work of tastes and ill � if here and there for a moment two colours two are the same so much the better for the pattern certainly could foresee in no positive happiness for either of her friends but she saw positive disaster for in separation from her husband suddenly she rose from her chair by the falling fire and crossed over to the writing table she would write to herself � she would tell him to come tlie the fruit of the tree decision once reached hope flowed bade to her heart the joy of action ao often deceived her into faith in its results dear mr she wrote the last lime i saw you you told me you would remember what i i ask you to do ao now � to remember that i urged you not to be away too long i believe you ought to come back now though i know will not ask you to i am writing without her knowledge but with the conviction that she needs you thou perhaps without knowing it herself she paused and laid down her pen why did it make her so happy to write to him was it the sense of recovered or something warmer more personal that made it a joy to trace his name and to remind him of their last intimate exchange of words well � perhaps it was that too there were moments when she was ao that any sympathetic contact with another life sent a glow into her veins � that she was thankful to warm at any fire xxv languidly glancing through her midday mail some five days later uttered a slight exclamation as she withdrew her finger tip from the of the she had begun to open the fruit of the tree it was a black day with an east wind bowing the trees beyond the window and the two friends after luncheon had withdrawn to the where sat writing notes for while the latter lay back in her arm chair in the state of dreamy into which she always sank when not under the of amusement or exercise she sat suddenly upright as her eyes fell on the letter i beg your pardon i thought ft was for me v be said holding it out to the latter as she glanced at the it had not occurred to her that would reply to her appeal she had pictured him springing on the first north bound train perhaps not even pausing to announce his return to his wife and to receive his letter under s eye was embarrassing since felt the necessity of keeping her secret but under s eye she certainly was � it continued to rest on her curiously with an of malicious significance so stupid of me � i can t imagine why i should have expected my husband to write to me went on leaning back in lazy contemplation of her other letters but still including in her angle of the fruit of the tree the latter after a moment s pause broke ihe seal and read my dear letter reached me yesterday and i thought it over carefully i appreciate the feeling that prompted it � but i don t know that any friend however kind and can give the final advice in such matters you tell me you arc sure my wife will not ask me to return � well under present that seems to me a sufficient reason for staying away meanwhile i assure you that i have remembered ail you said to me that day i have made no binding arrangement here � nothing to involve my future action � and i have done this solely because you asked it this will tell you better than words how much i value your advice and what strong reasons i must have for not following it now i suppose there are no more exploring parties in this weather i wish i could show some of the birds down here yours faithfully john please don t let my wife ride impulse latent under s acute consciousness of what this � the fruit of the tree letter meant was the sense of s and conjectures she could feel them actually piercing the page in her hand like some organ to which matter offers no or rather baffled in their endeavour they were out of the unseen heaven knew what fantastic structure of � over the innocent page with burning e of and one thing became instantly clear to her she must show the letter to she ran her eyes over it again trying to the consequences there was the allusion to their talk in town � well she had told of that but the careless reference to their excursions � what might not in her present mood make of it s uppermost thought was of distress at the failure of her plan she might still have induced to come back had it not been for this accident but now that hope was destroyed she raised her eyes and met s will you read it she said holding out the letter received it with lifted brows and a protesting murmur � but as she read saw the blood mount under her clear skin the temples the even the little flower like ears then it as suddenly at last from the very lips so that the smile with which she looked up from her reading was as the fruit of the tree white as if she had been under the stress of physical pain so you have written my husband to come back as you see looked her straight in the eyes i am very much obliged to you � extremely obliged met the look quietly which means that you resent my interference i leave you to call it that tossing the letter down on the table at her side don t take it in that way if i 