Book + 

II + 

I + 

It came vividly to Selden on the Casino steps that Monte Carlo had, more than any other place he knew, the gift of accommodating itself to each manтАЩs humour. + 

His own, at the moment, lent it a festive readiness of welcome that might well, in a disenchanted eye, have turned to paint and facility. So frank an appeal for participationтБатАФso outspoken a recognition of the holiday vein in human natureтБатАФstruck refreshingly on a mind jaded by prolonged hard work in surroundings made for the discipline of the senses. As he surveyed the white square set in an exotic coquetry of architecture, the studied tropicality of the gardens, the groups loitering in the foreground against mauve mountains which suggested a sublime stage-setting forgotten in a hurried shifting of scenesтБатАФas he took in the whole outspread effect of light and leisure, he felt a movement of revulsion from the last few months of his life. + 

The New York winter had presented an interminable perspective of snow-burdened days, reaching toward a spring of raw sunshine and furious air, when the ugliness of things rasped the eye as the gritty wind ground into the skin. Selden, immersed in his work, had told himself that external conditions did not matter to a man in his state, and that cold and ugliness were a good tonic for relaxed sensibilities. When an urgent case summoned him abroad to confer with a client in Paris, he broke reluctantly with the routine of the office; and it was only now that, having despatched his business, and slipped away for a week in the south, he began to feel the renewed zest of spectatorship that is the solace of those who take an objective interest in life. + 

The multiplicity of its appealsтБатАФthe perpetual surprise of its contrasts and resemblances! All these tricks and turns of the show were upon him with a spring as he descended the Casino steps and paused on the pavement at its doors. He had not been abroad for seven yearsтБатАФand what changes the renewed contact produced! If the central depths were untouched, hardly a pinpoint of surface remained the same. And this was the very place to bring out the completeness of the renewal. The sublimities, the perpetuities, might have left him as he was: but this tent pitched for a dayтАЩs revelry spread a roof of oblivion between himself and his fixed sky. + 

It was mid-April, and one felt that the revelry had reached its climax and that the desultory groups in the square and gardens would soon dissolve and reform in other scenes. Meanwhile the last moments of the performance seemed to gain an added brightness from the hovering threat of the curtain. The quality of the air, the exuberance of the flowers, the blue intensity of sea and sky, produced the effect of a closing tableau, when all the lights are turned on at once. This impression was presently heightened by the way in which a consciously conspicuous group of people advanced to the middle front, and stood before Selden with the air of the chief performers gathered together by the exigencies of the final effect. Their appearance confirmed the impression that the show had been staged regardless of expense, and emphasized its resemblance to one of those тАЬcostume-playsтАЭ in which the protagonists walk through the passions without displacing a drapery. The ladies stood in unrelated attitudes calculated to isolate their effects, and the men hung about them as irrelevantly as stage heroes whose tailors are named in the programme. It was Selden himself who unwittingly fused the group by arresting the attention of one of its members. + 

тАЬWhy, Mr.┬аSelden!тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher exclaimed in surprise; and with a gesture toward Mrs.┬аJack Stepney and Mrs.┬аWellington Bry, she added plaintively: тАЬWeтАЩre starving to death because we canтАЩt decide where to lunch.тАЭ + 

Welcomed into their group, and made the confidant of their difficulty, Selden learned with amusement that there were several places where one might miss something by not lunching, or forfeit something by lunching; so that eating actually became a minor consideration on the very spot consecrated to its rites. + 

тАЬOf course one gets the best things at the TerrasseтБатАФbut that looks as if one hadnтАЩt any other reason for being there: the Americans who donтАЩt know anyone always rush for the best food. And the Duchess of Beltshire has taken up B├йcassinтАЩs lately,тАЭ Mrs.┬аBry earnestly summed up. + 

Mrs.┬аBry, to Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs despair, had not progressed beyond the point of weighing her social alternatives in public. She could not acquire the air of doing things because she wanted to, and making her choice the final seal of their fitness. + 

Mr.┬аBry, a short pale man, with a business face and leisure clothes, met the dilemma hilariously. + 

тАЬI guess the Duchess goes where itтАЩs cheapest, unless she can get her meal paid for. If you offered to blow her off at the Terrasse sheтАЩd turn up fast enough.тАЭ + 

But Mrs.┬аJack Stepney interposed. тАЬThe Grand Dukes go to that little place at the Condamine. Lord Hubert says itтАЩs the only restaurant in Europe where they can cook peas.тАЭ + 

Lord Hubert Dacey, a slender shabby-looking man, with a charming worn smile, and the air of having spent his best years in piloting the wealthy to the right restaurant, assented with gentle emphasis: тАЬItтАЩs quite that.тАЭ + 

тАЬPeas?тАЭ said Mr.┬аBry contemptuously. тАЬCan they cook terrapin? It just shows,тАЭ he continued, тАЬwhat these European markets are, when a fellow can make a reputation cooking peas!тАЭ + 

Jack Stepney intervened with authority. тАЬI donтАЩt know that I quite agree with Dacey: thereтАЩs a little hole in Paris, off the Quai VoltaireтБатАФbut in any case, I canтАЩt advise the Condamine gargote; at least not with ladies.тАЭ + 

Stepney, since his marriage, had thickened and grown prudish, as the Van Osburgh husbands were apt to do; but his wife, to his surprise and discomfiture, had developed an earthshaking fastness of gait which left him trailing breathlessly in her wake. + 

тАЬThatтАЩs where weтАЩll go then!тАЭ she declared, with a heavy toss of her plumage. тАЬIтАЩm so tired of the Terrasse: itтАЩs as dull as one of motherтАЩs dinners. And Lord Hubert has promised to tell us who all the awful people are at the other placeтБатАФhasnтАЩt he, Carry? Now, Jack, donтАЩt look so solemn!тАЭ + 

тАЬWell,тАЭ said Mrs.┬аBry, тАЬall I want to know is who their dressmakers are.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo doubt Dacey can tell you that too,тАЭ remarked Stepney, with an ironic intention which the other received with the light murmur, тАЬI can at least find out, my dear fellowтАЭ; and Mrs.┬аBry having declared that she couldnтАЩt walk another step, the party hailed two or three of the light phaetons which hover attentively on the confines of the gardens, and rattled off in procession toward the Condamine. + 

Their destination was one of the little restaurants overhanging the boulevard which dips steeply down from Monte Carlo to the low intermediate quarter along the quay. From the window in which they presently found themselves installed, they overlooked the intense blue curve of the harbour, set between the verdure of twin promontories: to the right, the cliff of Monaco, topped by the medieval silhouette of its church and castle, to the left the terraces and pinnacles of the gambling-house. Between the two, the waters of the bay were furrowed by a light coming and going of pleasure-craft, through which, just at the culminating moment of luncheon, the majestic advance of a great steam-yacht drew the companyтАЩs attention from the peas. + 

тАЬBy Jove, I believe thatтАЩs the Dorsets back!тАЭ Stepney exclaimed; and Lord Hubert, dropping his single eyeglass, corroborated: тАЬItтАЩs the SabrinaтБатАФyes.тАЭ + 

тАЬSo soon? They were to spend a month in Sicily,тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher observed. + 

тАЬI guess they feel as if they had: thereтАЩs only one up-to-date hotel in the whole place,тАЭ said Mr.┬аBry disparagingly. + 

тАЬIt was Ned SilvertonтАЩs ideaтБатАФbut poor Dorset and Lily Bart must have been horribly bored.тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher added in an undertone to Selden: тАЬI do hope there hasnтАЩt been a row.тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩs most awfully jolly having Miss Bart back,тАЭ said Lord Hubert, in his mild deliberate voice; and Mrs.┬аBry added ingenuously: тАЬI daresay the Duchess will dine with us, now that LilyтАЩs here.тАЭ + 

тАЬThe Duchess admires her immensely: IтАЩm sure sheтАЩd be charmed to have it arranged,тАЭ Lord Hubert agreed, with the professional promptness of the man accustomed to draw his profit from facilitating social contacts: Selden was struck by the businesslike change in his manner. + 

тАЬLily has been a tremendous success here,тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher continued, still addressing herself confidentially to Selden. тАЬShe looks ten years youngerтБатАФI never saw her so handsome. Lady Skiddaw took her everywhere in Cannes, and the Crown Princess of Macedonia had her to stop for a week at Cimiez. People say that was one reason why Bertha whisked the yacht off to Sicily: the Crown Princess didnтАЩt take much notice of her, and she couldnтАЩt bear to look on at LilyтАЩs triumph.тАЭ + 

Selden made no reply. He was vaguely aware that Miss Bart was cruising in the Mediterranean with the Dorsets, but it had not occurred to him that there was any chance of running across her on the Riviera, where the season was virtually at an end. As he leaned back, silently contemplating his filigree cup of Turkish coffee, he was trying to put some order in his thoughts, to tell himself how the news of her nearness was really affecting him. He had a personal detachment enabling him, even in moments of emotional high-pressure, to get a fairly clear view of his feelings, and he was sincerely surprised by the disturbance which the sight of the Sabrina had produced in him. He had reason to think that his three months of engrossing professional work, following on the sharp shock of his disillusionment, had cleared his mind of its sentimental vapours. The feeling he had nourished and given prominence to was one of thankfulness for his escape: he was like a traveller so grateful for rescue from a dangerous accident that at first he is hardly conscious of his bruises. Now he suddenly felt the latent ache, and realized that after all he had not come off unhurt. + 

