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Rh Yes, he was fond of the children, but was he fond of her, of his wife? . ..

"Addie, Addie, you do love me, don't you?"

She had found another opportunity of asking him; and he answered: "Why, of course, dear."

"Stay with me to-day."

"Very well. What would you like to do? Shall we go for a walk? It's fine."

"Yes, Addie, I'd like to."

And they went out together and roamed along deserted paths; she took his arm:

"I am so glad to be with you. . . . You ought to have come yesterday. . . ."

"I don't care for dancing . . . but, if you had asked me . . . "

"You would have refused."

"Perhaps not."

"Yes, you would. . . . I sha'n't go again, without you. I want to dance with you, with you."

"I like skating better."

"There, you see, you're refusing already!"

"No, I won't refuse: I shall come with you, next time."

"I'm happy when I'm with you. . . . Addie, couldn't we go and live alone, with our children?"

"Whenever you like, darling."

"Yes, but you're attached to the house."

"Yes, I'm attached to it."

"It would be a sacrifice for you."

He made a vague gesture:

"Only you'd have to be economical at the Hague."

"You would soon have a fine practice there."

"But I'm not aiming at . . . a fine practice."

"Ah, that's just it!"

He yielded to a slight sense of impatience: