williamses and the Littletons should take houses side by side in the same block.  It was a new block, and at first they were the sole occupants.  Williams bought his house, giving a mortgage back to the seller for all the man would accept, and obtaining a second mortgage from a money lender in consideration of a higher rate of interest, for practically the remaining value.  He furnished his house ornately from top to bottom in the latest fashion, incurring bills for a portion of the effects,