Heaven forbid that he should ever tie himself to the tame domestic female; and just as little could he seek for a mate among the women of society, the creatures all surface, with empty pates and vitiated blood.  No marriage for him, in the common understanding of the word.  He wanted neither offspring nor a ‘home’.  Rhoda Nunn, if she thought of such things at all, probably desired a union which would permit her to remain an intellectual being; the kitchen, the cradle, and the work-basket had no power over her imagination.  As likely as not, however, she was perfectly content with single life—­even regarded it as essential to her purposes.  In her face he read chastity; her eye avoided no scrutiny; her palm was cold.

One does not break the heart of such a woman.  Heartbreak is a very old-fashioned disorder, associated with poverty of brain.  If Rhoda were what he thought her, she enjoyed this opportunity of studying a modern male, and cared not how far he proceeded in his own investigations, sure that at any moment she could bid him fall back.  The amusement was only just beginning.  And if for him it became earnest, why what did he seek but strong experiences?

Rhoda, in the meantime, had gone home.  She shut herself in her bedroom, and remained there until the bell rang for dinner.

Miss Barfoot entered the dining-room just before her; they sat down in silence, and through the meal exchanged but a few sentences, relative to a topic of the hour which interested neither of them.

The elder woman had a very unhappy countenance; she looked worn out; her eyes never lifted themselves from the table.

Dinner over, Miss Barfoot went to the drawing-room alone.  She had sat there about half an hour, brooding, unoccupied, when Rhoda came in and stood before her.

’I have been thinking it over.  It isn’t right for me to remain here.  Such an arrangement was only possible whilst we were on terms of perfect understanding.’

‘You must do what you think best, Rhoda,’ the other replied gravely, but with no accent of displeasure.

’Yes, I had better take a lodging somewhere.  What I wish to know is, whether you can still employ me with any satisfaction?’

’I don’t employ you.  That is not the word to describe your relations with me.  If we must use business language, you are simply my partner.’

’Only your kindness put me into that position.  When you no longer regard me as a friend, I am only in your employment.’

’I haven’t ceased to regard you as a friend.  The estrangement between us is entirely of your making.’

Seeing that Rhoda would not sit down, Miss Barfoot rose and stood by the fireplace.

‘I can’t bear reproaches,’ said the former; ’least of all when they are irrational and undeserved.’

’If I reproached you, it was in a tone which should never have given you offence.  One would think that I had rated you like a disobedient servant.’