would say: "We can't
keep this thing up much longer. It must come to an end soon."

"You're certainly a gloomy philosopher, Genie," she would say,
reproachfully, for she had hopes that it could be made to last a long
while under any circumstances. Eugene had the feeling that no pretence
would escape Angela's psychology. She was too sensitive to his unspoken
moods and feelings. She would come soon, willynilly, and then all this
would be ended. As a matter of fact several things combined to bring
about change and conclusion.

For one thing Mrs. Hibberdell had been more and more impressed with the
fact that Carlotta was not merely content to stay but that once having
come she was fairly determined to remain. She had her own apartment in
the city, ostensibly closed for the summer, for she had protested that
it was too hot to live in town when she first proposed going to
Narragansett. After seeing Eugene she figured out a possible use for it,
though that use was dangerous, for Norman Wilson might return at any
time. Nevertheless, they had been there on occasions--this with the
double effect of deceiving her mother and entertaining Eugene. If she
could remain away from Riverwood a percentage of the time, she argued
with Eugene, it would make her stay less suspicious and would not
jeopardize their joy in companionship. So she did this. At the same time
she could not stay away from Riverwood entirely, for Eugene was there
necessarily morning and evening.

Nevertheless, toward the end of August Mrs. Hibberdell was growing
suspicious. She had seen an automobile entering Central Park once when
Carlotta had phoned her that she had a sick headache and could not come
up. It looked to Mrs. Hibberdell, who had gone down town shopping on the
strength of this ailment and who had phoned Carlotta that she was going
to call at her apartment in the evening, as though Eugene and Carlotta
were in it. Eugene had gone to work that morning, which made it seem
doubtful, but it certainly looked very much like him. Still she did not
feel sure it was he or Carlotta either. When she came to the latter's
apartment Carlotta was there, feeling better, but stating that she had
not been out. Mrs. Hibberdell concluded thoughtfully that she must have
been mistaken.

Her own room was on the third floor, and several times after all had
retired and she had come down to the kitchen or dining room or library
for something, she had heard a peculiar noise as of