Some women, I continued, even actually appre-



ROSE AND ROSE 141

ciate a little bullying, a little roughness; some
must be continually re-wooed, taken on new
honeymoons. The greatest mistake in marriage
can be the limitation of honeymoons to one. As
for Rose — he must remember that she was born
and bred in the country : her early days had been
spent in gardens ; perhaps she was spoiling for
the open air again. Oh, yes, I knew that Wilton
Place was near the Park ; but I meant something
more open than that. She had a touch of the
woods in her : something of the dryad, even the
naiad. Surely he had noticed that ?

No, he had not. I was thinking of her, doubtless,
as a child, and he had known her as a woman and
a mother. I must remember that. Nor could
he quite agree that I had in the least accounted
for anything more than a sudden wish for a holiday
in the country. I had said nothing yet to explain
her physical treachery — her infidelity.
" There," said I, " I have no theory to propound."
Nor had I. I would not have propounded it for
the world.
