exasperating; and this time I _know_ that I could have done nothing
to render you unhappy, because the time when I was responsible for
such matters is past.

"And this--forgive me if I say it--arouses a doubt in me--the first
honest doubt I have had of my own unshared culpability. Perhaps
after all a little more was due from you than what you brought to
our partnership--a little more patience, a little more appreciation
of my own inexperience and of my efforts to make you happy. You
were, perhaps, unwittingly exacting--even a little bit selfish. And
those sudden, impulsive caprices for a change of environment--an
escape from the familiar--were they not rather hard on me who
could do nothing--who had no choice in the matter of obedience to
my superiors?

"Again and again I asked you to go to some decent climate and wait
for me until I could get leave. I stood ready and willing to make
any arrangement for you, and you made no decision.

"Then when Barnard's command moved out we had our last distressing
interview. And, if that night I spoke of your present husband and
asked you to be a little wiser and use a little more discretion to
avoid malicious comment--it was not because I dreamed of
distrusting you--it was merely for your own guidance and because
you had so often complained of other people's gossip about you.

"To say I was stunned, crushed, when I learned of what had happened
in my absence, is to repeat a trite phrase. What it cost me is of
no consequence now; what it is now costing you I cannot help.

"Yet, your letter, in every line, seems to imply some strange
responsibility on my part for what you speak of as the degrading
position you now occupy.

"Degradation or not--let us leave that aside; you cannot now avoid
being his wife. But as for any hostile attitude of society in your
regard--any league or coalition to discredit you--that is not
apparent to me. Nor can it occur if your personal attitude toward
the world is correct. Discretion and circumspection, a happy,
confident confronting of life--these, and a wise recognition of
conditions, constitute sufficient safeguard for a woman in your
delicately balanced position.

"And now, one thing more. You ask me to meet you at Sherry's for a
conference. I don't care to, Alixe