is defend her honor. If my old broken-down honor isn't worth a half-million, I'll give the damn thing away. So there!"

Peter stretched in a luxurious yawn; he realized that he hadn't felt so good for a rather long time. He grinned at her. "Look," he said. "You've got this thing all wrong. It's the wolfish male that turns the virgin's head with the half-million and tries to violate her honor. Not—"

"Buster, shut up. You went to sleep, remember?"

He sat up in bed abruptly. "Norma—I didn't—?"

"No, dammit, you didn't. You went, dammit, to sleep instead. If I, dammit, hadn't gotten tired and hungry waiting for you to sleep it off, I'd not have started to brew breakfast. Now, dammit, that I've constructed coffee; ham and eggs, and orange juice in self preservation, you'll wait. So help me."

Peter grinned. "Can't I, dammit, have both?"

She blew a stray wisp of hair out of her eyes.

"First things first. First you'll eat, to build up your strength. After that, if you can keep your nose out of a book, we'll see about the rest. Now—"

The doorbell rang like the sounding of a fire warning. It made both of them jump. The ringing was followed by a heavy fist beating on a panel of the door.

"I don't know what this is all about," said Peter. "But I don't like that official-sounding method of attack." He climbed out of the studio couch, blushed when he realized that he was clad in his shorts and wristwatch and realized that he may or may not have undressed, probably not.

"In there," he said, pointing at a side room. "And if someone touches that doorknob, you go out through the back door but fast!"

"Yes, Peter," said Norma. She lifted her face and responded to his brief kiss with a vigor that left him pleasantly wobbly at the knees. But Norma was well concealed by the time Peter opened the door for Mr. Forsyth, the Executive Vice-President of Everything Else and another character, the latter of vast muscular proportions.

"Ah, Mr. Mansfield. I hoped you'd be in. Have you time to consult with us?"

"A bit," said Peter uncertainly. The size of Forsyth's associate removed any and all notions of objection, either physical or verbal impertinence. He stood aside and let them enter.

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