"You're so d---d fastidious," was his answer.

"I've a prejudice for keeping the two things separate," went on Shelton.
"That ending makes me sick."

"Why?" replied Halidome. "What other end is possible? You don't want a
play to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth."

"But this does."

Halidome increased his stride, already much too long; for in his walk,
as in all other phases of his life, he found it necessary to be in
front.

"How do you mean?" he asked urbanely; "it's better than the woman making
a fool of herself."

"I'm thinking of the man."

"What man?"

"The husband."

"What 's the matter with him? He was a bit of a bounder, certainly."

"I can't understand any man wanting to live with a woman who doesn't
want him."

Some note of battle in Shelton's voice, rather than the sentiment