An hour later, at Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs side in the Casino gardens, he was trying to find fresh reasons for forgetting the injury received in the contemplation of the peril avoided. The party had dispersed with the loitering indecision characteristic of social movements at Monte Carlo, where the whole place, and the long gilded hours of the day, seem to offer an infinity of ways of being idle. Lord Hubert Dacey had finally gone off in quest of the Duchess of Beltshire, charged by Mrs.┬аBry with the delicate negotiation of securing that ladyтАЩs presence at dinner, the Stepneys had left for Nice in their motorcar, and Mr.┬аBry had departed to take his place in the pigeon shooting match which was at the moment engaging his highest faculties. + 

Mrs.┬аBry, who had a tendency to grow red and stertorous after luncheon, had been judiciously prevailed upon by Carry Fisher to withdraw to her hotel for an hourтАЩs repose; and Selden and his companion were thus left to a stroll propitious to confidences. The stroll soon resolved itself into a tranquil session on a bench overhung with laurel and Banksian roses, from which they caught a dazzle of blue sea between marble balusters, and the fiery shafts of cactus-blossoms shooting meteor-like from the rock. The soft shade of their niche, and the adjacent glitter of the air, were conducive to an easy lounging mood, and to the smoking of many cigarettes; and Selden, yielding to these influences, suffered Mrs.┬аFisher to unfold to him the history of her recent experiences. She had come abroad with the Welly Brys at the moment when fashion flees the inclemency of the New York spring. The Brys, intoxicated by their first success, already thirsted for new kingdoms, and Mrs.┬аFisher, viewing the Riviera as an easy introduction to London society, had guided their course thither. She had affiliations of her own in every capital, and a facility for picking them up again after long absences; and the carefully disseminated rumour of the BrysтАЩ wealth had at once gathered about them a group of cosmopolitan pleasure-seekers. + 

тАЬBut things are not going as well as I expected,тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher frankly admitted. тАЬItтАЩs all very well to say that everybody with money can get into society; but it would be truer to say that nearly everybody can. And the London market is so glutted with new Americans that, to succeed there now, they must be either very clever or awfully queer. The Brys are neither. He would get on well enough if sheтАЩd let him alone; they like his slang and his brag and his blunders. But Louisa spoils it all by trying to repress him and put herself forward. If sheтАЩd be natural herselfтБатАФfat and vulgar and bouncingтБатАФit would be all right; but as soon as she meets anybody smart she tries to be slender and queenly. She tried it with the Duchess of Beltshire and Lady Skiddaw, and they fled. IтАЩve done my best to make her see her mistakeтБатАФIтАЩve said to her again and again: тАШJust let yourself go, LouisaтАЩ; but she keeps up the humbug even with meтБатАФI believe she keeps on being queenly in her own room, with the door shut. + 

тАЬThe worst of it is,тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher went on, тАЬthat she thinks itтАЩs all my fault. When the Dorsets turned up here six weeks ago, and everybody began to make a fuss about Lily Bart, I could see Louisa thought that if sheтАЩd had Lily in tow instead of me she would have been hobnobbing with all the royalties by this time. She doesnтАЩt realize that itтАЩs LilyтАЩs beauty that does it: Lord Hubert tells me Lily is thought even handsomer than when he knew her at Aix ten years ago. It seems she was tremendously admired there. An Italian Prince, rich and the real thing, wanted to marry her; but just at the critical moment a good-looking stepson turned up, and Lily was silly enough to flirt with him while her marriage-settlements with the stepfather were being drawn up. Some people said the young man did it on purpose. You can fancy the scandal: there was an awful row between the men, and people began to look at Lily so queerly that Mrs.┬аPeniston had to pack up and finish her cure elsewhere. Not that she ever understood: to this day she thinks that Aix didnтАЩt suit her, and mentions her having been sent there as proof of the incompetence of French doctors. ThatтАЩs Lily all over, you know: she works like a slave preparing the ground and sowing her seed; but the day she ought to be reaping the harvest she oversleeps herself or goes off on a picnic.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аFisher paused and looked reflectively at the deep shimmer of sea between the cactus-flowers. тАЬSometimes,тАЭ she added, тАЬI think itтАЩs just flightinessтБатАФand sometimes I think itтАЩs because, at heart, she despises the things sheтАЩs trying for. And itтАЩs the difficulty of deciding that makes her such an interesting study.тАЭ She glanced tentatively at SeldenтАЩs motionless profile, and resumed with a slight sigh: тАЬWell, all I can say is, I wish sheтАЩd give me some of her discarded opportunities. I wish we could change places now, for instance. She could make a very good thing out of the Brys if she managed them properly, and I should know just how to look after George Dorset while Bertha is reading Verlaine with Neddy Silverton.тАЭ + 

She met SeldenтАЩs sound of protest with a sharp derisive glance. тАЬWell, whatтАЩs the use of mincing matters? We all know thatтАЩs what Bertha brought her abroad for. When Bertha wants to have a good time she has to provide occupation for George. At first I thought Lily was going to play her cards well this time, but there are rumours that Bertha is jealous of her success here and at Cannes, and I shouldnтАЩt be surprised if there were a break any day. LilyтАЩs only safeguard is that Bertha needs her badlyтБатАФoh, very badly. The Silverton affair is in the acute stage: itтАЩs necessary that GeorgeтАЩs attention should be pretty continuously distracted. And IтАЩm bound to say Lily does distract it: I believe heтАЩd marry her tomorrow if he found out there was anything wrong with Bertha. But you know himтБатАФheтАЩs as blind as heтАЩs jealous; and of course LilyтАЩs present business is to keep him blind. A clever woman might know just the right moment to tear off the bandage: but Lily isnтАЩt clever in that way, and when George does open his eyes sheтАЩll probably contrive not to be in his line of vision.тАЭ + 

Selden tossed away his cigarette. тАЬBy JoveтБатАФitтАЩs time for my train,тАЭ he exclaimed, with a glance at his watch; adding, in reply to Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs surprised commentтБатАФтАЬWhy, I thought of course you were at Monte!тАЭтБатАФa murmured word to the effect that he was making Nice his headquarters. + 

тАЬThe worst of it is, she snubs the Brys now,тАЭ he heard irrelevantly flung after him. + 

Ten minutes later, in the high-perched bedroom of an hotel overlooking the Casino, he was tossing his effects into a couple of gaping portmanteaux, while the porter waited outside to transport them to the cab at the door. It took but a brief plunge down the steep white road to the station to land him safely in the afternoon express for Nice; and not till he was installed in the corner of an empty carriage, did he exclaim to himself, with a reaction of self-contempt: тАЬWhat the deuce am I running away from?тАЭ + 

The pertinence of the question checked SeldenтАЩs fugitive impulse before the train had started. It was ridiculous to be flying like an emotional coward from an infatuation his reason had conquered. He had instructed his bankers to forward some important business letters to Nice, and at Nice he would quietly await them. He was already annoyed with himself for having left Monte Carlo, where he had intended to pass the week which remained to him before sailing; but it would now be difficult to return on his steps without an appearance of inconsistency from which his pride recoiled. In his inmost heart he was not sorry to put himself beyond the probability of meeting Miss Bart. Completely as he had detached himself from her, he could not yet regard her merely as a social instance; and viewed in a more personal ways she was not likely to be a reassuring object of study. Chance encounters, or even the repeated mention of her name, would send his thoughts back into grooves from which he had resolutely detached them; whereas, if she could be entirely excluded from his life, the pressure of new and varied impressions, with which no thought of her was connected, would soon complete the work of separation. Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs conversation had, indeed, operated to that end; but the treatment was too painful to be voluntarily chosen while milder remedies were untried; and Selden thought he could trust himself to return gradually to a reasonable view of Miss Bart, if only he did not see her. + 

Having reached the station early, he had arrived at this point in his reflections before the increasing throng on the platform warned him that he could not hope to preserve his privacy; the next moment there was a hand on the door, and he turned to confront the very face he was fleeing. + 

Miss Bart, glowing with the haste of a precipitate descent upon the train, headed a group composed of the Dorsets, young Silverton and Lord Hubert Dacey, who had barely time to spring into the carriage, and envelop Selden in ejaculations of surprise and welcome, before the whistle of departure sounded. The party, it appeared, were hastening to Nice in response to a sudden summons to dine with the Duchess of Beltshire and to see the water-f├кte in the bay; a plan evidently improvisedтБатАФin spite of Lord HubertтАЩs protesting тАЬOh, I say, you know,тАЭтБатАФfor the express purpose of defeating Mrs.┬аBryтАЩs endeavour to capture the Duchess. + 

During the laughing relation of this manoeuvre, Selden had time for a rapid impression of Miss Bart, who had seated herself opposite to him in the golden afternoon light. Scarcely three months had elapsed since he had parted from her on the threshold of the BrysтАЩ conservatory; but a subtle change had passed over the quality of her beauty. Then it had had a transparency through which the fluctuations of the spirit were sometimes tragically visible; now its impenetrable surface suggested a process of crystallization which had fused her whole being into one hard brilliant substance. The change had struck Mrs.┬аFisher as a rejuvenation: to Selden it seemed like that moment of pause and arrest when the warm fluidity of youth is chilled into its final shape. + 

