Two friends mere sitting together outside the Csfd des Tlibunaux in Uieppe. One of thcm 1rras falling in love the other, m untidy and morose little man, was wasting ndvice. It was the hour of coffee and liqueurs, on an Au, mt evening. L You are, said the adviser irritably, at the very beginning of a carcer. You have lrcn surprisingly for tunate there is scarcely a novelist in England who wouldnt be satisfied with such rcvicws as yours, and iVs vour first book. Think twelve months you werc a clcrk in the city, aad managed to plnce about three short stork a year at n guinea each. Ihrnl your aunt what-wao-her-nnme leh you the thousand pounds, and you chucked your berth and sat down to a novel. Nothing happens but the unforeseen -the result justificd you You sold -our novel o g u ot Q hundred quid for it md the Salunlay, and the Specialor, and every p p e r whose opinion is worth a rush, hails you as a coming light. For you to consider marrying now would be Aying in the fnce of n special providence. lV, y said Hurnphrey I cnt. TWly - Arc p n . serious P cause your income is an unknown quantity. Becnuse youve had ed literary success, not a popular onc. Uefause, if you keep single, youte a comfohble life in front of you. Beeause youd bc a damned fool. lhc climax is camprehcnsive, if it isnt convincing. Rut the discussion is a trifle pre ous, eh I ennt mruy you, my pretty maid, ct cetera You are with her all day, said Turquand- con clude she likes you. And the mother countenances it. There is really nothing to countenance and, remem ber, they havent any idea of my position they meet me in a fashionable hotel, they had reod the book, and they saw the Times review. What do they know of literary corniugs --the father is on the Stock Exchnuge, I believe I am on iinpo tor. You should have gone to the little show I recom mended on the quay, then. 1 find it good enough. Kent laughed and stretched himself, i am rewarding industry, he said. For oneo I wallo v. I m e into the money, nnd I put it in a bank, and by my pen, which is mightier tlm the sword , Ive replaced dl I drew to live during the year. Am I I not itit it led to a brief months splash Bcsidcs, never said i ment to marry-I dont know what youre liacking et. You harent said it, but the danger is about as plain as pica to the average iiltelligmce, all the same. My son, how old are you-twenty-seven, isnt it Pack our bag, ask for your bill, and go back-with me by the morning Boat and, if you arc rcsolved to makc an nss of yourself oller n woman, go and live in giIded infamy, hnd buy scalskin jackets and jewellery whilc your legacy lasts. Ill forgive you that. The prescription vouldnt be colled orthodox Youd find it chaper matrimony in the long run, I promise jrou. Jlllal now and again some man plays ducks and drakes with a fortune for a cocotte there are shrieks enough to wake his ancestors but marriage ruins a precious sight more men every year than the demi-mode and the tud and the tnlles put together, and nobody shrieks at all-exmpt the irrepressible children. Did it never occur to you that the price paid for the virtuous womkn is quite the most appalling one known in an expensive world P No, said Kcnt shortly, it never did. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.