CHAPTER XXII.
WITHOUT a note of warning, the public were startled by the news that Mrs.Dexter had left her husband.

Wisely, sober second thought laid upon the lips of Mr.Dexter the seal of silence.

He gave no reason for the step his wife had taken, and declined answering all inquiries, even from his nearest friends.

From a man of impulse, he seemed changed at once into a man of deliberate purpose.

His elegant home was not given up, though he lived in it a kind of half hermit life.