He felt it in the way she smiled on him, and in the readiness and competence with which, flung unexpectedly into his presence, she took up the thread of their intercourse as though that thread had not been snapped with a violence from which he still reeled. Such facility sickened himтБатАФbut he told himself that it was with the pang which precedes recovery. Now he would really get wellтБатАФwould eject the last drop of poison from his blood. Already he felt himself calmer in her presence than he had learned to be in the thought of her. Her assumptions and elisions, her shortcuts and long detours, the skill with which she contrived to meet him at a point from which no inconvenient glimpses of the past were visible, suggested what opportunities she had had for practising such arts since their last meeting. He felt that she had at last arrived at an understanding with herself: had made a pact with her rebellious impulses, and achieved a uniform system of self-government, under which all vagrant tendencies were either held captive or forced into the service of the state. + 

And he saw other things too in her manner: saw how it had adjusted itself to the hidden intricacies of a situation in which, even after Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs elucidating flashes, he still felt himself agrope. Surely Mrs.┬аFisher could no longer charge Miss Bart with neglecting her opportunities! To SeldenтАЩs exasperated observation she was only too completely alive to them. She was тАЬperfectтАЭ to everyone: subservient to BerthaтАЩs anxious predominance, good-naturedly watchful of DorsetтАЩs moods, brightly companionable to Silverton and Dacey, the latter of whom met her on an evident footing of old admiration, while young Silverton, portentously self-absorbed, seemed conscious of her only as of something vaguely obstructive. And suddenly, as Selden noted the fine shades of manner by which she harmonized herself with her surroundings, it flashed on him that, to need such adroit handling, the situation must indeed be desperate. She was on the edge of somethingтБатАФthat was the impression left with him. He seemed to see her poised on the brink of a chasm, with one graceful foot advanced to assert her unconsciousness that the ground was failing her. + 

On the Promenade des Anglais, where Ned Silverton hung on him for the half hour before dinner, he received a deeper impression of the general insecurity. Silverton was in a mood of Titanic pessimism. How anyone could come to such a damned hole as the RivieraтБатАФanyone with a grain of imaginationтБатАФwith the whole Mediterranean to choose from: but then, if oneтАЩs estimate of a place depended on the way they broiled a spring chicken! Gad! what a study might be made of the tyranny of the stomachтБатАФthe way a sluggish liver or insufficient gastric juices might affect the whole course of the universe, overshadow everything in reachтБатАФchronic dyspepsia ought to be among the тАЬstatutory causesтАЭ; a womanтАЩs life might be ruined by a manтАЩs inability to digest fresh bread. Grotesque? YesтБатАФand tragicтБатАФlike most absurdities. ThereтАЩs nothing grimmer than the tragedy that wears a comic mask.тБатАКтБатАж Where was he? OhтБатАФthe reason they chucked Sicily and rushed back? WellтБатАФpartly, no doubt, Miss BartтАЩs desire to get back to bridge and smartness. Dead as a stone to art and poetryтБатАФthe light never was on sea or land for her! And of course she persuaded Dorset that the Italian food was bad for him. Oh, she could make him believe anythingтБатАФanything! Mrs.┬аDorset was aware of itтБатАФoh, perfectly: nothing she didnтАЩt see! But she could hold her tongueтБатАФsheтАЩd had to, often enough. Miss Bart was an intimate friendтБатАФshe wouldnтАЩt hear a word against her. Only it hurts a womanтАЩs prideтБатАФthere are some things one doesnтАЩt get used toтБатАКтБатАж All this in confidence, of course? AhтБатАФand there were the ladies signalling from the balcony of the hotel.тБатАКтБатАж He plunged across the Promenade, leaving Selden to a meditative cigar. + 

The conclusions it led him to were fortified, later in the evening, by some of those faint corroborative hints that generate a light of their own in the dusk of a doubting mind. Selden, stumbling on a chance acquaintance, had dined with him, and adjourned, still in his company, to the brightly lit Promenade, where a line of crowded stands commanded the glittering darkness of the waters. The night was soft and persuasive. Overhead hung a summer sky furrowed with the rush of rockets; and from the east a late moon, pushing up beyond the lofty bend of the coast, sent across the bay a shaft of brightness which paled to ashes in the red glitter of the illuminated boats. Down the lantern-hung Promenade, snatches of band-music floated above the hum of the crowd and the soft tossing of boughs in dusky gardens; and between these gardens and the backs of the stands there flowed a stream of people in whom the vociferous carnival mood seemed tempered by the growing languor of the season. + 

Selden and his companion, unable to get seats on one of the stands facing the bay, had wandered for a while with the throng, and then found a point of vantage on a high garden-parapet above the Promenade. Thence they caught but a triangular glimpse of the water, and of the flashing play of boats across its surface; but the crowd in the street was under their immediate view, and seemed to Selden, on the whole, of more interest than the show itself. After a while, however, he wearied of his perch and, dropping alone to the pavement, pushed his way to the first corner and turned into the moonlit silence of a side street. Long garden-walls overhung by trees made a dark boundary to the pavement; an empty cab trailed along the deserted thoroughfare, and presently Selden saw two persons emerge from the opposite shadows, signal to the cab, and drive off in it toward the centre of the town. The moonlight touched them as they paused to enter the carriage, and he recognized Mrs.┬аDorset and young Silverton. + 

Beneath the nearest lamppost he glanced at his watch and saw that the time was close on eleven. He took another cross street, and without breasting the throng on the Promenade, made his way to the fashionable club which overlooks that thoroughfare. Here, amid the blaze of crowded baccarat tables, he caught sight of Lord Hubert Dacey, seated with his habitual worn smile behind a rapidly dwindling heap of gold. The heap being in due course wiped out, Lord Hubert rose with a shrug, and joining Selden, adjourned with him to the deserted terrace of the club. It was now past midnight, and the throng on the stands was dispersing, while the long trails of red-lit boats scattered and faded beneath a sky repossessed by the tranquil splendour of the moon. + 

Lord Hubert looked at his watch. тАЬBy Jove, I promised to join the Duchess for supper at the London House; but itтАЩs past twelve, and I suppose theyтАЩve all scattered. The fact is, I lost them in the crowd soon after dinner, and took refuge here, for my sins. They had seats on one of the stands, but of course they couldnтАЩt stop quiet: the Duchess never can. She and Miss Bart went off in quest of what they call adventuresтБатАФgad, it ainтАЩt their fault if they donтАЩt have some queer ones!тАЭ He added tentatively, after pausing to grope for a cigarette: тАЬMiss BartтАЩs an old friend of yours, I believe? So she told me.тБатАФAh, thanksтБатАФI donтАЩt seem to have one left.тАЭ He lit SeldenтАЩs proffered cigarette, and continued, in his high-pitched drawling tone: тАЬNone of my business, of course, but I didnтАЩt introduce her to the Duchess. Charming woman, the Duchess, you understand; and a very good friend of mine; but rather a liberal education.тАЭ + 

Selden received this in silence, and after a few puffs Lord Hubert broke out again: тАЬSort of thing one canтАЩt communicate to the young ladyтБатАФthough young ladies nowadays are so competent to judge for themselves; but in this caseтБатАФIтАЩm an old friend too, you knowтБатАКтБатАж and there seemed no one else to speak to. The whole situationтАЩs a little mixed, as I see itтБатАФbut there used to be an aunt somewhere, a diffuse and innocent person, who was great at bridging over chasms she didnтАЩt seeтБатАКтБатАж Ah, in New York, is she? Pity New YorkтАЩs such a long way off!тАЭ + 

II + 

Miss Bart, emerging late the next morning from her cabin, found herself alone on the deck of the Sabrina. + 

The cushioned chairs, disposed expectantly under the wide awning, showed no signs of recent occupancy, and she presently learned from a steward that Mrs.┬аDorset had not yet appeared, and that the gentlemenтБатАФseparatelyтБатАФhad gone ashore as soon as they had breakfasted. Supplied with these facts, Lily leaned awhile over the side, giving herself up to a leisurely enjoyment of the spectacle before her. Unclouded sunlight enveloped sea and shore in a bath of purest radiancy. The purpling waters drew a sharp white line of foam at the base of the shore; against its irregular eminences, hotels and villas flashed from the greyish verdure of olive and eucalyptus; and the background of bare and finely-pencilled mountains quivered in a pale intensity of light. + 

How beautiful it wasтБатАФand how she loved beauty! She had always felt that her sensibility in this direction made up for certain obtusenesses of feeling of which she was less proud; and during the last three months she had indulged it passionately. The DorsetsтАЩ invitation to go abroad with them had come as an almost miraculous release from crushing difficulties; and her faculty for renewing herself in new scenes, and casting off problems of conduct as easily as the surroundings in which they had arisen, made the mere change from one place to another seem, not merely a postponement, but a solution of her troubles. Moral complications existed for her only in the environment that had produced them; she did not mean to slight or ignore them, but they lost their reality when they changed their background. She could not have remained in New York without repaying the money she owed to Trenor; to acquit herself of that odious debt she might even have faced a marriage with Rosedale; but the accident of placing the Atlantic between herself and her obligations made them dwindle out of sight as if they had been milestones and she had travelled past them. + 

Her two months on the Sabrina had been especially calculated to aid this illusion of distance. She had been plunged into new scenes, and had found in them a renewal of old hopes and ambitions. The cruise itself charmed her as a romantic adventure. She was vaguely touched by the names and scenes amid which she moved, and had listened to Ned Silverton reading Theocritus by moonlight, as the yacht rounded the Sicilian promontories, with a thrill of the nerves that confirmed her belief in her intellectual superiority. But the weeks at Cannes and Nice had really given her more pleasure. The gratification of being welcomed in high company, and of making her own ascendency felt there, so that she found herself figuring once more as the тАЬbeautiful Miss BartтАЭ in the interesting journal devoted to recording the least movements of her cosmopolitan companionsтБатАФall these experiences tended to throw into the extreme background of memory the prosaic and sordid difficulties from which she had escaped. + 

