He stood grinning fixedly. Then he broke into a short laugh.

“Good for her!” he exclaimed cryptically.

And then he laughed aloud once more, evidently feeling he had won a big move in his contest with his wife.

“What about the other woman?” I asked.

“Who?”

“Elise.”

“Oh”—he shifted uneasily—“she was all right———”

“You'll be getting back to her,” I said.

He looked at me. Then he made a grimace with his mouth.

“Not me,” he said. “Back your life it's a plant.”