the public!" she cried bitterly.
"The unrepentant old scoundrel!"

"He'll find popularity so sweet he'll have to live up to it."

"He doesn't deserve it!"

Evan was moved to protest. "Look here, Corinna, you've nourished your
grudge against him for so long that you've positively fallen in love
with it. You're just sore now because it has been removed!"

"I might have expected you to say that!"

"Be fair, Corinna. I threshed my brains to find a way out that would
do everybody good. And this is all the thanks I get!"

"Much obliged, but I don't care to have anybody play Providence to me.
I expect to be consulted in matters that concern me. Good for
everybody, you say. How is the Deaves Trust good for me?"

"Why, the sum for supporting the excursions remains intact; the very
sum you asked for."

"But you've ousted me!"

"Not at all. What the papers do not state is that I have been
appointed the third trustee with power to administer the fund."

"What good will that do me?"

Evan said very off-hand: "Well, I thought you were going to administer
me."

He did not look at her as he said it. She gave him no sign. She was
silent for so long that a great anxiety arose within him. Yet he felt
that to speak again would only be to weaken his plea. He looked at
her. The shining head was studiously averted, the long lashes down.

Finally she said, low and firmly: "It is impossible."

"Why?" he demanded.

"You want a clinging vine," she said scornfully. "A tame woman who
will look up to you as the source of all wisdom!"

"If I did would I be asking you?" he said dryly.

"You hope to tame me."

"Never! The shoe is on the other foot. You want a husband whose neck
you can tread on."

"What difference does it make whose fault it is?" she said wearily.
"The fact remains we would quarrel endlessly and hatefully. It would
be degrading!"

"People who love each other always quarrel," said Evan cheerfully.
"There's no harm in it."

She stared at him.

"Let us quarrel--and continue to respect each other!"

She shook her head. "You speak about it too coldly."

"Cold--I?" he said. "You silence me when you say that! You know I am
not cold!"

"It is better for us to part," she said, moving towards the door.

He hastened to get between her and the door. "Corinna, the reason I am
obliged to fight you is because you wield such a dreadful power! In
reality I am terrified of you! If you married me I