Wanes''--was at the root of all her misery.
Already she thought she detected in Bertram's
voice signs that he was beginning to chafe
against those ``bonds.'' ``It is a matter of--
of the utmost indifference to me what time you
come home at night, my dear,'' she finished airily,
as she sat down to her work again.

Bertram stared; then he frowned, turned on
his heel and left the room. Bertram, who knew
nothing of the ``Talk to Young Wives'' in the
newspaper at Billy's feet, was surprised, puzzled,
and just a bit angry.

Billy, left alone, jabbed her pen with such force
against her paper that the note she was making
became an unsightly blot.

``Well, if this is what that man calls being
`comfortably indifferent,' I'd hate to try the
_un_comfortable kind,'' she muttered with emphasis.



CHAPTER IX

THE DINNER BILLY TRIED TO GET


Notwithstanding what Billy was disposed to