“Oh! Let me see, when does she come?” She could have smiled at the quick turn of his head, and the carelessness of his voice. “Decent rooms?” he went on, dropping lumps of sugar into his tea. “Very nice, I think. That sugar will begin to show at the top if you don’t stop.” Robert flushed, and dropped the sugar-tongs with a clatter. “I’ve heard from Diana. She’s coming to-morrow.” Robert leaned back in his chair, frowning, and felt for his cigarette-case. “I can’t think why you asked Diana,” he observed, irritably, “with Mayne coming, and--Miss Burton. She’ll expect to be asked up to dinner and things, I suppose. It’ll make a lot of work for the servants.” “You are very considerate--for the servants.” He moved restlessly and glanced at her, as he lighted his cigarette. “Well, you know best, of course,” he began. “Robert,” said Cecily, suddenly, “there’s something I want to say. And I want to say it before Diana comes, so that we--we may understand each other, and things may go smoothly--as I want them to go.” His start of apprehension was not lost upon her. It had the effect of making her want to scream with laughter, and she tightened her grasp on the arm of her chair and went on quickly. “We’ve been coming to this for a long time. Let us speak frankly this once, and afterwards let the matter alone. All that you’ve been saying lately, about the wider scope and broader interests necessary for your intellectual growth is just another way of explaining that you’re bored with me.” “Now, my dear girl!” ejaculated Robert, relief making his tone almost jocular. “No, please, Robert, let me finish. I’m not complaining, you understand, or pleading, or doing anything futile of that sort. I’m merely stating the fact--and accepting it. I want to do what I can, to--to make things more interesting for you. All this summer we shall have visitors. In the autumn, when we go to town, it should not be difficult to see very little of one another. But we needn’t wait for that. Let us be free now. I mean, let us give up pretending to be lovers. We shall then, perhaps, be better friends.” For a moment before he began to speak he looked at her uncertainly. Then he broke into the torrent of speech she had dreaded. Wasn’t it time to take a broader outlook? Why did she resent any attempt on his part to widen the horizon of their married life? What had he done to be treated in this fashion?... But, of course, if she wished this state of things, so let it be. He could not coerce her. He respected her rights as an individual. That was, in fact, his whole philosophy of existence,--individual freedom, individual liberty, the expression of oneself....