If she was faintly aware of fresh difficulties ahead, she was sure of her ability to meet them: it was characteristic of her to feel that the only problems she could not solve were those with which she was familiar. Meanwhile she could honestly be proud of the skill with which she had adapted herself to somewhat delicate conditions. She had reason to think that she had made herself equally necessary to her host and hostess; and if only she had seen any perfectly irreproachable means of drawing a financial profit from the situation, there would have been no cloud on her horizon. The truth was that her funds, as usual, were inconveniently low; and to neither Dorset nor his wife could this vulgar embarrassment be safely hinted. Still, the need was not a pressing one; she could worry along, as she had so often done before, with the hope of some happy change of fortune to sustain her; and meanwhile life was gay and beautiful and easy, and she was conscious of figuring not unworthily in such a setting. + 

She was engaged to breakfast that morning with the Duchess of Beltshire, and at twelve oтАЩclock she asked to be set ashore in the gig. Before this she had sent her maid to enquire if she might see Mrs.┬аDorset; but the reply came back that the latter was tired, and trying to sleep. Lily thought she understood the reason of the rebuff. Her hostess had not been included in the DuchessтАЩs invitation, though she herself had made the most loyal efforts in that direction. But her grace was impervious to hints, and invited or omitted as she chose. It was not LilyтАЩs fault if Mrs.┬аDorsetтАЩs complicated attitudes did not fall in with the DuchessтАЩs easy gait. The Duchess, who seldom explained herself, had not formulated her objection beyond saying: тАЬSheтАЩs rather a bore, you know. The only one of your friends I like is that little Mr.┬аBryтБатАФheтАЩs funnyтБатАФтАЭ but Lily knew enough not to press the point, and was not altogether sorry to be thus distinguished at her friendтАЩs expense. Bertha certainly had grown tiresome since she had taken to poetry and Ned Silverton. + 

On the whole, it was a relief to break away now and then from the Sabrina; and the DuchessтАЩs little breakfast, organized by Lord Hubert with all his usual virtuosity, was the pleasanter to Lily for not including her travelling-companions. Dorset, of late, had grown more than usually morose and incalculable, and Ned Silverton went about with an air that seemed to challenge the universe. The freedom and lightness of the ducal intercourse made an agreeable change from these complications, and Lily was tempted, after luncheon, to adjourn in the wake of her companions to the hectic atmosphere of the Casino. She did not mean to play; her diminished pocket-money offered small scope for the adventure; but it amused her to sit on a divan, under the doubtful protection of the DuchessтАЩs back, while the latter hung above her stakes at a neighbouring table. + 

The rooms were packed with the gazing throng which, in the afternoon hours, trickles heavily between the tables, like the Sunday crowd in a lion-house. In the stagnant flow of the mass, identities were hardly distinguishable; but Lily presently saw Mrs.┬аBry cleaving her determined way through the doors, and, in the broad wake she left, the light figure of Mrs.┬аFisher bobbing after her like a rowboat at the stern of a tug. Mrs.┬аBry pressed on, evidently animated by the resolve to reach a certain point in the rooms; but Mrs.┬аFisher, as she passed Lily, broke from her towing-line, and let herself float to the girlтАЩs side. + 

тАЬLose her?тАЭ she echoed the latterтАЩs query, with an indifferent glance at Mrs.┬аBryтАЩs retreating back. тАЬI daresayтБатАФit doesnтАЩt matter: I have lost her already.тАЭ And, as Lily exclaimed, she added: тАЬWe had an awful row this morning. You know, of course, that the Duchess chucked her at dinner last night, and she thinks it was my faultтБатАФmy want of management. The worst of it is, the messageтБатАФjust a mere word by telephoneтБатАФcame so late that the dinner had to be paid for; and B├йcassin had run it upтБатАФit had been so drummed into him that the Duchess was coming!тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher indulged in a faint laugh at the remembrance. тАЬPaying for what she doesnтАЩt get rankles so dreadfully with Louisa: I canтАЩt make her see that itтАЩs one of the preliminary steps to getting what you havenтАЩt paid forтБатАФand as I was the nearest thing to smash, she smashed me to atoms, poor dear!тАЭ + 

Lily murmured her commiseration. Impulses of sympathy came naturally to her, and it was instinctive to proffer her help to Mrs.┬аFisher. + 

тАЬIf thereтАЩs anything I can doтБатАФif itтАЩs only a question of meeting the Duchess! I heard her say she thought Mr.┬аBry amusingтБатАФтАЭ + 

But Mrs.┬аFisher interposed with a decisive gesture. тАЬMy dear, I have my pride: the pride of my trade. I couldnтАЩt manage the Duchess, and I canтАЩt palm off your arts on Louisa Bry as mine. IтАЩve taken the final step: I go to Paris tonight with the Sam Gormers. TheyтАЩre still in the elementary stage; an Italian Prince is a great deal more than a Prince to them, and theyтАЩre always on the brink of taking a courier for one. To save them from that is my present mission.тАЭ She laughed again at the picture. тАЬBut before I go I want to make my last will and testamentтБатАФI want to leave you the Brys.тАЭ + 

тАЬMe?тАЭ Miss Bart joined in her amusement. тАЬItтАЩs charming of you to remember me, dear; but reallyтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬYouтАЩre already so well provided for?тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher flashed a sharp glance at her. тАЬAre you, though, LilyтБатАФto the point of rejecting my offer?тАЭ + 

Miss Bart coloured slowly. тАЬWhat I really meant was, that the Brys wouldnтАЩt in the least care to be so disposed of.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аFisher continued to probe her embarrassment with an unflinching eye. тАЬWhat you really meant was that youтАЩve snubbed the Brys horribly; and you know that they knowтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬCarry!тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, on certain sides Louisa bristles with perceptions. If youтАЩd even managed to have them asked once on the SabrinaтБатАФespecially when royalties were coming! But itтАЩs not too late,тАЭ she ended earnestly, тАЬitтАЩs not too late for either of you.тАЭ + 

Lily smiled. тАЬStay over, and IтАЩll get the Duchess to dine with them.тАЭ + 

тАЬI shanтАЩt stay overтБатАФthe Gormers have paid for my salon-lit,тАЭ said Mrs.┬аFisher with simplicity. тАЬBut get the Duchess to dine with them all the same.тАЭ + 

LilyтАЩs smile again flowed into a slight laugh: her friendтАЩs importunity was beginning to strike her as irrelevant. тАЬIтАЩm sorry I have been negligent about the BrysтБатАФтАЭ she began. + 

тАЬOh, as to the BrysтБатАФitтАЩs you IтАЩm thinking of,тАЭ said Mrs.┬аFisher abruptly. She paused, and then, bending forward, with a lowered voice: тАЬYou know we all went on to Nice last night when the Duchess chucked us. It was LouisaтАЩs ideaтБатАФI told her what I thought of it.тАЭ + 

Miss Bart assented. тАЬYesтБатАФI caught sight of you on the way back, at the station.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, the man who was in the carriage with you and George DorsetтБатАФthat horrid little Dabham who does тАШSociety Notes from the RivieraтАЩтБатАФhad been dining with us at Nice. And heтАЩs telling everybody that you and Dorset came back alone after midnight.тАЭ + 

тАЬAloneтБатАФ? When he was with us?тАЭ Lily laughed, but her laugh faded into gravity under the prolonged implication of Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs look. тАЬWe did come back aloneтБатАФif thatтАЩs so very dreadful! But whose fault was it? The Duchess was spending the night at Cimiez with the Crown Princess; Bertha got bored with the show, and went off early, promising to meet us at the station. We turned up on time, but she didnтАЩtтБатАФshe didnтАЩt turn up at all!тАЭ + 

Miss Bart made this announcement in the tone of one who presents, with careless assurance, a complete vindication; but Mrs.┬аFisher received it in a manner almost inconsequent. She seemed to have lost sight of her friendтАЩs part in the incident: her inward vision had taken another slant. + 

тАЬBertha never turned up at all? Then how on earth did she get back?тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, by the next train, I suppose; there were two extra ones for the f├кte. At any rate, I know sheтАЩs safe on the yacht, though I havenтАЩt yet seen her; but you see it was not my fault,тАЭ Lily summed up. + 

тАЬNot your fault that Bertha didnтАЩt turn up? My poor child, if only you donтАЩt have to pay for it!тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher roseтБатАФshe had seen Mrs.┬аBry surging back in her direction. тАЬThereтАЩs Louisa, and I must be offтБатАФoh, weтАЩre on the best of terms externally; weтАЩre lunching together; but at heart itтАЩs me sheтАЩs lunching on,тАЭ she explained; and with a last handclasp and a last look, she added: тАЬRemember, I leave her to you; sheтАЩs hovering now, ready to take you in.тАЭ + 

