He looked at her sharply, but her eyes met his without any hidden meaning in them.
"She would not be dull, but I should, and then how could I cheer you up? For you need cheering at Gleneira--you know you do."
The truth irritated him. "From which I infer that you would rather be free. Well! you have only to take me or leave me," he said curtly.
She caught in her breath, and, as usual, the display of temper made her piteous. "Don't be angry, Paul! There is nothing to be angry about. If you wish it, I will try; but we can always be friends, and if it is wiser to part, then it is wiser."
"That is for you to decide. I am at your orders." He stood there looking very handsome, and she gave a sigh of indecision, though a certain resentment at being, as it were, thrust into the breach, came to her aid.
"Do you think it wiser?" he repeated.
"How can I tell? All I want to do is my duty, and I am afraid----"
"If you are afraid, that is enough," he said, losing patience. "Good-bye, Alice; if you had decided otherwise I would have tried to be a good husband to you."
A faint flush came to her cheek. "And I would have tried to be a good wife; but----"
"Well?"