"Go on." "Then they rode in a swan-boat. Then they walked up to the reservoir and around it. Then they came back to the hotel." "Did they separate in the office?" [Pg 42] [Pg 42] "On the sidewalk." "But last night? She said she was dining with her sister and going to the play. What did she do last night?" "She did what she said. Believe me, sir—if I know anything of men and women, you're paying me to run fool's errands for you. They don't need any watching." "You have seen them—kiss?" "Never." "Hold hands?" "I haven't seen any physical demonstration. I guess they like each other a lot. And that's all there is to it." But the "old man" made a scene with her, just such a scene as he would have made if the detective's report had been, in effect, the opposite of what it was. He assumed that she was guilty; but, for dread of scandal, he would not seek a divorce. He exacted a promise that she would not see Arthur, or write to him, or receive letters from him. Then, having agreed with certain magnates to go out to China upon the question of a great railroad and a great loan, he carried her off with him, then and there. So that when Arthur called at the hotel, he was told that they had gone but[Pg 43] that there was a note for him. If it was from the wife, the husband had dictated it: [Pg 43] CONTENTS Don't try to see me ever any more. If you do, it will only make my life a hell on earth. That had been the tangible end of Arthur's romance. But the intangible ends were infinite and not yet. His whole nature had changed. He had suffered and
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