Lily carried the impression of Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs leave-taking away with her from the Casino doors. She had accomplished, before leaving, the first step toward her reinstatement in Mrs.┬аBryтАЩs good graces. An affable advanceтБатАФa vague murmur that they must see more of each otherтБатАФan allusive glance to a near future that was felt to include the Duchess as well as the SabrinaтБатАФhow easily it was all done, if one possessed the knack of doing it! She wondered at herself, as she had so often wondered, that, possessing the knack, she did not more consistently exercise it. But sometimes she was forgetfulтБатАФand sometimes, could it be that she was proud? Today, at any rate, she had been vaguely conscious of a reason for sinking her pride, had in fact even sunk it to the point of suggesting to Lord Hubert Dacey, whom she ran across on the Casino steps, that he might really get the Duchess to dine with the Brys, if she undertook to have them asked on the Sabrina. Lord Hubert had promised his help, with the readiness on which she could always count: it was his only way of ever reminding her that he had once been ready to do so much more for her. Her path, in short, seemed to smooth itself before her as she advanced; yet the faint stir of uneasiness persisted. Had it been produced, she wondered, by her chance meeting with Selden? She thought notтБатАФtime and change seemed so completely to have relegated him to his proper distance. The sudden and exquisite reaction from her anxieties had had the effect of throwing the recent past so far back that even Selden, as part of it, retained a certain air of unreality. And he had made it so clear that they were not to meet again; that he had merely dropped down to Nice for a day or two, and had almost his foot on the next steamer. NoтБатАФthat part of the past had merely surged up for a moment on the fleeing surface of events; and now that it was submerged again, the uncertainty, the apprehension persisted. + 

They grew to sudden acuteness as she caught sight of George Dorset descending the steps of the Hotel de Paris and making for her across the square. She had meant to drive down to the quay and regain the yacht; but she now had the immediate impression that something more was to happen first. + 

тАЬWhich way are you going? Shall we walk a bit?тАЭ he began, putting the second question before the first was answered, and not waiting for a reply to either before he directed her silently toward the comparative seclusion of the lower gardens. + 

She detected in him at once all the signs of extreme nervous tension. The skin was puffed out under his sunken eyes, and its sallowness had paled to a leaden white against which his irregular eyebrows and long reddish moustache were relieved with a saturnine effect. His appearance, in short, presented an odd mixture of the bedraggled and the ferocious. + 

He walked beside her in silence, with quick precipitate steps, till they reached the embowered slopes to the east of the Casino; then, pulling up abruptly, he said: тАЬHave you seen Bertha?тАЭ + 

тАЬNoтБатАФwhen I left the yacht she was not yet up.тАЭ + 

He received this with a laugh like the whirring sound in a disabled clock. тАЬNot yet up? Had she gone to bed? Do you know at what time she came on board? This morning at seven!тАЭ he exclaimed. + 

тАЬAt seven?тАЭ Lily started. тАЬWhat happenedтБатАФan accident to the train?тАЭ + 

He laughed again. тАЬThey missed the trainтБатАФall the trainsтБатАФthey had to drive back.тАЭ + 

тАЬWellтБатАФ?тАЭ She hesitated, feeling at once how little even this necessity accounted for the fatal lapse of hours. + 

тАЬWell, they couldnтАЩt get a carriage at onceтБатАФat that time of night, you knowтБатАФтАЭ the explanatory note made it almost seem as though he were putting the case for his wifeтБатАФтАЬand when they finally did, it was only a one-horse cab, and the horse was lame!тАЭ + 

тАЬHow tiresome! I see,тАЭ she affirmed, with the more earnestness because she was so nervously conscious that she did not; and after a pause she added: тАЬIтАЩm so sorryтБатАФbut ought we to have waited?тАЭ + 

тАЬWaited for the one-horse cab? It would scarcely have carried the four of us, do you think?тАЭ + 

She took this in what seemed the only possible way, with a laugh intended to sink the question itself in his humorous treatment of it. тАЬWell, it would have been difficult; we should have had to walk by turns. But it would have been jolly to see the sunrise.тАЭ + 

тАЬYes: the sunrise was jolly,тАЭ he agreed. + 

тАЬWas it? You saw it, then?тАЭ + 

тАЬI saw it, yes; from the deck. I waited up for them.тАЭ + 

тАЬNaturallyтБатАФI suppose you were worried. Why didnтАЩt you call on me to share your vigil?тАЭ + 

He stood still, dragging at his moustache with a lean weak hand. тАЬI donтАЩt think you would have cared for its denouement,тАЭ he said with sudden grimness. + 

Again she was disconcerted by the abrupt change in his tone, and as in one flash she saw the peril of the moment, and the need of keeping her sense of it out of her eyes. + 

тАЬтАКтАШDenouementтАЩтБатАФisnтАЩt that too big a word for such a small incident? The worst of it, after all, is the fatigue which Bertha has probably slept off by this time.тАЭ + 

She clung to the note bravely, though its futility was now plain to her in the glare of his miserable eyes. + 

тАЬDonтАЩtтБатАФdonтАЩtтБатАФ!тАЭ he broke out, with the hurt cry of a child; and while she tried to merge her sympathy, and her resolve to ignore any cause for it, in one ambiguous murmur of deprecation, he dropped down on the bench near which they had paused, and poured out the wretchedness of his soul. + 

It was a dreadful hourтБатАФan hour from which she emerged shrinking and seared, as though her lids had been scorched by its actual glare. It was not that she had never had premonitory glimpses of such an outbreak; but rather because, here and there throughout the three months, the surface of life had shown such ominous cracks and vapours that her fears had always been on the alert for an upheaval. There had been moments when the situation had presented itself under a homelier yet more vivid imageтБатАФthat of a shaky vehicle, dashed by unbroken steeds over a bumping road, while she cowered within, aware that the harness wanted mending, and wondering what would give way first. WellтБатАФeverything had given way now; and the wonder was that the crazy outfit had held together so long. Her sense of being involved in the crash, instead of merely witnessing it from the road, was intensified by the way in which Dorset, through his furies of denunciation and wild reactions of self-contempt, made her feel the need he had of her, the place she had taken in his life. But for her, what ear would have been open to his cries? And what hand but hers could drag him up again to a footing of sanity and self-respect? All through the stress of the struggle with him, she had been conscious of something faintly maternal in her efforts to guide and uplift him. But for the present, if he clung to her, it was not in order to be dragged up, but to feel someone floundering in the depths with him: he wanted her to suffer with him, not to help him to suffer less. + 

Happily for both, there was little physical strength to sustain his frenzy. It left him, collapsed and breathing heavily, to an apathy so deep and prolonged that Lily almost feared the passersby would think it the result of a seizure, and stop to offer their aid. But Monte Carlo is, of all places, the one where the human bond is least close, and odd sights are the least arresting. If a glance or two lingered on the couple, no intrusive sympathy disturbed them; and it was Lily herself who broke the silence by rising from her seat. With the clearing of her vision the sweep of peril had extended, and she saw that the post of danger was no longer at DorsetтАЩs side. + 

тАЬIf you wonтАЩt go back, I mustтБатАФdonтАЩt make me leave you!тАЭ she urged. + 

But he remained mutely resistant, and she added: тАЬWhat are you going to do? You really canтАЩt sit here all night.тАЭ + 

тАЬI can go to an hotel. I can telegraph my lawyers.тАЭ He sat up, roused by a new thought. тАЬBy Jove, SeldenтАЩs at NiceтБатАФIтАЩll send for Selden!тАЭ + 

Lily, at this, reseated herself with a cry of alarm. тАЬNo, no, no!тАЭ she protested. + 

He swung round on her distrustfully. тАЬWhy not Selden? HeтАЩs a lawyer isnтАЩt he? One will do as well as another in a case like this.тАЭ + 

тАЬAs badly as another, you mean. I thought you relied on me to help you.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou doтБатАФby being so sweet and patient with me. If it hadnтАЩt been for you IтАЩd have ended the thing long ago. But now itтАЩs got to end.тАЭ He rose suddenly, straightening himself with an effort. тАЬYou canтАЩt want to see me ridiculous.тАЭ + 

She looked at him kindly. тАЬThatтАЩs just it.тАЭ Then, after a momentтАЩs pondering, almost to her own surprise she broke out with a flash of inspiration: тАЬWell, go over and see Mr.┬аSelden. YouтАЩll have time to do it before dinner.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, dinnerтБатАФтАЭ he mocked her; but she left him with the smiling rejoinder: тАЬDinner on board, remember; weтАЩll put it off till nine if you like.тАЭ + 

It was past four already; and when a cab had dropped her at the quay, and she stood waiting for the gig to put off for her, she began to wonder what had been happening on the yacht. Of SilvertonтАЩs whereabouts there had been no mention. Had he returned to the Sabrina? Or could BerthaтБатАФthe dread alternative sprang on her suddenlyтБатАФcould Bertha, left to herself, have gone ashore to rejoin him? LilyтАЩs heart stood still at the thought. All her concern had hitherto been for young Silverton, not only because, in such affairs, the womanтАЩs instinct is to side with the man, but because his case made a peculiar appeal to her sympathies. He was so desperately in earnest, poor youth, and his earnestness was of so different a quality from BerthaтАЩs, though hers too was desperate enough. The difference was that Bertha was in earnest only about herself, while he was in earnest about her. But now, at the actual crisis, this difference seemed to throw the weight of destitution on BerthaтАЩs side, since at least he had her to suffer for, and she had only herself. At any rate, viewed less ideally, all the disadvantages of such a situation were for the woman; and it was to Bertha that LilyтАЩs sympathies now went out. She was not fond of Bertha Dorset, but neither was she without a sense of obligation, the heavier for having so little personal liking to sustain it. Bertha had been kind to her, they had lived together, during the last months, on terms of easy friendship, and the sense of friction of which Lily had recently become aware seemed to make it the more urgent that she should work undividedly in her friendтАЩs interest. + 

