“The soot has ruined it. My life seems to be one continual struggle against the soot,--the blacks, as the English call them. It's a more expressive term. They are like an army, you know, overwhelming in their relentless invasion. Well, do sit down. It is nice of you to come. You'll have some tea, won't you?” The maid had brought in the tray. Afternoon tea was still rather a new custom with us, more of a ceremony than a meal; and as Nancy handed me my cup and the thinnest of slices of bread and butter I found the intimacy of the situation a little disquieting. Her manner was indeed intimate, and yet it had the odd and disturbing effect of making her seem more remote. As she chatted I answered her perfunctorily, while all the time I was asking myself why I had ceased to desire her, whether the old longing for her might not return--was not even now returning? I might indeed go far afield to find a wife so suited to me as Nancy. She had beauty, distinction, and position. She was a woman of whom any man might be proud.... “I haven't congratulated you yet, Hugh,” she said suddenly, “now that you are a partner of Mr. Watling's. I hear on all sides that you are on the high road to a great success.” “Of course I'm glad to be in the firm,” I admitted. It was a new tack for Nancy, rather a disquieting one, this discussion of my affairs, which she had so long avoided or ignored. “You are getting what you have always wanted, aren't you?” I wondered in some trepidation whether by that word “always” she was making a deliberate reference to the past. “Always?” I repeated, rather fatuously. “Nearly always, ever since you have been a man.” I was incapable of taking advantage of the opening, if it were one. She was baffling. “A man likes to succeed in his profession, of course,” I said. “And you made up your mind to succeed more deliberately than most men. I needn't ask you if you are satisfied, Hugh. Success seems to agree with you,--although I imagine you will never be satisfied.” “Why do you say that?” I demanded. “I haven't known you all your life for nothing. I think I know you much better than you know yourself.” “You haven't acted as if you did,” I exclaimed. She smiled. “Have you been interested in what I thought about you?” she asked. “That isn't quite fair, Nancy,” I protested. “You haven't given me much evidence that you did think about me.” “Have I received much encouragement to do so?” she inquired. “But you haven't seemed to invite--you've kept me at arm's length.” “Oh, don't fence!” she cried, rather sharply. I had become agitated, but her next words gave me a shock that was momentarily paralyzing. “I asked you to come here to-day, Hugh, because I wished you to know that I have made up my mind to marry Hambleton Durrett.” “Hambleton Durrett!” I echoed stupidly. “Hambleton Durrett!” “Why not?” “Have you--have you accepted him?” “No. But I mean to do so.” “You--you love him?” “I don't see what right you have to ask.”