... "Has the sister arrived?" ... I found it difficult to make myself heard. My voice was dry and grated harshly.... "Yes, she's here; they're on the floor below." Will poured a glass of water and handed it me. Then he sat on the edge of the bed and waited. It was his turn to be silent. He seemed to have talked himself out.... "Which of them is it?... Do I know her?" "Yes; we had dinner at her house one Sunday night." "Blonde?" "Um--yes...." "Art's triumph over Nature, I suppose." ... I could not resist the thrust ... suddenly I sat bolt upright. "Will ... _Will_.... Not--Mrs F.--not the woman with the two little girls ... not the mother of those children...." He nodded and raised his shoulders with a gesture which was half deploring, half deprecating. "O!!!...." I covered my face with my hands ... the picture was _too_ revolting.... "Children don't cut much ice," the doctor had said. I stopped up my ears to shut out his voice.... "How did it begin?" I said at last. "O ... the usual way ... supper--or dinner, I've forgotten which--a little flirtation, lots of booze, motor-rides, rendez-vous while you listen to the neglected wife song and dance, more dinners and suppers and motor-rides ... and the first thing you know the fool woman is in love with you, or thinks she is, which is worse.... I hope you don't blame _me_. I can't help it if women make fools of themselves over me." ... Something in Will's tone--a _sang froid_--almost a _braggadocio_--sent the blood to my face with a rush of anger. I leaned forward in my chair and looked him in the eyes. "Will ... do you mean to tell me that you never encouraged this woman?" "How do you mean--encouraged?" "In God's name don't juggle with your words--don't equivocate! You know what I mean as well as I do!--to encourage in a hundred intangible ways; to show that you are flattered by a woman's attention; to let her believe that _you_ believe you are the only one upon whom she has bestowed her favours; to let her tell you that you are the first man for whom she has betrayed her husband, though she has been neglected and unhappy for years and years; to cram down your throat the intimate confidences of her married life and to tell you she has never sought consolation elsewhere; to let her do all these without giving her the lie when you know in your heart she was lying. That's what I mean!... O, believe me I am beginning to understand the intricacies of the game ... and if you have gone the limit ... I don't ask you to confess it ... fidelity does not hinge upon the sexual act, alone--though you men place that above every other virtue in a woman--but I do ask you for the sake of your manhood, for your own self-respect, don't, _don't_ play the part of a cad!" Will winced as if I had struck him in the face. His face had grown quite pale and his lips were compressed. When he spoke his voice cut the air like a fine blade of steel.