It was in BerthaтАЩs interest, certainly, that she had despatched Dorset to consult with Lawrence Selden. Once the grotesqueness of the situation accepted, she had seen at a glance that it was the safest in which Dorset could find himself. Who but Selden could thus miraculously combine the skill to save Bertha with the obligation of doing so? The consciousness that much skill would be required made Lily rest thankfully in the greatness of the obligation. Since he would have to pull Bertha through she could trust him to find a way; and she put the fullness of her trust in the telegram she managed to send him on her way to the quay. + 

Thus far, then, Lily felt that she had done well; and the conviction strengthened her for the task that remained. She and Bertha had never been on confidential terms, but at such a crisis the barriers of reserve must surely fall: DorsetтАЩs wild allusions to the scene of the morning made Lily feel that they were down already, and that any attempt to rebuild them would be beyond BerthaтАЩs strength. She pictured the poor creature shivering behind her fallen defences and awaiting with suspense the moment when she could take refuge in the first shelter that offered. If only that shelter had not already offered itself elsewhere! As the gig traversed the short distance between the quay and the yacht, Lily grew more than ever alarmed at the possible consequences of her long absence. What if the wretched Bertha, finding in all the long hours no soul to turn toтБатАФbut by this time LilyтАЩs eager foot was on the side-ladder, and her first step on the Sabrina showed the worst of her apprehensions to be unfounded; for there, in the luxurious shade of the afterdeck, the wretched Bertha, in full command of her usual attenuated elegance, sat dispensing tea to the Duchess of Beltshire and Lord Hubert. + 

The sight filled Lily with such surprise that she felt that Bertha, at least, must read its meaning in her look, and she was proportionately disconcerted by the blankness of the look returned. But in an instant she saw that Mrs.┬аDorset had, of necessity, to look blank before the others, and that, to mitigate the effect of her own surprise, she must at once produce some simple reason for it. The long habit of rapid transitions made it easy for her to exclaim to the Duchess: тАЬWhy, I thought youтАЩd gone back to the Princess!тАЭ and this sufficed for the lady she addressed, if it was hardly enough for Lord Hubert. + 

At least it opened the way to a lively explanation of how the Duchess was, in fact, going back the next moment, but had first rushed out to the yacht for a word with Mrs.┬аDorset on the subject of tomorrowтАЩs dinnerтБатАФthe dinner with the Brys, to which Lord Hubert had finally insisted on dragging them. + 

тАЬTo save my neck, you know!тАЭ he explained, with a glance that appealed to Lily for some recognition of his promptness; and the Duchess added, with her noble candour: тАЬMr.┬аBry has promised him a tip, and he says if we go heтАЩll pass it onto us.тАЭ + 

This led to some final pleasantries, in which, as it seemed to Lily, Mrs.┬аDorset bore her part with astounding bravery, and at the close of which Lord Hubert, from halfway down the side-ladder, called back, with an air of numbering heads: тАЬAnd of course we may count on Dorset too?тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, count on him,тАЭ his wife assented gaily. She was keeping up well to the lastтБатАФbut as she turned back from waving her adieux over the side, Lily said to herself that the mask must drop and the soul of fear look out. + 

Mrs.┬аDorset turned back slowly; perhaps she wanted time to steady her muscles; at any rate, they were still under perfect control when, dropping once more into her seat behind the tea-table, she remarked to Miss Bart with a faint touch of irony: тАЬI suppose I ought to say good morning.тАЭ + 

If it was a cue, Lily was ready to take it, though with only the vaguest sense of what was expected of her in return. There was something unnerving in the contemplation of Mrs.┬аDorsetтАЩs composure, and she had to force the light tone in which she answered: тАЬI tried to see you this morning, but you were not yet up.тАЭ + 

тАЬNoтБатАФI got to bed late. After we missed you at the station I thought we ought to wait for you till the last train.тАЭ She spoke very gently, but with just the least tinge of reproach. + 

тАЬYou missed us? You waited for us at the station?тАЭ Now indeed Lily was too far adrift in bewilderment to measure the otherтАЩs words or keep watch on her own. тАЬBut I thought you didnтАЩt get to the station till after the last train had left!тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аDorset, examining her between lowered lids, met this with the immediate query: тАЬWho told you that?тАЭ + 

тАЬGeorgeтБатАФI saw him just now in the gardens.тАЭ + 

тАЬAh, is that GeorgeтАЩs version? Poor GeorgeтБатАФhe was in no state to remember what I told him. He had one of his worst attacks this morning, and I packed him off to see the doctor. Do you know if he found him?тАЭ + 

Lily, still lost in conjecture, made no reply, and Mrs.┬аDorset settled herself indolently in her seat. тАЬHeтАЩll wait to see him; he was horribly frightened about himself. ItтАЩs very bad for him to be worried, and whenever anything upsetting happens, it always brings on an attack.тАЭ + 

This time Lily felt sure that a cue was being pressed on her; but it was put forth with such startling suddenness, and with so incredible an air of ignoring what it led up to, that she could only falter out doubtfully: тАЬAnything upsetting?тАЭ + 

тАЬYesтБатАФsuch as having you so conspicuously on his hands in the small hours. You know, my dear, youтАЩre rather a big responsibility in such a scandalous place after midnight.тАЭ + 

At thatтБатАФat the complete unexpectedness and the inconceivable audacity of itтБатАФLily could not restrain the tribute of an astonished laugh. + 

тАЬWell, reallyтБатАФconsidering it was you who burdened him with the responsibility!тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аDorset took this with an exquisite mildness. тАЬBy not having the superhuman cleverness to discover you in that frightful rush for the train? Or the imagination to believe that youтАЩd take it without usтБатАФyou and he all aloneтБатАФinstead of waiting quietly in the station till we did manage to meet you?тАЭ + 

LilyтАЩs colour rose: it was growing clear to her that Bertha was pursuing an object, following a line she had marked out for herself. Only, with such a doom impending, why waste time in these childish efforts to avert it? The puerility of the attempt disarmed LilyтАЩs indignation: did it not prove how horribly the poor creature was frightened? + 

тАЬNo; by our simply all keeping together at Nice,тАЭ she returned. + 

тАЬKeeping together? When it was you who seized the first opportunity to rush off with the Duchess and her friends? My dear Lily, you are not a child to be led by the hand!тАЭ + 

тАЬNoтБатАФnor to be lectured, Bertha, really; if thatтАЩs what you are doing to me now.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аDorset smiled on her reproachfully. тАЬLecture youтБатАФI? Heaven forbid! I was merely trying to give you a friendly hint. But itтАЩs usually the other way round, isnтАЩt it? IтАЩm expected to take hints, not to give them: IтАЩve positively lived on them all these last months.тАЭ + 

тАЬHintsтБатАФfrom me to you?тАЭ Lily repeated. + 

тАЬOh, negative ones merelyтБатАФwhat not to be and to do and to see. And I think IтАЩve taken them to admiration. Only, my dear, if youтАЩll let me say so, I didnтАЩt understand that one of my negative duties was not to warn you when you carried your imprudence too far.тАЭ + 

A chill of fear passed over Miss Bart: a sense of remembered treachery that was like the gleam of a knife in the dusk. But compassion, in a moment, got the better of her instinctive recoil. What was this outpouring of senseless bitterness but the tracked creatureтАЩs attempt to cloud the medium through which it was fleeing? It was on LilyтАЩs lips to exclaim: тАЬYou poor soul, donтАЩt double and turnтБатАФcome straight back to me, and weтАЩll find a way out!тАЭ But the words died under the impenetrable insolence of BerthaтАЩs smile. Lily sat silent, taking the brunt of it quietly, letting it spend itself on her to the last drop of its accumulated falseness; then, without a word, she rose and went down to her cabin. + 

III + 

Miss BartтАЩs telegram caught Lawrence Selden at the door of his hotel; and having read it, he turned back to wait for Dorset. The message necessarily left large gaps for conjecture; but all that he had recently heard and seen made these but too easy to fill in. On the whole he was surprised; for though he had perceived that the situation contained all the elements of an explosion, he had often enough, in the range of his personal experience, seen just such combinations subside into harmlessness. Still, DorsetтАЩs spasmodic temper, and his wifeтАЩs reckless disregard of appearances, gave the situation a peculiar insecurity; and it was less from the sense of any special relation to the case than from a purely professional zeal, that Selden resolved to guide the pair to safety. Whether, in the present instance, safety for either lay in repairing so damaged a tie, it was no business of his to consider: he had only, on general principles, to think of averting a scandal, and his desire to avert it was increased by his fear of its involving Miss Bart. There was nothing specific in this apprehension; he merely wished to spare her the embarrassment of being ever so remotely connected with the public washing of the Dorset linen. + 

How exhaustive and unpleasant such a process would be, he saw even more vividly after his two hoursтАЩ talk with poor Dorset. If anything came out at all, it would be such a vast unpacking of accumulated moral rags as left him, after his visitor had gone, with the feeling that he must fling open the windows and have his room swept out. But nothing should come out; and happily for his side of the case, the dirty rags, however pieced together, could not, without considerable difficulty, be turned into a homogeneous grievance. The torn edges did not always fitтБатАФthere were missing bits, there were disparities of size and colour, all of which it was naturally SeldenтАЩs business to make the most of in putting them under his clientтАЩs eye. But to a man in DorsetтАЩs mood the completest demonstration could not carry conviction, and Selden saw that for the moment all he could do was to soothe and temporize, to offer sympathy and to counsel prudence. He let Dorset depart charged to the brim with the sense that, till their next meeting, he must maintain a strictly noncommittal attitude; that, in short, his share in the game consisted for the present in looking on. Selden knew, however, that he could not long keep such violences in equilibrium; and he promised to meet Dorset, the next morning, at an hotel in Monte Carlo. Meanwhile he counted not a little on the reaction of weakness and self-distrust that, in such natures, follows on every unwonted expenditure of moral force; and his telegraphic reply to Miss Bart consisted simply in the injunction: тАЬAssume that everything is as usual.тАЭ + 

