e was fond of Archie,
and also of Lucille; and their happy marriage was a constant source of
gratification to him.

For Reggie was a sentimentalist. He would have liked to live in a world
of ideally united couples, himself ideally united to some charming and
affectionate girl. But, as a matter of cold fact, he was a bachelor,
and most of the couples he knew were veterans of several divorces. In
Reggie's circle, therefore, the home-life of Archie and Lucille shone
like a good deed in a naughty world. It inspired him. In moments of
depression it restored his waning faith in human nature.

Consequently, when Archie, having greeted him and slipped into a chair
at his side, suddenly produced from his inside pocket the photograph of
an extremely pretty girl and asked him to get her a small part in the
play which he was financing, he was shocked and disappointed. He was in
a more than usually sentimental mood that afternoon, and had, indeed,
at the moment of Archie's arrival, been dreaming wistfully of soft arms
clasped snugly about his collar and the patter of little feet and all
that sort of thing.-He gazed reproachfully at Archie.

"Archie!" his voice quivered with emotion. "Is it worth it?, is it worth
it, old man?-Think of the poor little woman at home!"

Archie was puzzled.

"Eh, old top? Which poor little woman?"

"Think of her trust in you, her faith--".

"I don't absolutely get you, old bean."

"What would Lucille say if she knew about this?"

"Oh, she does. She knows all about it."

"Good heavens!" cried Reggie.-He was shocked to the core of his
being.-One of the articles of his faith was, that the union of Lucille
and Archie was different from those loose partnerships which were
the custom in his world.-He had not been conscious of such a poignant
feeling that the foundations of the universe were cracked and tottering
and that there was no light and sweetness in life since the morning,
eighteen months back, when a negligent valet had sent him out into Fifth
Avenue with only one spat on.

"It was Lucille's idea," explained Archie. He was about to mention his
brother-in-law's connection with the matter, but checked himself
in time, remembering Bill's specific objection to having his secret
revealed to Reggie. "It's like this, old thing, I've never met this
female, but she's a pal of Lucille's"-he comforted his conscience by
the reflection that, if she wasn't now, she would be in a few days-"and
Lucille w