ove as with ambition. His
father--well, his father was a man, like himself. All of his
sisters were distinctly wrapped up in their own affairs; Robert and he
were temperamentally uncongenial. With Jennie he had really been
happy, he had truly lived. She was necessary to him; the longer he
stayed away from her the more he wanted her. He finally decided to
have a straight-out talk with her, to arrive at some sort of
understanding. She ought to get the child and take care of it. She
must understand that he might eventually want to quit. She ought to be
made to feel that a definite change had taken place, though no
immediate break might occur. That same evening he went out to the
apartment. Jennie heard him enter, and her heart began to flutter.
Then she took her courage in both hands, and went to meet him.

"There's just one thing to be done about this as far as I can see,"
began Lester, with characteristic directness.

"Get the child and bring her here where you can take care of her.
There's no use leaving her in the hands of strangers."

"I will, Lester," said Jennie submissively. "I always wanted
to."

"Very well, then, you'd better do it at once." He took an evening
newspaper out of his pocket and strolled toward one of the front
windows; then he turned to her. "You and I might as well understand
each other, Jennie," he went on. "I can see how this thing came about.
It was a piece of foolishness on my part not to have asked you before,
and made you tell me. It was silly for you to conceal it, even if you
didn't want the child's life mixed with mine. You might have known
that it couldn't be done. That's neither here nor there, though, now.
The thing that I want to point out is that one can't live and hold a
relationship such as ours without confidence. You and I had that, I
thought. I don't see my way clear to ever hold more than a tentative
relationship with you on this basis. The thing is too tangled. There's
too much cause for scandal."

"I know," said Jennie.

"Now, I don't propose to do anything hasty. For my part I don't see
why things can't go on about as they are--certainly for the
present--but I want you to look the facts in the face."

Jennie sighed. "I know, Lester," she said, "I know."

He went to the window and stared out. There were some trees in the
yard, where the darkness was settling. He wondered how this would
really come out, for he liked a home atmosphere. Should he leave the
apartment an