The woman walked over to a bookcase, and, drawing out a volume, turned the pages absently. Without reading a word, she came back and looked the man squarely in the face. "Will denying yourself help the world to evolve?" "I think so." "How?" "My determination makes me a positive force. It is my Karma for good, that makes my child stronger to do things." "But you have no child,"--swiftly. Their eyes met again without faltering. "I shall have--sometime." Silence fell upon them. "Where were you a century ago?" digressed the woman. "I wasn't born." "Where will your child be a hundred years from now?" "Dead likewise, probably; but the force for good, the Karma of the life, will be passed on and remain in the world." Unconsciously they both rose to their feet. "Was man always on the earth?" she asked. The question was answered almost before spoken. "No." "Will he always be here?" "Science says 'no.'" The woman came a step forward until they almost touched. "What then becomes of your life of denial?" she challenged. "You make it hard for me," said the man, simply. "But am I not right?" She came toward him passionately. "I come near you, and you start." She laid her hand on his. "I touch you, and your eyes grow warm. Both our hearts beat more quickly. Look at the sunshine! It's brighter when we're so close together. What of life? It's soon gone--and then? What of convention that says 'no'? It's but a farce that gives the same thing we ask--at the price of a few words of mummery. Our strongest instincts of nature call for each other. Why shouldn't we obey them when we wish?" She hesitated, and her voice became tender. "We would be very happy together. Won't you come?" The man broke away almost roughly. "Don't you know," he demanded, "it's madness for us to be talking like this? We'll be taking it seriously, and then--" The woman made a swift gesture of protest. "Don't. Let's be honest--with each other, at least. I'm tired of pretending to be other than I am. Why did you say 'being true to my husband'? You know it's mockery. Is it being true to live with a man I hate because man's law demands it, rather than true to you whom Nature's law sanctions? Don't speak to me of society's right and wrong! I despise it. There is no other tribunal than Nature, and Nature says 'Come.'" The man sat down slowly and dropped his head wearily into his hands. "I say again, I cannot. I respect you too much. We're intoxicated now being together. In an hour, after we're separate--" She broke in on him passionately.