tian name, and flushed angrily at Strong's
reply.

"Happy New Year, Francesca!"

Richard and Francesca--so they had gone as far as that on the road to
intimacy was Jarvis's hurt comment to himself.

After that he watched Strong every minute for signs of special devotion,
and before the day was over he had satisfied himself that these two
cared deeply for each other. The way Strong's eyes followed her every
movement, the way he anticipated her wants, understood her before she
spoke--they were all damning evidences of the situation. That Bambi
showed herself grateful, as vividly as she did everything else, entirely
escaped Jarvis. She loved him, that was the truth, and he alone stood
between her and happiness.

The two days dragged by, in torment, for him. It seemed as if they would
never be over, so that he might face the truth by himself, with Strong
out of the picture, and decide what must be done. Bambi noticed his
strained politeness to their guest, but set it down to the same
inconsistency he had shown before, of being jealous of what he did not
especially value himself.

Monday, after Strong's departure, she began to realize that there was a
change in him. He was taciturn and moody. The work went badly. He
disagreed with her at every point, and when she suggested that they stop
an hour earlier than usual, he went off by himself, without asking her
to go. She began to wonder whether his dislike of Strong was really
serious and something to be taken cognizance of.

Jarvis strode off into the country in a state of nerves unknown before.
A sleepless night and the irritation of the day's work had played their
havoc with him. He went over the thing again and again. Bambi and Strong
loved each other--he stood in the way. Why should he not take himself
out of the situation at once? "She married me for a whim; she will
unmarry me the same way," he reiterated to himself. "Why did she do it,
in the first place, unless she cared something for me? But she told me
she had no sentiment for me," he replied to his other self. "It was
ambition that made her do it. She thought I would be famous. I've
disappointed her, and she's through with me." He went over every
incident of their reunion--his thrill at her welcome. "She didn't really
care; it was just her way," he assured himself.

For hours he plunged through the woods, pursued by his bitter thoughts.
When he turned back at last, into the garden, he knew that a precious,