Black Matt" who had used his fists almost as much as his brains in
fighting his way up.

"Yes," she said, her head down now.

A long pause.

"You wish to be free?" I asked, and my tone must have been gentle.

"I wish to free you," she replied slowly and deliberately.

There was a long silence. Then I said: "I must think it all out. I once
told you how I felt about these matters. I've greatly changed my mind since
our talk that night in the Willoughby; but my prejudices are still with me.
Perhaps you will not be surprised at that--you whose prejudices have cost
me so dear."

I thought she was going to speak. Instead she turned away, so that I could
no longer see her face.

"Our marriage was a miserable mistake," I went on, struggling to be just
and judicial, and to seem calm. "I admit it now. Fortunately, we are both
still young--you very young. Mistakes in youth are never fatal. But, Anita,
do not blunder out of one mistake into another. You are no longer a child,
as you were when I married you. You will be careful not to let judgments
formed of him long ago decide you for him as they decided you against me."

"I wish to be free," she said, each word coming with an effort, "as much
on your account as on my own." Then, and it seemed to me merely a truly
feminine attempt to shirk responsibility, she added, "I am glad my going
will be a relief to you."

"Yes, it will be a relief," I confessed. "Our situation has become
intolerable." I had reached my limit of self-control. I put out my hand.
"Good-by," I said.

If she had wept, it might have modified my conviction that everything was
at an end between us. But she did not weep. "Can you ever forgive me?" she
asked.

"Let's not talk of forgiveness," said I, and I fear my voice and manner
were gruff, as I strove not to break down. "Let's try to forget." And I
touched her hand and hastened away.

When two human beings set out to misunderstand each other, how fast and far
they go! How shut-in we are from each other, with only halting means of
communication that break down under the slightest strain!

As I was leaving the house next morning, I gave Sanders this note for her:

"I have gone to live at the Downtown Hotel. When you have decided what
course to take, let me know. If my 'rights' ever had any substance, they
have starved away to such weak things that they collapse even as I try to
set them up. I hope your freedom will give you happiness, and me peace."