C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

“ Of course what is little and what is big depends upon the point of view. But Dick thought his view was: “When all the young men of Europe are giving their lives or limbs for an ideal, what does such a detail as whether you're happy or unhappy weigh in the scheme?” He wasn't tired of his work in France, but there were other men, younger men—Dick was forty-three—eager to grab it, and he had work, neglected for a year, in New York. In his heart he knew that he was doing a braver thing in coming back than in driving an ambulance to the firing line. ”

“ Never on earth had a man and a girl been so desperately in love—so had thought the girl and the man concerned—as Gordon Philipps and Helen Sands, They had found it impossible to part without anguish for more than a few hours at a time. but life can't go on at such a pitch. Everyday things must be attended to, in spite of love, or even because of it,
Already it was eleven o'clock, and Dick had just finished breakfast, but he intended to have an immense appetite for Nell's luncheon, to show how jolly and happy he was. ”

“ That was against Dick's interest—he could easily persuade himself against Nell's interest, too; for a man who could forget his bride of a year would go on forgetting his wife.
“If I see it's a real case of infatuation, I shall advise Nell to stick to her resolve and turn him down,” Dick had decided, on starting for Tuxedo.
Well, in spite of Don's discretion, he did see that it was such a case. If left to run its course, the infatuation might or might not last. But there it was. Nell and her husband were practically parted in spirit already. Why prolong the pain? ”

“ He didn't let his thought go further, but his blood was bounding as if he had won a race when he reached the Wanderers.
Some time later, the expected invitation came, like the homing dove to the ark. Miriam Jameson and “Ted” were enchanted to hear that dear old Dick had returned. ”

“ She's the kind of woman born to be a widow!”
“Young?”
“Don thinks she's young. And he thinks she's the most beautiful, fascinating thing he ever saw. He can't keep away from her. He can't take his eyes off her. When she's in a room, he doesn't see any one else, doesn't hear any one else. He's like—like he used to be with me. You remember.”
“I remember well.” Dick might have added “too well.” As he spoke—Nell's head still on his shoulder, his arm round her waist—his eyes traveled to a portrait of Gordon Philipps on the wall. ”

“ Dick hoped his “Oh!” didn't reveal itself as a gasp of surprise. He believed that he'd got it under control at birth. But—Don away over Sunday! This was Wednesday. And was he mistaken, or had Nell's tone dropped to dreariness? Probably that was his morbid imagination. Why shouldn't Don be away? Even a writer of plays and novels, who has no boring business, must leave his worshiped wife sometimes for one reason or another after a year of marriage. ”

“ Don was drawn into giving her a look that said, “Coward or heroine, what does it matter, when your beauty is a dream?”
Dick said nothing. But an odd thought waked in his head. It was about Mrs. Lane's first excuse for not going into the water. She'd excused herself because she hadn't her bathing dress. Then, when Don had swept that plea away, she had confessed that she hadn't bathed, except in her tub, since a shock when she was a child. Ladies didn't, so far as Dick knew, wear bathing costumes in their bathrooms. Now why had she made that remark about the dress? Had she a bathing dress? ”

“ If he were self-conscious under Dick's eyes, he betrayed no awkwardness; but then one couldn't imagine Gordon Philipps being awkward. His place was between his hostess and Mrs. Lane, and he paid no more attention to one than to the other. Yet there was the look in Mrs. Lane's eyes of a woman who knows herself the center of a Situation.
“I'd bet my boots,” Dick thought, “that all the while she's talking ambulance to me, she's touching Don's foot under the table.”
Miriam and Don both asked—Miriam cordially, Don courteously—if Dick had seen Nell. Yes, he had, Dick replied. ”

“ It's very early, but Freda Lane's feeling rather seedy, and the country will do her good. I shall have a little party for her—several little parties—but only her and you and Don—if you'll come—to stay the whole week; others in relays. Don and she get on so well together. She says he “rests her nerves and wakes up her intellect.” And I know you're too sensible to be jealous?' What would you have said, Dick, if any one had invited you like that?” ”

“ He had come, not for the reason the men who wished they knew him were discussing, not because he'd heard news of any one he cared for, but simply because he had begun to feel that the little things of life didn't matter. ”

“ She had said, when she was a little girl, that Dick must wait for her. She would probably want to marry him when she grew up, because he was “the nicest man that ever happened.” It didn't seem fair that an hour of Gordon Philipps should blot out Dick Cobbold's nineteen years of unselfish worship. ”

“ Dick inquired, and Mrs. Lane hurried to explain that her fear wasn't ordinary fear. She couldn't stand being thought a coward, cowardice not being smart for women in 1916. As for a boat, she “didn't mind going in one with somebody who knew how to manage it.”
“Nell, tell Mrs. Lane whether I know how to manage a boat,” Dick commanded. ”

“ He was begged to board the next train and make them a visit.
“There's nobody here,” Miriam assured him, “but the Farrars and Don Philipps—Nell took cold and couldn't come—and a pretty new pal of mine. You'll like her. All men do.”
Dick had to be urged a little, but finally consented to transfer himself that night to Tuxedo. He would arrive late, but Miriam promised a motor at the train and his favorite lobster à la Newburg afterward.
It was at the altar of the lobster that Dick had his first sight of Mrs. Lane. ”

“ He was furious. Since then—oh, Dick, we hardly speak, except about the weather or something like that—unless before the servants! Life can't go on like this! I feel as if I should soon die! It would be the best way out, for both of us.”
“Allow me to differ with you there,” said Dick. “Well, when I promise to do a thing, my motto is 'Do it now.' I'm going to accept an invitation to visit the Jamesons. I expect it will come by long-distance phone to the club this afternoon or evening.”
“How will you manage it without Don thinking——”
“Mr. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1933, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 90 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”