partner's head!"

"You had some satisfaction out of it, at any rate," laughed Viviette.

A faint reminiscent smile crossed his face. "I suppose I had. But it
didn't qualify me for a successful business career. No. I might do
something in a new country. I must get away from this. I can't stand it.
But yet--as I've told you all along, I'm tied--hand and foot."

"And so you're very miserable, Dick."

"How can I help it?"

Viviette edged a little away from him, and said, rather resentfully:

"I don't call that polite, seeing that I have come back to live with
you."

He turned on her with some fierceness. "Don't you see that your being
here makes my life all the more impossible? How can I be with you day
after day without loving you, hungering for you, wanting you, body and
soul? I've never given a thought to another woman in my life. You're my
heart's blood, dear. I want to hold you so tight in my arms that not the
ghost of another man can ever come between us. You know it."

Viviette shredded an apple blossom that had fallen into her lap. The
fingers that held the petal tingled, and a flush rose in her cheek.

"I do know it," she said in a low voice. "You're always telling me. But,
Dick"--she flashed a mischievous glance at him--"while you're holding