I soon grew tired of our Saturday-to-Monday _tête-à-têtes_ and let her go on her own as they say in England. We gave a few parties, but as I found it difficult to separate my friends from their wives I gave it up--and usually spent my forty-eight hours going to Paris to see a play or to Ostend to indulge in it. [Illustration: IN NATHAN HALE _"They hang Nat in the last act"_] It took me but a short time to become disgusted with our mode of living and alarmed at the expense involved. My clever wife adroitly managed to avoid all expense (although we had agreed to share it equally). Once in a while she would accidentally leave her check book where I could see it and the stubs convinced me she was not paying any of the household bills. Large sums were artfully arranged in a cipher which a Philadelphia lawyer or a writing expert could not fathom. "Cigarette case for A" might mean Arthur or Alice; "Luncheon to N" might be Nellie or Ned; "Sundries for M" might mean Mike or Mabel--and there you are. Wherever her money went she was contributing nothing to the maintenance of the home (which included the services of sixteen servants)! I made up my mind to bring things to an issue--to use a slang expression, to vamp. Ugly rumors were rife concerning the attentions of the ex-Prime Minister, the Member of Parliament, two American millionaires, an English Lord and the leading man of Maxine's company. I put Jackwood on the books of a real estate firm and placed my furniture in a storehouse together with the contents of my wine cellar (only to see them again, alas, adorning the home of my wife on Duke Street, London, a residence purchased during our marriage, to which I was never invited!). After I had tried so hard to entertain her at Jackwood I think her conduct most discourteous. Our life was very tranquil at Jackwood so far as we were personally concerned. Things went along pretty smoothly until we made a trip to Trouville for a holiday. I was privileged to enjoy myself alone most of the time as the fair Maxine would leave me early in the morning returning in time for dinner after a day's outing on the golf links accompanied by some English admirer. I spent most of my time gambling at the Casino, where I managed to lose thirty thousand dollars! And some ass has written:-- "Unlucky in love, lucky at cards!"