CONTENTS[CHAPTER I][CHAPTER II][CHAPTER III][CHAPTER IV][CHAPTER V][CHAPTER VI][CHAPTER VII][CHAPTER VIII][CHAPTER IX][CHAPTER X][CHAPTER XI][CHAPTER XII][CHAPTER XIII][CHAPTER XIV][CHAPTER XV][CHAPTER XVI][CHAPTER XVII][CHAPTER XVIII][CHAPTER XIX][CHAPTER XX]LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS["'I—yes. Yes—I'll be ready——'"]["A lady to see you, sir'"]["Now and then she ... halted on tip-toe to lift some slitted visor"]["She took it ... then read aloud the device in verse"]["'Are business and friendship incompatible?'"]["'There are nice men, too'"]["And he sat thinking of Jacqueline Nevers"]["She turned leisurely.... 'Did you say anything recently, Mr. Desboro?'"]["Desboro stood staring down at the magic picture. Mrs. Clydesdale, too, had risen"]["'Which is the real pleasure?' she asked"]["'The thing to do,' he said ... 'is for us both to keep very busy'"]["'I—I beg your pardon,' said Jacqueline"]["There was, for a moment, an unconscious and unwonted grace in his manner"]["All the men there had yielded to the delicate attraction of her"]["In all the curious eyes turned toward her he saw admiration, willing or conceded"]["She lost herself in a dreamy Bavarian folk-song"]["Cheer after cheer rang through the hallway"]["'Business is kinder to men than women sometimes believe'"]["'Be careful,' he said ... 'People are watching us'"]["Mr. Waudle gaped at her like a fat and expiring fish; the poet ... said not a word"]["'My dear!' she exclaimed. 'What a perfectly charming office!'"]["She turned ... looked back, hesitated"]["'That's how hungry I am, Jim. I warned you'"]["'It was rather odd, wasn't it, Jim?'"]["'Why don't you ask your—wife?'"]["'I do not believe you,' she said between her teeth"]["What was she to do? She had gone half mad with fear"]["'Jacqueline—my wife—is the result of a different training'"]["In the rose dusk of the drawn curtains he stood beside it"]["'Now,' she said, leaning forward ... 'what is the meaning of this?'"]["'You have no further interest in me, have you?'"]["'I—I have never thought mercilessly'"]["And, as she rose, he was still figuring"]THE BUSINESS OF LIFE