"I—I am going to meet him now. Oh! I dare say you think it is all wrong, but you don't know the circumstances. My husband is impossible. He has treated me disgracefully."
"Yes," said Katherine again.
"What I feel so badly about is this. I have deceived my father—it was he who came to see me off at Victoria to-day. He wishes me to divorce my husband, and, of course, he has no idea—that I am going to meet this other man. He would think it extraordinarily foolish."
"Well, don't you think it is?"
"I—I suppose it is."
Ruth Kettering looked down at her hands; they were shaking violently.
"But I can't draw back now."
"Why not?"
"I—it is all arranged, and it would break his heart."
"Don't you believe it," said Katherine robustly; "hearts are pretty tough."