sincerity, but thought it advisable to temporize, and asked for a few
days' delay before we came to a final decision. We met again, as I have
said, and discussed matters in calmer mood. Ultimately, she professed
agreement with my point of view, and we parted, ostensibly to remain good
friends, but really to separate for ever."

"Thank you. That's better. What _was_ your point of view, Mr. Grant?"

"Surely I have made it clear. I could not regard my wife as purchasable.
The proposed compact was, I believe, illegal. But that consideration did
not sway me. I had been dreaming, and thought I was roaming in an
enchanted garden. I awoke, and found myself in a morass."

The superintendent nodded again. Singularly enough, Grant's somewhat
high-flown simile appeared to satisfy his craving for light.

"Do you mind telling me--is there another woman?" he demanded, with one
of those rapid transitions of topic in which he excelled.

"No," said Grant.

"You see what I am aiming at. Let us suppose that Miss Melhuish never, in
her own mind, abandoned the hope that some day the tangle would
straighten itself. Women are constituted that way. If her husband is now
dead, and she became free, she might wish to renew the old ties, but,
being proud, would want to ascertain first whether or not any other woman
had come into your life."

"I follow perfectly," said Grant, with some bitterness. "She would be
consumed with jealousy because my companion in the garden last night