"What perfect nonsense!" Cosden replied disgustedly. "You and I aren't school-boys any more. We're living in the twentieth century, Monty, and people have learned that sometimes it's hard to distinguish between love and indigestion. I won't say that marriage has come to be a business proposition, but there's a good deal more thinking beforehand than there used to be. A woman wants power as much as a man does, and the one way she can get it is through her husband. It's only the young and unsophisticated who fall for the bushel of love and a penny loaf these days, and there are mighty few of those left. Get your basic business principles right to begin with, I say, and the sentimental part comes along of itself." Huntington was convinced by this time that Cosden was seriously in earnest. He had believed that he knew his friend well enough not to be surprised at anything he said or did, but now he found himself not only surprised, but distinctly shocked. He had joked with Cosden when he first spoke of marriage, but in his heart he regarded it with a sentimentality which no one of his friends suspected because of the cynicisms which always sprang to his lips when the subject was mentioned. He believed himself to have had a romance, and during these years its memory still obtained from him a sacred observance which he had successfully concealed from all the world. So, when Cosden coolly announced that he had decided to select a wife just as he would have picked out a car-load of pig iron, Huntington's first impulse was one of resentment. "It seems to me that you are proposing a partnership rather than a marriage," he remarked. "What else is marriage?" Cosden demanded. "You've hit it exactly. I wouldn't take a man into business with me simply because I liked him, but because I believed that he more than any one else could supplement my work and extend my horizon. Marriage is the apotheosis of partnership, and its success depends a great deal more upon the psychology of selection than upon sentiment." Huntington made no response. The first shock was tempered by his knowledge of Cosden's character. It was natural that he should have arrived at this conclusion, the older man told himself, and it was curious that the thought had not occurred to Huntington sooner that the days of their bachelor companionship must inevitably be numbered. There was nothing else which Connie could wish for now: he had his clubs, his friends, and ample means to gratify every desire; a home with wife and children was really needed to complete the success which he had made. He had proved himself the best of friends, which was a guarantee that he would make a good husband. Huntington found himself echoing Cosden's question, "Why not?" "Have you selected the happy bride, Connie?" he asked at length, more seriously.