time come when in went through all these acts of as mechanically as n nurse soothing a child and once he had i her weeping eloquent he looked about at the spacious room with its heavy of and the thick velvet which stifled his steps everywhere were the graceful tokens of her presence � the vast draped strewn with silver and the l muslin ed on the the little rose lined slippers she had just put off the lace wrap er m th a scent of in its folds which he had pushed aside when he sat down beside her and he remembered how full of a mysterious and intimate charm these things had once appeared to him it was characteristic that the remembrance made him more patient with her now s after all it was his failure that she was crying over don t be unhappy you decided as seemed best to you he said she pressed her handkerchief against her lips still her head averted hut i hate all these � and a hy should you everything she murmured his mother s words y he removed i � the fruit of the tree hand from her shoulder though he still remained seated bj the bed you are right i see the of it he assented with an note of irony she turned her head at the tone and fixed her plaintive eyes on him you are angry ith me was that troubling you he leaned forward again with compassion in his face was the thought within him i am not angry he went on be reasonable and try to sleep she started upright the light masses of her hair floating about her like silken sea weed lifted on an invisible tide don t talk that i can t endure to be humoured like a baby i am unhappy because i can t see why all these wretched questions should be dragged into our life i hate to have you always with mr who is so clever and has so much experience and yet i hate to see you give way to him because that makes it ap x ar as if as if is he didn t care a straw for mv ideas smiled he doesn t � an l i never dreamed of making him so don t ut either you never dreamed of making him care for your ideas but why do you the fruit of the tree why do i go on setting them forth at such great length smiled again to convince you � that s my only ambition she stared at him shaking her head back to toss a loose lock from her puzzled eyes a tear still shone on her lashes but with the motion it fell and trembled down her cheek to convince but you know i am so ignorant of such things most women are i never pretended to understand thing about � or whatever you call it no he turned and looked at her gently i thought you might have begun to understand something about me about you the colour softly under her clear akin about what my ideas on such subjects were likely to be worth � judging from what you know of me in other respects he paused and away from her well he concluded deliberately i suppose i ve had my answer tonight oh john he rose and wandered across the room pausing a moment to finger the on the the act recalled with a curious the op the tree tain of their first days together when to handle and examine these frail little of her toilet had been part of the wonder and amusement of his new existence he could still hear her laugh as she leaned over him watching his look in the glass till their reflected eyes met there and drew down her lips to his he laid down the fragrant powder puff he had been turning slowly between his fingers and moved back toward the bed in the interval he had reached a decision isn t it natural that i should think so he began again as he stood beside her when we married i never expected you to care or know much about it isn t a a man usually chooses his wife for but i had a fancy � perhaps it shows my conceit � that when we had lived together a year or two and you d found out what kind of a fellow i was in other ways � ways any woman can judge of � i had a fancy that you might take my opinions on faith when it came to my own special business � the thing i m generally supposed to know about he knew that he was touching a sensitive for had to the full her sex s pride of he was human and till others him � then he became a god but in this case a conflicting influence restrained her from complete response to his appeal i the fruit of the tree i do feel sure you know � about the treatment of the bands and all that but you said yourself once � the first time we ever talked about � that the business part was different here it was again the ancient belief in the body and soul even an was supposed to be subject to the old distinction and was ready to co operate with her husband in the of s spiritual part if only its body remained under the law controlled his impatience as it was always easy for him to do when he had fixed on a definite line of conduct it was my that was different not what you call the business part that is bound up with the treatment of the hands if i am o have anything to do with the mills now i can deal with them only as your representative and as 