feelings.

"My feelings? How could I have any feelings about a blanketty
drawing-room suite? Does she really think I'm such a fool that I can't
live without lions on my staircase? I stuck the beastly things there
because I thought she'd like 'em. If I thought she'd like a tame
rhinoceros in her boudoir I'd have got her one, if I'd 'ad to go out and
catch 'im and train 'im myself. If I thought _now_ that the only way to
preserve her affection was to wear that suit of armour every night at
dinner I'd wear it and glory in wearing it. There isn't any damned silly
thing I wouldn't do and glory in."

And then--"Her nerves must be in an awful state."

He meditated again.

"Tell you what--I'll get rid of this place. I'll let it go furnished for
what it'll fetch. I'll only keep the things we had before--the things she
liked. They _are_ prettier."

He looked round him with his disenchanted eyes.

"I can see it's all wrong, this sort of thing. It's in bad taste. Rotten
bad taste. I suppose I must have been a bit excited about it at the
time--I must have thought it was all right or I couldn't have stood it.

"It's a phase I've gone through.

"I can understand perfectly well how she feels about it.

"Fact is, I hate the place myself--the whole beastly house I hate. I've
hated it ever since she was ill in it. I can't get away from her illness.
I shall always see her ill. She'll be ill again if we go on living in it.

"I'm tired of the whole business--I'll let it to-morrow and take a house
in the country.

"You might go upstairs, old man, and see what she's doing."

I went upstairs.

She was sitting in one corner of the study with a book in her hand
pretending to read. Norah was sitting in another corner with a book in
her hand, pretending to read. I gathered that Norah had been talking to
her sister. I took up a book and pretended to read too.

Presently, when she thought we were absorbed, Viola got up and left us.
Norah waited till the door had closed on her. Then she spoke.

"Wally--it's more awful than we've ever imagined. I don't think she'll be
able to stand it much longer."

"Well," I said, "she won't have to stand it much longer. He's going to
chuck the place. It's got on _his_ nerves, too. He understands exactly
how she feels about it."

"Let's hope he doesn't understand how she feels about--It isn't the
place, Wally."

"What is it, then?"

"I'm most awfully afraid it's Jimmy."

"Jimmy? You don't mea