t you?" she
insisted. "Don't seem to be surprised. I am quite well informed."

She was scrutinizing Mary as she talked. Within her mind was the
undeniable thought that there was something about this thin, tall
woman with gray eyes which was real and comforting. She even wished
that Steve had fallen in love with someone else, and that she,
Beatrice, might have come to Mary for comfort and advice. If any one
could have set her right with herself it would be just such a
good-looking thing, as Trudy used to say, a commercial nun who had
kept her ideals and was not bereft of ideas. Faith and intellect had
been properly introduced in Mary's mind.

Mary blushed. "I have always wished to speak to you about something
Mrs. Vondeplosshe told you shortly before her death. Won't you sit
down? I am sure we have much to say to each other."

Beatrice found herself obeying like a docile child. As she took a
chair facing Mary's desk she realized that in just such a kind,
practical fashion would Mary proceed to manage Steve, that the years
of experience in the business world as an independent woman would give
Mary quite a new-fashioned charm in his eyes. Whether she was dealing
with gigantic business interests in deft fashion or showing tenderness
for the little girl who puts away her dolls for the last time, Mary
possessed a flexibility of comprehension and power. One could not be
cheap in dealings with her. And as the eternal sex barrier was not
present in Beatrice's behalf she realized that her jargon so
impulsively planned would never be said. Nor could she dismiss Mary
patronizingly and say the halfway melodramatic things she had said to
Steve. It occurred to her as Mary began to talk that Mary had been
brave enough to love, not merely be loved, the truth of this causing
her to wince within.

"In a malicious moment Trudy told you of my--my affection for your
husband. It is true, if that is what you have come to ask me about. I
told myself months ago that if you did come to ask me this thing I
should answer you truthfully, and we must remain at least polite
acquaintances over a hard situation. I think I have played fairly."
Mary's face had a tired look that bore proof to the statement. "I even
left his employ. As I once told you from an impersonal statement, I
have a theory that many business women of to-day are in love with
someone in their office. Propinquity perhaps and the shut-in existence
that they lead account for much of