statement.  "That is to say—practicing is all very well, but...the joy of music is in sharing it with one's friends—musical soirées and evenings in the parlor with a roaring fire. Old friends gathered around the piano—and champagne!—" 

 Professor Bridwell warmed to her words, and rubbed his hands together as if before the very fire she had mentioned.  "You have hit it precisely," he replied with enthusiasm.  "Why—it's no wonder that living, as I do, alone in a house that I fear is far too large for..." 

 Gretchen thought she detected the professor falter just then, and there was the slightest of pauses in his speech. 

 "... For myself alone, you see," he finished. He laughed at himself, tossing the black mop of hair to one side.  "But I needed some place instantly when I arrived here. I will probably find smaller digs in a year or so, when I've come to know the city more intimately." 

 "Indeed," Gretchen answered, returning his smile.  "I quite understand how one needs permanent lodgings—the more quickly one can find them in a strange city, why, the quicker one is able to settle into life, get one's bearings in a foreign port." 

 "So true," he replied with a firm nod. 

 A few moments later, a juncture seemed to have been reached in their conversation. Their coffees were at an end, and neither of them had touched their cups for what seemed ages, so engaged had they become in their conversation. 

 "But now," Professor Bridwell exclaimed, with a glance to his pocket watch, "I should not be keeping you away from your supper or—or your other duties any longer. Please allow me to escort you home, Miss Haviland—or where you may be going." 

 "Thank you, Professor—but really there is no need," she declared. She thought that sounded too firm, and she smiled easily, to show that she meant it only literally, not as a rebuff.  "My rooms are close by, and the evening air will do me good, you see. It shan't take me more than ten minutes at a brisk pace." 

 "Yes," he agreed.  "I believe I shall walk myself. The air is good for the circulation, as long as one's pace is brisk." 

 Gretchen rose, and took a curtsey. The Professor held her coat and stood attentively while she donned her gloves.  "I do thank you most kindly for the enchanting evening, Professor Bridwell. It—it has been 

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