On this assumption, in fact, the early part of the following day was lived through. Dorset, as if in obedience to LilyтАЩs imperative bidding, had actually returned in time for a late dinner on the yacht. The repast had been the most difficult moment of the day. Dorset was sunk in one of the abysmal silences which so commonly followed on what his wife called his тАЬattacksтАЭ that it was easy, before the servants, to refer it to this cause; but Bertha herself seemed, perversely enough, little disposed to make use of this obvious means of protection. She simply left the brunt of the situation on her husbandтАЩs hands, as if too absorbed in a grievance of her own to suspect that she might be the object of one herself. To Lily this attitude was the most ominous, because the most perplexing, element in the situation. As she tried to fan the weak flicker of talk, to build up, again and again, the crumbling structure of тАЬappearances,тАЭ her own attention was perpetually distracted by the question: тАЬWhat on earth can she be driving at?тАЭ There was something positively exasperating in BerthaтАЩs attitude of isolated defiance. If only she would have given her friend a hint they might still have worked together successfully; but how could Lily be of use, while she was thus obstinately shut out from participation? To be of use was what she honestly wanted; and not for her own sake but for the DorsetsтАЩ. She had not thought of her own situation at all: she was simply engrossed in trying to put a little order in theirs. But the close of the short dreary evening left her with a sense of effort hopelessly wasted. She had not tried to see Dorset alone: she had positively shrunk from a renewal of his confidences. It was Bertha whose confidence she sought, and who should as eagerly have invited her own; and Bertha, as if in the infatuation of self-destruction, was actually pushing away her rescuing hand. + 

Lily, going to bed early, had left the couple to themselves; and it seemed part of the general mystery in which she moved that more than an hour should elapse before she heard Bertha walk down the silent passage and regain her room. The morrow, rising on an apparent continuance of the same conditions, revealed nothing of what had occurred between the confronted pair. One fact alone outwardly proclaimed the change they were all conspiring to ignore; and that was the nonappearance of Ned Silverton. No one referred to it, and this tacit avoidance of the subject kept it in the immediate foreground of consciousness. But there was another change, perceptible only to Lily; and that was that Dorset now avoided her almost as pointedly as his wife. Perhaps he was repenting his rash outpourings of the previous day; perhaps only trying, in his clumsy way, to conform to SeldenтАЩs counsel to behave тАЬas usual.тАЭ Such instructions no more make for easiness of attitude than the photographerтАЩs behest to тАЬlook naturalтАЭ; and in a creature as unconscious as poor Dorset of the appearance he habitually presented, the struggle to maintain a pose was sure to result in queer contortions. + 

It resulted, at any rate, in throwing Lily strangely on her own resources. She had learned, on leaving her room, that Mrs.┬аDorset was still invisible, and that Dorset had left the yacht early; and feeling too restless to remain alone, she too had herself ferried ashore. Straying toward the Casino, she attached herself to a group of acquaintances from Nice, with whom she lunched, and in whose company she was returning to the rooms when she encountered Selden crossing the square. She could not, at the moment, separate herself definitely from her party, who had hospitably assumed that she would remain with them till they took their departure; but she found time for a momentary pause of enquiry, to which he promptly returned: тАЬIтАЩve seen him againтБатАФheтАЩs just left me.тАЭ + 

She waited before him anxiously. тАЬWell? what has happened? What will happen?тАЭ + 

тАЬNothing as yetтБатАФand nothing in the future, I think.тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩs over, then? ItтАЩs settled? YouтАЩre sure?тАЭ + 

He smiled. тАЬGive me time. IтАЩm not sureтБатАФbut IтАЩm a good deal surer.тАЭ And with that she had to content herself, and hasten on to the expectant group on the steps. + 

Selden had in fact given her the utmost measure of his sureness, had even stretched it a shade to meet the anxiety in her eyes. And now, as he turned away, strolling down the hill toward the station, that anxiety remained with him as the visible justification of his own. It was not, indeed, anything specific that he feared: there had been a literal truth in his declaration that he did not think anything would happen. What troubled him was that, though DorsetтАЩs attitude had perceptibly changed, the change was not clearly to be accounted for. It had certainly not been produced by SeldenтАЩs arguments, or by the action of his own soberer reason. Five minutesтАЩ talk sufficed to show that some alien influence had been at work, and that it had not so much subdued his resentment as weakened his will, so that he moved under it in a state of apathy, like a dangerous lunatic who has been drugged. Temporarily, no doubt, however exerted, it worked for the general safety: the question was how long it would last, and by what kind of reaction it was likely to be followed. On these points Selden could gain no light; for he saw that one effect of the transformation had been to shut him off from free communion with Dorset. The latter, indeed, was still moved by the irresistible desire to discuss his wrong; but, though he revolved about it with the same forlorn tenacity, Selden was aware that something always restrained him from full expression. His state was one to produce first weariness and then impatience in his hearer; and when their talk was over, Selden began to feel that he had done his utmost, and might justifiably wash his hands of the sequel. + 

It was in this mind that he had been making his way back to the station when Miss Bart crossed his path; but though, after his brief word with her, he kept mechanically on his course, he was conscious of a gradual change in his purpose. The change had been produced by the look in her eyes; and in his eagerness to define the nature of that look, he dropped into a seat in the gardens, and sat brooding upon the question. It was natural enough, in all conscience, that she should appear anxious: a young woman placed, in the close intimacy of a yachting-cruise, between a couple on the verge of disaster, could hardly, aside from her concern for her friends, be insensible to the awkwardness of her own position. The worst of it was that, in interpreting Miss BartтАЩs state of mind, so many alternative readings were possible; and one of these, in SeldenтАЩs troubled mind, took the ugly form suggested by Mrs.┬аFisher. If the girl was afraid, was she afraid for herself or for her friends? And to what degree was her dread of a catastrophe intensified by the sense of being fatally involved in it? The burden of offence lying manifestly with Mrs.┬аDorset, this conjecture seemed on the face of it gratuitously unkind; but Selden knew that in the most one-sided matrimonial quarrel there are generally counter-charges to be brought, and that they are brought with the greater audacity where the original grievance is so emphatic. Mrs.┬аFisher had not hesitated to suggest the likelihood of DorsetтАЩs marrying Miss Bart if тАЬanything happenedтАЭ; and though Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs conclusions were notoriously rash, she was shrewd enough in reading the signs from which they were drawn. Dorset had apparently shown marked interest in the girl, and this interest might be used to cruel advantage in his wifeтАЩs struggle for rehabilitation. Selden knew that Bertha would fight to the last round of powder: the rashness of her conduct was illogically combined with a cold determination to escape its consequences. She could be as unscrupulous in fighting for herself as she was reckless in courting danger, and whatever came to her hand at such moments was likely to be used as a defensive missile. He did not, as yet, see clearly just what course she was likely to take, but his perplexity increased his apprehension, and with it the sense that, before leaving, he must speak again with Miss Bart. Whatever her share in the situationтБатАФand he had always honestly tried to resist judging her by her surroundingsтБатАФhowever free she might be from any personal connection with it, she would be better out of the way of a possible crash; and since she had appealed to him for help, it was clearly his business to tell her so. + 

This decision at last brought him to his feet, and carried him back to the gambling rooms, within whose doors he had seen her disappearing; but a prolonged exploration of the crowd failed to put him on her traces. He saw instead, to his surprise, Ned Silverton loitering somewhat ostentatiously about the tables; and the discovery that this actor in the drama was not only hovering in the wings, but actually inviting the exposure of the footlights, though it might have seemed to imply that all peril was over, served rather to deepen SeldenтАЩs sense of foreboding. Charged with this impression he returned to the square, hoping to see Miss Bart move across it, as everyone in Monte Carlo seemed inevitably to do at least a dozen times a day; but here again he waited vainly for a glimpse of her, and the conclusion was slowly forced on him that she had gone back to the Sabrina. It would be difficult to follow her there, and still more difficult, should he do so, to contrive the opportunity for a private word; and he had almost decided on the unsatisfactory alternative of writing, when the ceaseless diorama of the square suddenly unrolled before him the figures of Lord Hubert and Mrs.┬аBry. + 

Hailing them at once with his question, he learned from Lord Hubert that Miss Bart had just returned to the Sabrina in DorsetтАЩs company; an announcement so evidently disconcerting to him that Mrs.┬аBry, after a glance from her companion, which seemed to act like the pressure on a spring, brought forth the prompt proposal that he should come and meet his friends at dinner that eveningтБатАФтАЬAt B├йcassinтАЩsтБатАФa little dinner to the Duchess,тАЭ she flashed out before Lord Hubert had time to remove the pressure. + 

SeldenтАЩs sense of the privilege of being included in such company brought him early in the evening to the door of the restaurant, where he paused to scan the ranks of diners approaching down the brightly lit terrace. There, while the Brys hovered within over the last agitating alternatives of the menu, he kept watch for the guests from the Sabrina, who at length rose on the horizon in company with the Duchess, Lord and Lady Skiddaw and the Stepneys. From this group it was easy for him to detach Miss Bart on the pretext of a momentтАЩs glance into one of the brilliant shops along the terrace, and to say to her, while they lingered together in the white dazzle of a jewellerтАЩs window: тАЬI stopped over to see youтБатАФto beg of you to leave the yacht.тАЭ + 

