"Very well," she repeated, gazing again into the mirror; "what am I to understand, Howard ?" "You know what to understand," he said in a low voice; "you know what we both understood when--when--" "When what ?" "When I--when you--" "Oh what, Howard ?" she prompted indolently; and he answered in brutal exasperation, and for the first time so plainly that a hint of rose tinted her strange, pale beauty and between her lips the breath came less regularly as she stood there looking at the dull, silvery rug under her feet.
"Did you ever misunderstand me ?" he demanded hotly.

"Did I give you any chance to?
Were you ignorant of what that meant," with a gesture toward the splendid crescent of flashing gems, scintillating where the low, lace bodice met the silky lustre of her skin.

"Did you misinterpret the collar?
Or the sudden change of fortune in your own family's concerns?
Answer me, Agatha, once for all.

But you need not answer after all: I know you have never misunderstood me!" "I misunderstood nothing," she said; "you are quite right." "Then what are you going to do ?" "Do ?" she asked in slow surprise.

"What am I to do, Howard ?" "You have said that you loved me." "I said the truth, I think." "Then--" "Well ?" "How long are you going to keep me at arm's length ?" he asked violently.
"That lies with you," she said, smiling.