sombre-eyed, preoccupied, listening to the distant joyous tumult in the
house, until quick, light steps and a breezy flurry of satin at the door
announced his wife's return.

"Oh," she said coolly; "you?"

That was her greeting; his was a briefer nod.

She went to her mirror and studied her face, trying a patch here, a
hint of vermilion there, touching up brow and lashes and the sweet,
curling corners of her mouth.

"Well?" she inquired, over her shoulder, insolently.

He got up out of the chair, shut the door, and returned to his seat
again.

"Have you made up your mind about the _D_ and _P_ securities?" he asked.

"I told you I'd let you know when I came to any conclusion," she replied
drily.

"Yes, I know what you said, Rosalie. But the time is shortening. I've
got to meet certain awkward obligations----"

"So you intimated before."

He nodded and went on amiably: "All I ask of you is to deposit those
securities with us for a few months. They are as safe with us as they
are with the Half-Moon. Do you think I'd let you do it if I were not
certain?"

She turned and scrutinised him insultingly:

"I don't know," she said, "how many kinds of treachery you are capable
of."

"What do you mean?"

"What I say. Frankly, I don't know what you are capable of doing with my
money. If I can judge by what you've done with my married life, I
scarcely feel inclined to confide in you financially."

"There is no use in going over that again," he said patiently. "We
differ little from ordinary people, I fancy. I think our house is as
united as the usual New York domicile. The main thing is to keep it so.
And in a time of some slight apprehension and financial
uneasiness--perhaps even of possible future stress--you and I, for our
own sakes, should stand firmly together to weather any possible gale."

"I think I am able to weather whatever I am responsible for," she said.
"If you do the same, we can get on as well as we ever have."

"I don't believe you understand," he persisted, forcing a patient smile.
"All business in the world is conducted upon borrowed capital. I
merely----"

"Do you need more capital?" she inquired, so bluntly that he winced.

"Yes, for a few months. I may require a little additional
collateral----"

"Why don't you borrow it, then?"

"There is no necessity if you will temporarily transfer----"

"_Can_ you borrow it? Or is the ice in your trust company too rotten to
stand the strain?"