“All right,” I said, very quietly. “I won’t argue. I need five hundred dollars, though.”

“Right this moment?”

“Not necessarily. Soon. Tonight.”

“Of course,” she said. “Will you bite my head off if I ask you what for?”

I smiled. “I don’t mind telling you. I’m taking a little hunting trip with one of the boys from the place. I figure to be gone two weeks. The five hundred is pocket-money to cover expenses.”

I expected some sort of explosion, but it didn’t come. All she did was smile with surprising sweetness and say, “I suppose you rate a little vacation, dear. And it’ll do us both good to be apart a while. We’ve been fighting so much lately, Mike.”

“Glad you understand,” I said stolidly.

“When will you be leaving?”

“Wednesday morning,” I said. “Everything’s all booked. I just have to confirm the reservations.”

“I’ll have the check ready for you tonight, dear,” she said. “Will five hundred be enough?”

* * *

I hadn’t expected so much cooperation, but perhaps Helen was mellowing a little. Anyway, she was true to her word—I got the five bills. Early Wednesday morning I left, getting a more than usually warm goodbye kiss. I began to feel good about things. It had been swell with Peggy for a while, but I was getting tired of her schoolgirl simplicity; Helen was more of a challenge, an iceberg that needed defrosting. I realized I’d taken the easy way out of our relationship by finding Peggy.

Well, I’d be rid of Peggy soon enough, and I could go back to Helen. She showed signs of defrosting. Maybe, I thought, if I could only try to understand her a little more, to remember that she was born to wealth and so thought differently from a guy who fought his way all the way up and was lucky enough to marry a millionaire’s daughter. Hell, what did I care who signed the checks, as long as I got everything I wanted? The Peggy interlude was just an interlude. When I returned, I’d still have Helen.

Peggy met me at the station, carrying her little suitcase, and I kissed her hello. She was dolled up in her best clothes—the clothes I’d bought for her, with Helen’s money. She was jumping with excitement and chattered about our “honeymoon” the whole train trip.

I had made reservations in the Adirondacks—one of those expensive deals where you can rent a little cabin in the woods, complete with a tiny lake, scenery, fishing tackle, and enough food to last you the time you were staying. It was Hermit’s Delight. No automobiles. no people, not even a proprietor on hand. I had paid in full beforehand, for two weeks, so there was no checking-out problem.