do with a woman of
spirit. He waited eagerly for a hint as to her plans.

"Of course I'm not going to Brooklyn," she said, as the taxi swung into
Fifth Avenue. "Please tell the man to drive to the Altmore, ladies'
entrance. I'll walk through to the main door and take another taxi. I
mean to lose myself," she went on, after Archie had given the
instructions. "I have every intention of keeping away from policemen and
reporters, but there's no reason why you should bother any further. I'm
only sorry your name had to be brought into it. The moment they find
I've deceived them they'll be after you for further information, and I
regret that exceedingly. I wish to avoid publicity and keep my domestic
affairs out of the newspapers; but this of course will only center
attention the more on you. If there's anything I could do--"

"You needn't bother about that at all," replied Archie with a reassuring
smile. "The name and address I gave were both false."

"You mean that really!"

"I mean that; just that! My reasons are of importance to no one but
myself, and have nothing to do with the loss of your child, I assure
you. I give you my word that neither the police nor the reporters will
ever find me. I know nothing about you and of course it is quite
unnecessary for me to know."

"Thank you; you are very kind," she murmured.

It struck him as highly amusing that he should be conspiring with the
wife of a gentleman he had shot. In every aspect it was ridiculous and
not since boyhood had he felt so much like giggling. And Mrs. Congdon
was wonderful; it was a delight to be the repository of the confidences
of so handsome a young matron and one who met so difficult a situation
so courageously. They were both liars; both were practising a deceit
that could hardly fail to bring them under sharp scrutiny if they should
be caught.

Women were far from being the simple creatures he had believed them to
be. The heart of woman was a labyrinth of mystery. Mrs. Congdon,
altogether lovely and bearing all the marks of breeding, had lied quite
as convincingly as Sally Walker. The ways of Isabel were beyond all
human understanding; and yet her contradictions only added to her charm.
Isabel's agitation over the affairs of the Congdons led him close to the
point of mentioning her name to note its effect upon Mrs. Congdon, but
to do this might be an act of betrayal that would only confirm Isabel's
opinion of him as a stupid, meddlesome person.