‘As you will. Good-bye; I will see you off on Saturday.’ A moment later, Rob spoke sharply over the balustrade: ‘One minute more; come back, I want a last word. Sit there, will you, just where I sat; no, don’t move the chair, let it face the table. Now lean your hands on your chin, so; now look up--what do you see?’ ‘What do I see? I see myself--a portion of myself--in the glass.’ ‘Hitch the chair this way, so that you can see your full face--now?’ ‘Well, what of it?’ ‘Tell me exactly what you see, in every detail.’ Rob had darkened the room and lit the gas; it was burning just in front and over Mark’s head, lighting up his face and shoulders, but leaving the room dark behind him. ‘What do I see? I see my face and head, my collar and tie, and my shoulders, and my arms down to the elbows, and of course the table where they rest.’ ‘What do you see behind you?’ ‘I see--I seem to see the wall or door, I can’t tell exactly which, it is dark behind there.’ ‘Can you see the pictures on the wall?’ ‘Yes, by canting my head slightly, I see a frame. I can’t tell what the picture is, though; I am near-sighted at best.’ ‘Yes, I know. I don’t want that picture to come into your range of vision; hold your head straight.’ ‘Then I see nothing but myself,’ said Mark, turning round to see what really was behind him, and why he was put through these tactics. There was nothing behind him. Rob stood at the side of the table; but now he sat down, and said: ‘I want your attention and your friendliest belief in what I am going to tell you. I am quite in earnest, and I assume that you will credit every word I say. The interpretation you give it will be your own--I shall not combat it; but up to the point when you can consider it as a whole, I want you to hold your judgment in suspense.’ The two men sat facing each other, Rob’s face being animated by his resolve to put his thought into words, to weigh his problem in the scales of an alien mind, to try and see himself and his idea through other eyes than his own. Mark’s face was quiet, attentive, and delicate in its expression of suspended judgment. He was a man who held friendship as a sacred obligation, and was ready to meet a demand with single-minded generosity. ‘A month ago,’ said Rob, slowly weighing each word, ‘I came home from Mabel’s. We had come to an understanding as to the time for our wedding.’ Mark moved restlessly, and shaded his eyes with his hand.