She stood bewildered, watching him go down the hall and enter his library. That and his sleeping room were the only places in the house sacred to him. No one entered, no one, not even the incorrigible children, touched anything there. She slowly went to the car, trying to rally to Leslie's greeting, struggling to fix her mind on anything pointed out to her as something she might enjoy. At last she said: "I don't know what is the matter with me Leslie. James is planning something, I haven't an idea what; but his grim, reproachful face is slowly driving me wild. I'm getting so I can't sleep. You saw him come home as I left. He talked positively crazy, as if he had the crack of doom in his hands and were prepared to crack it. He said he 'would see me when I came back.' Indeed he will--to his sorrow! He will be as he used to be, or we will separate. The idea, with scarcely a cent to his name, of him undertaking to dictate to me, _to me!_ Do you blame me Leslie? You heard him the other day! You know how he insulted me!" Leslie leaned forward, laying a firm hand in a grip on Mrs. Minturn's arm. "Since you ask me," she said, "I will answer. If you find life with Mr. Minturn insufferable, an agony to both of you, I _would_ separate, and _speedily_. If it has come to the place where you can't see each other or speak without falling into unpleasantness, then I'd keep apart." "That is exactly the case!" cried Mrs. Minturn. "Oh Leslie, I am so glad you agree with me!" "But I haven't finished," said Leslie, "you interrupted me in the middle. If you are absolutely sure you can't go on peaceably, I would stop; but if I once had loved a man enough to give my life and my happiness into his keeping, to make him the father of my children, I would not separate from him, until I had exhausted every resource, to see if I couldn't in some possible way end with credit." "If you had been through what I have," said Mrs. Minturn, "you wouldn't endure it any longer." "Perhaps," said Leslie. "But you see dear Mrs. Minturn, I am handicapped by not knowing _what_ you have been through. To your world you appear to be a woman of great wealth, who does exactly as she pleases and pays her own bills. You seem to have unlimited money, power, position, leisure for anything you fancy. I'll wager you don't know the names of half the servants in your house; a skillful housekeeper takes the responsibility off your hands. You never are seen in public with your children; competent nurses care for them. You don't appear with your husband any more; yet he is a man of fine brain, unimpeachable character, who handles big affairs for other men, and father says he believes his bank account would surprise you. He has been in business for years; surely all he makes doesn't go to other men."