His thoughts were moving on with disconcerting rapidity. He must take the plunge. It was his fate. He knew it. “We talked marriage,” he said. She nodded. “Since then I've tried to figure but what I do think, and crystallize it. Sue, I'm not so sure that Betty was wrong.” “That's a new slant,” said she thoughtfully. “Or very old. Just try to look through my eyes for a moment. Betty had tried freedom--had something of a fling at it. Now, it is evident that in her case it didn't work very well. Isn't it?” “In her case, yes,” Sue observed quietly. “Precisely, in her case. She had reached the boundary. You'll admit that?” Sue smiled faintly at his argumentative tone. “Yes, I'll admit it.” “Betty isn't a great soul. A stronger nature would have taken longer to reach the boundary. But doesn't it indicate that the boundary is there?” “Well”--Sue hesitated. “All right. For the sake of the argument I'll admit that, too.”. “Well, now, just what has Betty done? She doesn't love this manufacturer she has married.” “Not a bit.” “And the marriage may fail. The majority of them, from an idealistic point of view, undoubtedly do fail. Admitting all that, you have let me see that you yourself in a weak moment have considered the same course.” Sue's brow clouded. But she nodded slowly. “Well, then”--he hitched forward in his chair, and to cover his burning eagerness talked, if possible, a shade more stiffly and impersonally--“doesn't this, Betty's act and your momentary consideration of the same act, suggest that a sound instinct may be at work there?” “If cowardice is an instinct, Henry.” “How do you know it is cowardice? From what data do you get that conclusion? Betty, after all her philandering, has undertaken a definite contract. It binds her. It is a job. There is discipline in it, a chance for service. It creates new conditions of life which will certainly change her unless she quits. Haven't you noticed, all your life, what a relief it is to get out of indecision into a definite course, even if it costs you something?” Again that faint smile of hers. “Turning conservative, Henry?”