Anthony, smiling at the earnestness of his beloved, did not yield an inch. "These things are not to be decided by sentiment, dear. There are meanings in marriage far beyond mere romance, far beyond the fate of the two individuals who make the contract. We doctors must uphold the ideal of physical perfection lest the race suffer. Moreover Bettina does not know, she cannot know, what life would mean under such conditions. She does not know her own strength, her own weakness. She must learn something of life before she takes its heaviest burdens upon her. If in the years to come she can sustain Justin by her friendship, let it be that. She must not marry him." "You--with your friendships, Anthony! Love cannot go back to friendship." She had seated herself on a stone bench which backed by a clump of pines, commanded a wide view of the sea. He hesitated, wondering how he might chase away the shadow which lay on her lovely face. "Dear heart, we must not disagree about a thing which may right itself. Tell Betty that, if she will be patient for a few weeks, I shall hope to withdraw my opposition." Her eyes did not meet his. "Are you thinking that I am cruel, Diana?" "No, oh, no. But your wisdom won't cure Betty's heartache." "It may save her future heartaches." "I wonder if a woman's point of view is ever a man's point of view, Anthony?" "Only when two people love each other very much, dear. Then each tries to look at life through the other's eyes. We men would grow brutal without you to curb us. But, on the other hand, you need, now and then, the masculine common-sense view-point." "I don't want the common-sense point of view in this, Anthony." He laid his hands on her shoulders and stood looking down at her. "Diana." "Yes." "What is it, dear?" "I don't quite like--being curbed, Anthony." She was laughing a little for, in spite of her rebellion, there was something stimulating in the thought of his masterfulness. "You see, I've always ruled," she said. "You shall still rule, everywhere, except in one little corner of my kingdom which has to do with things medical--over that I must still reign." "Of course if you think that you are right in this----" "I know that I am right. Look at me, Diana." Thrilled by his tone of command, she did look at him with eyes like stars. Then, knowing that he had conquered, he drew her up to him and said, gently, "We doctors have to seem cruel to be kind--but you must never believe me cruel, Diana." So July passed and August, and the little town took on all the beauty of its September coloring. The dahlias blazed from every fence corner. Against the gray rocks their masses of brilliance tempted the brushes of the artists who came to paint.