"Oh, that's a little private matter of my own!" He stared at her, unable to comprehend, and she went on gravely: "Howard, you must do what's best for yourself. I'll pack your things. You can go when you please----" He stared gloomily out of the window without replying. After all, he thought to himself, it was perhaps for the best. Shackled as he was now, he would never be able to accomplish anything. If they separated, his father would take him at once into his business. Life would begin for him all over again. It would be better for her, too. Of course, he would never forget her. He would provide for her comfort. His father would help him arrange for that. Lighting a cigarette, he said carelessly: "Well--perhaps you're right. Maybe a little trip through Europe won't do me any harm." "Of course not," she said simply. Busy with an obstinate match, he did not hear the sigh that accompanied her words or see the look of agony that crossed her face. "But what are you going to do?" he inquired after a silence. With an effort, she controlled her voice. Not for all the world would she betray the fact that her heart was breaking. With affected indifference, she replied: "Oh, I shall be all right. I shall go and live somewhere in the country for a few months. I'm tired of the city." "So am I," he rejoined, with a gesture of disgust. "But I hate like the deuce to leave you alone." "That's nothing," she said hastily. "A trip abroad is just what you need." Looking up at him, she added: "Your face has brightened up already!" He stared at her, unable to understand. "I wish you could go with me." She smiled. "Your father's society doesn't make quite such an appeal to me as it does to you." Carelessly, she added: "Where are you going--Paris or London?" He sent a thick cloud of smoke curling to the ceiling. A European trip was something he had long looked forward to. "London--Vienna--Paris," he replied gayly. With a laugh, he went on: "No, I think I'll cut out Paris. I'm a married man. I mustn't forget that!" Annie looked up at him quickly. "You've forgotten it already," she said quietly. There was reproach in her voice as she continued: "Ah, Howard, you're such a boy! A little pleasure trip and the past is forgotten!" A look of perplexity came over his face. Being only a man, he did not grasp quickly the finer shades of her meaning. With some irritation, he demanded: "Didn't you say you wanted me to go and forget?" She nodded. "Yes, I do, Howard. You've made me happy. I want you to be happy." He looked puzzled. "You say you love me?" he said, "and yet you're happy because I'm going away. I don't follow that line of reasoning." "It isn't reason," she said with a smile, "it's what I feel. I guess a man wants to have what he loves and a woman is satisfied to love just what she wants. Anyway, I'm glad. I'm glad you're going. Go and tell your father." Taking his hat, he said: "I'll telephone him." "Yes, that's right," she replied.