ace for them nowadays because Marguerite refused to go to a single
place where there was a possibility of their being surprised. In another
square, in a restaurant, wherever they might go--they would run the same
risk of being recognized. She would only consider meetings in public
places, and yet at the same time, dreaded the curiosity of the people.
If Marguerite would like to go to his studio of such sweet
memories! . . .

"To your home? No! no indeed!" she replied emphatically "I cannot forget
the last time I was there."

But Julio insisted, foreseeing a break in that firm negative. Where
could they be more comfortable? Besides, weren't they going to marry as
soon as possible? . . .

"I tell you no," she repeated. "Who knows but my husband may be watching
me! What a complication for my divorce if he should surprise us in your
house!"

Now it was he who eulogized the husband, insisting that such
watchfulness was incompatible with his character. The engineer had
accepted the facts, considering them irreparable and was now thinking
only of reconstructing his life.

"No, it is better for us to separate," she continued. "Tomorrow we shall
see each other again. You will hunt a more favorable place. Think it
over, and you will find a solution for it all."

But he wished an immediate solution. They had abandoned their seats,
going slowly toward the rue des Mathurins. Julio was speaking with a
trembling and persuasive eloquence. To-morrow? No, now. They had only to
call a taxicab. It would be only a matter of a few minutes, and then the
isolation, the mystery, the return to a sweet past--to that intimacy
in the studio where they had passed their happiest hours. They would
believe that no time had elapsed since their first meetings.

"No," she faltered with a weakening accent, seeking a last resistance.
"Besides, your secretary might be there, that Spaniard who lives with
you. How ashamed I would be to meet him again!"

Julio laughed. . . . Argensola! How could that comrade who knew all
about their past be an obstacle? If they should happen to meet him in
the house, he would be sure to leave immediately. More than once, he had
had to go out so as not to be in the way. His discretion was such that
he had foreseen events. Probably he had already left, conjecturing that
a near visit would be the most logical thing. His chum would simply go
wandering through the streets in search of news.

Marguerite was silent, as thou