idea of going back to Oregon. We'll be heading for the outer spaces, ma'am."

"Is this why I'm having dinner with you?"

"Yes. To let you know my intentions." He called for the check. "I'm forty years old, ma'am. The time has come to make a permanent home for myself, with a wife and children. For several days I've toyed with the idea of falling in love with someone. What's your astrological sign?"

"Taurus." She looked at him over the champagne, her face wide with a smile that had an almost irrepressible giggle behind it.

"Fine, fine." He threw money on the table and got up. "I'm Pisces. Pisces and Taurus get along very well. This is the reason I fell in love with you, ma'am. What was your name?"

"I want to finish my champagne," she protested, not getting up. "My name is Anna Christina Morley."

He sat down. "Forgive me. I'm an abrupt man. I do things and then they're over. I never linger. As you grow to know me, this will become apparent. But finish your champagne. My kind of woman always speaks her mind. So your name is Anna Christina Morley. A very unusual name. A numerological breakdown would no doubt show you to be a strong, a firm, an idealistic woman. I am a fortunate man. Have you finished your champagne?"

"I guess so," she sighed. She got up and took her cape that had the twinkling little bells on it, and that changed color every five minutes on the second, and that told time. "Where are we going?"

"I'll take you back to your room," he said, "and say good night."

She was beautiful in the overhead sparkling lights of the dining room. Something caught her sharply in the solar plexus as he spoke.

"Why?" she said forlornly.

His singed eyebrows came up. "Why? My purpose is accomplished. You know my intentions. Now I must go out and prepare. I'll be leaving for outer space within the hour. I'll be back in ten months."

He took her to the door of her room. "Good night, Anna," he said.

She stopped him. Her heart was beating too hard. There was in her a sharp emptiness, a terrific sense of frustration. "Kiss me," she said wearily. "You said you were in love with me, so we might as well get that much acquainted."

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