Chapter I: Front Matter

THE BUSINESS OF LIFE

Novels by Robert W. Chambers

The Business of Life
Blue-Bird Weather
Japonette
The Adventures of a Modest Man
The Danger Mark
Special Messenger
The Firing Line
The Younger Set
The Fighting Chance
Some Ladies in Haste
The Tree of Heaven
The Tracer of Lost Persons
A Young Man in a Hurry
Lorraine
Maids of Paradise
Ashes of Empire
The Red Republic
Outsiders
The Gay Rebellion
The Streets of Ascalon
The Common Law
Ailsa Paige
The Green Mouse
Iole
The Reckoning
The Maid-at-arms
Cardigan
The Haunts of Men
The Mystery of Choice
The Cambric Mask
The Maker of Moons
The King in Yellow
In Search of the Unknown
The Conspirators
A King and a Few Dukes
In the Quarter

]

_The_ BUSINESS OF LIFE

BY ROBERT W. CHAMBERS

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHARLES DANA GIBSON

NEW YORK AND LONDON D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1913

COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY ROBERT W. CHAMBERS

Copyright, 1912, by the INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE COMPANY

TO ELSIE CHAMBERS

"Il est des noeuds secrets, il est des sympathies
Dont par le doux rapport les Ames assorties
S'attachent l'une à l'autre et se laissent piquer
Par ces je ne sais quoi qu'on ne peut expliquer."

RODOGUNE.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
"'I--yes. Yes--I'll be ready----'" _Frontispiece_
"A lady to see you, sir'" 3
"Now and then she ... halted on tip-toe to lift some slitted
visor" 51
"She took it ... then read aloud the device in verse" 57
"'Are business and friendship incompatible?'" 71
"'There are nice men, too'" 79
"And he sat thinking of Jacqueline Nevers" 93
"She turned leisurely.... 'Did you say anything recently,
Mr. Desboro?'" 116
"Desboro stood staring down at the magic picture. Mrs.
Clydesdale, too, had risen" 151
"'Which is the real pleasure?' she asked" 159
"'The thing to do,' he said ... 'is for us both to keep
very busy'" 161
"'I--I beg your pardon,' said Jacqueline" 181
"There was, for a moment, an unconscious and unwonted grace
in his manner" 197
"All the men there had yielded to the delicate attraction
of her" 205
"In all the curious eyes turned toward her he saw admiration,
willing or conceded" 209
"She lost herself in a dreamy Bavarian folk-song" 219
"Cheer after cheer rang through the hallway" 251
"'Business is kinder to men than women sometimes believe'" 273
"'Be careful,' he said ... 'People are watching us'" 277
"Mr. Waudle gaped at her like a fat and expiring fish; the
poet ... said not a word" 345
"'My dear!' she exclaimed. 'What a perfectly charming office!'" 358
"She turned ... looked back, hesitated" 379
"'_That's_ how hungry I am, Jim. I warned you'" 385
"'It was rather odd, wasn't it, Jim?'" 395
"'Why don't you ask your--wife?'" 411
"'I do not believe you,' she said between her teeth" 419
"What was she to do? She had gone half mad with fear" 427
"'Jacqueline--my wife--is the result of a different training'" 441
"In the rose dusk of the drawn curtains he stood beside it" 445
"'Now,' she said, leaning forward ... 'what is the meaning
of this?'" 455
"'You have no further interest in me, have you?'" 479
"'I--I have never thought mercilessly'" 487
"And, as she rose, he was still figuring" 499

THE BUSINESS OF LIFE