He let her go.
"Oh, Nick, how could you?"
"I must have gone mad for a minute. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Oh, my dear, it isn't a question of forgiveness. But it must never happen again—never again."
"Never again."
"We'll never speak of it, dear, and we'll never forget. Love only asks to love; it does not ask love in return, or joy."
He groaned assentingly.
"Curtis and Ellen must never know."
"My God! I should say not!"
"We must never, never hurt them."
"Never."
"We must go in-now. Good-by, my dear."
"Good-by—good-by!"
The lighted sitting room was a room she had never seen before, like a scene on the stage, ready for the acting of a play. Apricot, lilac, and soft green of chintz, shaded lamps, heaped silk cushions, great splashes of foaming and
