They had engaged rooms at the _Carlton_ while they were furnishing a new house. Each had one already, but neither would live in the other's, and so it had seemed necessary to look out for a third. Julia vowed that there was an air of bachelordom about Dick's house which made it impossible for a married woman to inhabit; and Dick, on his side, refused to move into Julia's establishment in Norfolk Street, since it gave him the sensation of being a fortune-hunter living on his wife's income. Besides, a new house gave an opportunity for extravagance which delighted both of them since they realised perfectly that the only advantage of having plenty of money was to spend it in unnecessary ways. They were a pair of light-hearted children, who refused firmly to consider the fact that they were more than twenty-five. Lady Kelsey and Lucy had gone from the River to Spa, for the elder woman's health, and on their return Julia went to see them in order to receive their congratulations and display her extreme happiness. She came back thoughtfully. When she sat down to luncheon with Dick in their sitting-room at the hotel, he saw that she was disturbed. He asked her what was the matter. 'Lucy has broken off her engagement with Robert Boulger,' she said. 'That young woman seems to make a speciality of breaking her engagements,' he answered drily. 'I'm afraid she's still in love with Alec MacKenzie.' 'Then why on earth did she accept Bobbie?' 'My dear boy, she only took him in a fit of temper. When that had cooled down she very wisely thought better of it.' 'I can never sufficiently admire the reasonableness of your sex,' said Dick, ironically. Julia shrugged her pretty shoulders. 'Half the women I know merely married their husbands to spite somebody else. I assure you it's one of the commonest causes of matrimony.' 'Then heaven save me from matrimony,' cried Dick. 'It hasn't,' she laughed. But immediately she grew serious once more. 'Mr. MacKenzie was in Brussels while they were in Spa.' 'I had a letter from him this morning.' 'Lady Kelsey says that according to the papers he's going to Africa again. I think it's that which has upset Lucy. They made a great fuss about him in Brussels.' 'Yes, he tells me that everything is fixed up, and he proposes to start quite shortly. He's going to do some work in the Congo Free State. They want to find a new waterway, and the King of the Belgians has given him a free hand.' 'I suppose the King of the Belgians looks upon one atrocity more or less with equanimity,' said Julia. They were silent for a minute or two, while each was occupied with his own thoughts. 'You saw him after Lucy broke off the engagement,' said Julia, presently. 'Was he very wretched?' 'He never said a word. I wanted to comfort him, but he never gave me a chance. He never even mentioned Lucy's name.' 'Did he seem unhappy?' 'No. He was just the same as ever, impassive and collected.'