“Meanwhile, I have provided for you. The house, the car, everything here is yours. The deeds are made to you. And I have placed securities to the amount of exactly half my estate in the bank here. They are in your name. You will have an income of something more than ten thousand a year. It is not much; but more, I think, than you will care to spend.” He thrust two fingers into his waistcoat pocket and drew forth a slender key. “This is the key to your safety deposit box,” dropping it on the table. “You will need only to clip the coupons and cash them,” he explained. She had not moved, but as she listened her face changed to scarlet. Her eyes sparkled and were dry. There was another moment’s silence. Cutter picked up his hat, fumbled it. He had not expected much of a scene, since Helen was so little given to emotional scenery. But neither had he been able to predict this indictment in fearful silence. “You have been a good wife, Helen. I have not one reproach. But things cannot go on as they have gone. My life and my opportunities lie in a broader field. I have sacrificed them too long already. You have not been happy here as my wife; but you would be miserable in New York as my wife. I am doing the wisest--in the long run the kindest--thing for both of us, giving you your liberty and taking mine.” Since she would not answer he went on nervously. “I have told no one of--our plans. I leave that to you also. The one thing I must have is the right to achieve my own life in my own way. I give you the same privilege and--” “You have only ten minutes before the train is due,” she interrupted. PART THREE PART THREE CHAPTER XV Sometimes when a man has been shot, he stands for the briefest moment before he falls. So Cutter stood, still facing the window, while the fatal shock passed through him. This was Helen who had spoken, who had reminded him of the time when his train left, but not his wife. He flirted his head around and snatched a glance at her. She was sitting very erect, not touching the back of her chair. The little frills on her dress stuck up stiffly, like the petals of a very fine white flower. Her cheeks were scarlet above this whiteness; but there were no tears. Her chin was lifted; her lips closed; her eyes covering him like a frost on a cold clear night, one of those still nights when the whole of Nature’s business is to freeze. He turned, took a step toward her, and did not dare take the next step. You may think you are making the best of a bad situation by ending it. You may persuade yourself that you are doing the square thing, praise yourself for behaving better than the average man does in a similar predicament. Then suddenly something happens, a word falls upon your ear, or you see yourself revealed in the eye of your victim as a rogue, a common fellow who has lost his standing.