The liner gathered way. The last thing he saw distinctly was Fluffy, still laughing and shaking her golden head. She was keeping Desire from him; he knew that she had lied.
The boat rose and fell in the churned-up wake. Like a man whose soul has suddenly died, he sat very silent.
Slowly he came to himself. Evening was falling. He felt old. It was all true, then—the lesson that her mother had taught him in his childhood! There were women in the world whom love could not conquer.
He flung the roses he had bought for her into the sea. Turning the head of the boat, he reentered the harbor.