oking, Bates?"

"No-no, sir; I can't say it does. But--"

"Start on the catalogue now, this evening. I'll look after you. Mr. Van
Hofen wants a good man. Stir yourself, and that place is yours."

He found his mother at home. She glanced at him as he entered her
boudoir. She saw, with her ready tact, that questions as to his state of
worry would be useless.

"Will you be dining at home, Rex?" she asked.

"Yes. And you?"

"I--have almost promised to dine _en famille_ with the Towers."

"Better stop here. We have a lot of things to arrange."

"Arrange! What sort of things?"

"Business affairs for the most part."

"Oh, business! Any discussion of--"

"I said nothing about discussion, mother. For some years past I have
been rather careless in my ways. Now I am going to stop all that. A good
business maxim is to always choose the word that expresses one's meaning
exactly."

"Rex, you speak queerly."

"That shows I'm doing well. Your ears have so long been accustomed to
falsity, mother, that the truth sounds strangely."

"My son, do not be so bitter with me. I have never in my life had other
than the best of motives in any thought or action that concerned you."

He looked at her intently. He read in her words an admission and a
defense.

"Let us avoid tragedy, mother, at least in words. Who sent you to
Winifred?"

"Then she has told you?"

"She has not told me. Women are either angels or fiends. This harmless
little angel has been driven out of her Paradise in the hope that her
butterfly wings may be soiled by the rain and mud of Manhattan. Who sent
you to her?"

"Senator Meiklejohn," said Mrs. Carshaw defiantly.

"What, that smug Pharisee! What was his excuse?"

"He said you were the talk of the clubs--that Helen Tower--"

"She, too! Thank you. I see the drift of things now. It was heartless of
you, mother. Did not Winifred's angel face, twisted into misery by your
lies, cause you one pang of remorse?"

Mrs. Carshaw rose unsteadily. Her face was ghastly in its whiteness.

"Rex, spare me, for Heaven's sake!" she faltered. "I did it for the
best. I have suffered more than you know."

"I am glad to hear it. You have a good nature in its depths, but the
canker of society has almost destroyed it. That is why you and I are
about to talk business."

"I am feeling faint. Let matters rest a few hours."

He strode to the bell and summoned a servant. "Bring some brandy and two
glasses," he said when t