"Tell me, dear," she said from her corner. "You're bored, aren't you? Oh, not with me"--she forestalled his protest--"but just plain bored. Isn't it so?" Her voice was deceptively quiet. He stirred in his chair, fidgeted under the direct attack, and decided not to evade it. "I think we've been buried long enough," he finally confessed. "I love our evenings together, of course; but a little change now and then might be agreeable. Perhaps it isn't a good thing for two people to be thrown entirely on each other's company. And I've been wondering, dear"--he hesitated, carefully picking his words-- "I've been wondering if you would not be happier if you had other interests--interests of your own." "Suppose I don't want any?" She did not give this out as a challenge, but he frowned a trifle impatiently. "I can't believe it possible," he said. "Have you lost all touch with the world?" She came slowly forward into the warm circle of light. "I don't seem to care for people and things as I used to. Look at me. I'm not the same Myra." She stared at him with a deep, searching expression, and what she saw drew her up with a sudden movement of decision. Her voice, when next she spoke, was lighter, more animated. "You're right, dear. We're growing poky. I tell you what we'll do," she continued in a playful manner. Her lips smiled, and her eyes watched as she knelt beside him, her head tilted, her fingers straying over the rough surface of his coat. He never dressed for dinner in these days. "We'll give a party, shall we?" she said. "And then everyone will know that we're still--alive." If she had wanted to test his state of mind, she could not have found a better way. Instantly he was all eagerness. Nothing would do but that they should plan the party at once, set the date, make out a list of friends to be invited. She was ready with pad and pencil and her old address-book, which had lain for many days untouched in her desk. "Shall we have Frances Maury?" she suggested. "She'll remind you of me as I was before we married." "What a gorgeous little devil you were!" he murmured reminiscently. She wished he had not said that. Yet how absurd it was to be jealous of oneself! Well, they would entertain again, since it pleased him. But she had lost her social instinct. This party seemed a great enterprise. She had to pretend to an enthusiasm which she did not really feel. "Am I growing old?" she wondered more than once. She had to confess to a panic of shyness when she thought of herself as hostess. That was all she would be this time. Frances Maury held the rôle of prima donna.