And I told her - I did, indeed - told her I loved her. She - well, she blushed until her hair turned red. But she liked it; she said she did. Oh, there was never such an evening! Every time I marked the score I added a postscript; every time she scored she acknowledged receipt of it. Why, I couldn't even say 'Two for this' without adding, 'My, how sweet you do look!' and she would say, 'Two, four, and a pair are eight - do you think so?'. Then she would peep at me from under her eyelashes, you know, so sweet and cunning. Oh, it was just too wonderful!

Well, I was perfectly honest and I told her everything. I said that I hadn't a cent in the world. All I had was the million-pound note she'd heard so much talk about, and that didn't belong to me. That made her curious. Talking quietly I told her the whole story right from the start. It nearly killed her with laughing. What she could find to laugh about I couldn't see, but there it was. Every half-minute some new detail would get to her, and I would have to stop as much as a minute and a half to give her a chance to settle down again. Why, she laughed so much she could hardly stand - she did indeed; I never saw anything like it.

I mean I never saw a painful story - a story of a person's troubles and worries and fears - produce that effect before. So I loved her even more, seeing she could be so cheerful when there wasn't anything to be cheerful about. I joked that I might soon need that kind of wife the way my future looked. Of course, I told her we should have to wait a couple of years, till I could pay off my debts with my salary. She joked back that she didn't mind that, only she hoped I would be as careful as possible in the matter of expenses. I must be careful not to run the least risk of digging into our third year's pay.