“I promise; go on.” “Then,” she continued, smiling at him gratefully, “I want to say frankly that I have taken a great deal of pleasure in our friendship. It is hardly necessary, however, to tell you that. I think I have proved it to you in many ways. But the time has come when it rests with you as to what the future shall hold for us. If you are willing to be a true and unselfish friend to me,--to be ‘civilized’ in the highest sense of the word,--we can go on as we have gone before. But if--if your chains fret you too much, or if there is the slightest danger that you will ever break them, then it is better that we should part. It is so easy for a man to misunderstand a woman--therefore, I am frank with you. Are you not grateful? Don’t you thank me?” There was a note of pleading in her voice. Richard arose, and moved restlessly up and down the room a moment. Civilization decreed that he should remain seated and suppress all evidences of emotion; but there is a strong vein of savagery in youth, and Richard Stoughton was very young. “‘They also serve who only stand and wait!’” he exclaimed irrelevantly. Mrs. Percy-Bartlett laughed outright. “The quotation does you credit in one way, Mr. Stoughton, even if it doesn’t seem to be very _àpropos_.” “Perhaps not,” he acknowledged, reseating himself. “But somehow it has relieved the situation. At least, let it indicate that I accept your ultimatum.” “If I knew you well enough,” commented Mrs. Percy-Bartlett smilingly, “I should say that that sounded rather cross. I hate to think that I have formulated an ultimatum. That seems unwomanly, does it not?” “I hardly know,” he said musingly. “It is hard to tell in these days what is womanly and what is not. A few years ago we would have said that it was unwomanly for a girl to stand before a miscellaneous audience and make a political speech. No one would dare to take that ground now.” Mrs. Percy-Bartlett smiled sympathizingly. “I am sure,” she said, “that you don’t approve of the effort of woman to break away from the old restrictions.” “Not altogether,” he answered frankly. “I have a strong vein of New England conservatism in my make-up. It revolts against many of the end-of-the-century ideas that are making such progress in this city.” And so they talked on for a time, in a vein that proved the thorough efficacy of Mrs. Percy-Bartlett’s ultimatum. “It is so much better,” she said, as she arose to give him her hand at parting, “it is so much better to talk about the ‘new woman’ than--than”-- “Than the old Adam,” he added. “Yes, I agree with you--for the sake of friendship.” “And you are my friend,” she cried impulsively, while he still held her hand, suddenly grown cold. “Yes,” he murmured in a muffled tone, bending and kissing the slender fingers in his grasp.