The eyes she turned on him showed a quick gleam of her former fear. тАЬTo leaveтБатАФ? What do you mean? What has happened?тАЭ + 

тАЬNothing. But if anything should, why be in the way of it?тАЭ + 

The glare from the jewellerтАЩs window, deepening the pallor of her face, gave to its delicate lines the sharpness of a tragic mask. тАЬNothing will, I am sure; but while thereтАЩs even a doubt left, how can you think I would leave Bertha?тАЭ + 

The words rang out on a note of contemptтБатАФwas it possibly of contempt for himself? Well, he was willing to risk its renewal to the extent of insisting, with an undeniable throb of added interest: тАЬYou have yourself to think of, you knowтБатАФтАЭ to which, with a strange fall of sadness in her voice, she answered, meeting his eyes: тАЬIf you knew how little difference that makes!тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, well, nothing will happen,тАЭ he said, more for his own reassurance than for hers; and тАЬNothing, nothing, of course!тАЭ she valiantly assented, as they turned to overtake their companions. + 

In the thronged restaurant, taking their places about Mrs.┬аBryтАЩs illuminated board, their confidence seemed to gain support from the familiarity of their surroundings. Here were Dorset and his wife once more presenting their customary faces to the world, she engrossed in establishing her relation with an intensely new gown, he shrinking with dyspeptic dread from the multiplied solicitations of the menu. The mere fact that they thus showed themselves together, with the utmost openness the place afforded, seemed to declare beyond a doubt that their differences were composed. How this end had been attained was still matter for wonder, but it was clear that for the moment Miss Bart rested confidently in the result; and Selden tried to achieve the same view by telling himself that her opportunities for observation had been ampler than his own. + 

Meanwhile, as the dinner advanced through a labyrinth of courses, in which it became clear that Mrs.┬аBry had occasionally broken away from Lord HubertтАЩs restraining hand, SeldenтАЩs general watchfulness began to lose itself in a particular study of Miss Bart. It was one of the days when she was so handsome that to be handsome was enough, and all the restтБатАФher grace, her quickness, her social felicitiesтБатАФseemed the overflow of a bounteous nature. But what especially struck him was the way in which she detached herself, by a hundred undefinable shades, from the persons who most abounded in her own style. It was in just such company, the fine flower and complete expression of the state she aspired to, that the differences came out with special poignancy, her grace cheapening the other womenтАЩs smartness as her finely-discriminated silences made their chatter dull. The strain of the last hours had restored to her face the deeper eloquence which Selden had lately missed in it, and the bravery of her words to him still fluttered in her voice and eyes. Yes, she was matchlessтБатАФit was the one word for her; and he could give his admiration the freer play because so little personal feeling remained in it. His real detachment from her had taken place, not at the lurid moment of disenchantment, but now, in the sober after-light of discrimination, where he saw her definitely divided from him by the crudeness of a choice which seemed to deny the very differences he felt in her. It was before him again in its completenessтБатАФthe choice in which she was content to rest: in the stupid costliness of the food and the showy dullness of the talk, in the freedom of speech which never arrived at wit and the freedom of act which never made for romance. The strident setting of the restaurant, in which their table seemed set apart in a special glare of publicity, and the presence at it of little Dabham of the тАЬRiviera Notes,тАЭ emphasized the ideals of a world where conspicuousness passed for distinction, and the society column had become the roll of fame. + 

It was as the immortalizer of such occasions that little Dabham, wedged in modest watchfulness between two brilliant neighbours, suddenly became the centre of SeldenтАЩs scrutiny. How much did he know of what was going on, and how much, for his purpose, was still worth finding out? His little eyes were like tentacles thrown out to catch the floating intimations with which, to Selden, the air at moments seemed thick; then again it cleared to its normal emptiness, and he could see nothing in it for the journalist but leisure to note the elegance of the ladiesтАЩ gowns. Mrs.┬аDorsetтАЩs, in particular, challenged all the wealth of Mr.┬аDabhamтАЩs vocabulary: it had surprises and subtleties worthy of what he would have called тАЬthe literary style.тАЭ At first, as Selden had noticed, it had been almost too preoccupying to its wearer; but now she was in full command of it, and was even producing her effects with unwonted freedom. Was she not, indeed, too free, too fluent, for perfect naturalness? And was not Dorset, to whom his glance had passed by a natural transition, too jerkily wavering between the same extremes? Dorset indeed was always jerky; but it seemed to Selden that tonight each vibration swung him farther from his centre. + 

The dinner, meanwhile, was moving to its triumphant close, to the evident satisfaction of Mrs.┬аBry, who, throned in apoplectic majesty between Lord Skiddaw and Lord Hubert, seemed in spirit to be calling on Mrs.┬аFisher to witness her achievement. Short of Mrs.┬аFisher her audience might have been called complete; for the restaurant was crowded with persons mainly gathered there for the purpose of spectatorship, and accurately posted as to the names and faces of the celebrities they had come to see. Mrs.┬аBry, conscious that all her feminine guests came under that heading, and that each one looked her part to admiration, shone on Lily with all the pent-up gratitude that Mrs.┬аFisher had failed to deserve. Selden, catching the glance, wondered what part Miss Bart had played in organizing the entertainment. She did, at least, a great deal to adorn it; and as he watched the bright security with which she bore herself, he smiled to think that he should have fancied her in need of help. Never had she appeared more serenely mistress of the situation than when, at the moment of dispersal, detaching herself a little from the group about the table, she turned with a smile and a graceful slant of the shoulders to receive her cloak from Dorset. + 

The dinner had been protracted over Mr.┬аBryтАЩs exceptional cigars and a bewildering array of liqueurs, and many of the other tables were empty; but a sufficient number of diners still lingered to give relief to the leave-taking of Mrs.┬аBryтАЩs distinguished guests. This ceremony was drawn out and complicated by the fact that it involved, on the part of the Duchess and Lady Skiddaw, definite farewells, and pledges of speedy reunion in Paris, where they were to pause and replenish their wardrobes on the way to England. The quality of Mrs.┬аBryтАЩs hospitality, and of the tips her husband had presumably imparted, lent to the manner of the English ladies a general effusiveness which shed the rosiest light over their hostessтАЩs future. In its glow Mrs.┬аDorset and the Stepneys were also visibly included, and the whole scene had touches of intimacy worth their weight in gold to the watchful pen of Mr.┬аDabham. + 

A glance at her watch caused the Duchess to exclaim to her sister that they had just time to dash for their train, and the flurry of this departure over, the Stepneys, who had their motor at the door, offered to convey the Dorsets and Miss Bart to the quay. The offer was accepted, and Mrs.┬аDorset moved away with her husband in attendance. Miss Bart had lingered for a last word with Lord Hubert, and Stepney, on whom Mr.┬аBry was pressing a final, and still more expensive, cigar, called out: тАЬCome on, Lily, if youтАЩre going back to the yacht.тАЭ + 

Lily turned to obey; but as she did so, Mrs.┬аDorset, who had paused on her way out, moved a few steps back toward the table. + 

тАЬMiss Bart is not going back to the yacht,тАЭ she said in a voice of singular distinctness. + 

A startled look ran from eye to eye; Mrs.┬аBry crimsoned to the verge of congestion, Mrs.┬аStepney slipped nervously behind her husband, and Selden, in the general turmoil of his sensations, was mainly conscious of a longing to grip Dabham by the collar and fling him out into the street. + 

Dorset, meanwhile, had stepped back to his wifeтАЩs side. His face was white, and he looked about him with cowed angry eyes. тАЬBertha!тБатАФMiss BartтБатАКтБатАж this is some misunderstandingтБатАКтБатАж some mistakeтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬMiss Bart remains here,тАЭ his wife rejoined incisively. тАЬAnd, I think, George, we had better not detain Mrs.┬аStepney any longer.тАЭ + 

Miss Bart, during this brief exchange of words, remained in admirable erectness, slightly isolated from the embarrassed group about her. She had paled a little under the shock of the insult, but the discomposure of the surrounding faces was not reflected in her own. The faint disdain of her smile seemed to lift her high above her antagonistтАЩs reach, and it was not till she had given Mrs.┬аDorset the full measure of the distance between them that she turned and extended her hand to her hostess. + 

тАЬI am joining the Duchess tomorrow,тАЭ she explained, тАЬand it seemed easier for me to remain on shore for the night.тАЭ + 

She held firmly to Mrs.┬аBryтАЩs wavering eye while she gave this explanation, but when it was over Selden saw her send a tentative glance from one to another of the womenтАЩs faces. She read their incredulity in their averted looks, and in the mute wretchedness of the men behind them, and for a miserable half-second he thought she quivered on the brink of failure. Then, turning to him with an easy gesture, and the pale bravery of her recovered smileтБатАФтАЬDear Mr.┬аSelden,тАЭ she said, тАЬyou promised to see me to my cab.тАЭ + 

Outside, the sky was gusty and overcast, and as Lily and Selden moved toward the deserted gardens below the restaurant, spurts of warm rain blew fitfully against their faces. The fiction of the cab had been tacitly abandoned; they walked on in silence, her hand on his arm, till the deeper shade of the gardens received them, and pausing beside a bench, he said: тАЬSit down a moment.тАЭ + 

She dropped to the seat without answering, but the electric lamp at the bend of the path shed a gleam on the struggling misery of her face. Selden sat down beside her, waiting for her to speak, fearful lest any word he chose should touch too roughly on her wound, and kept also from free utterance by the wretched doubt which had slowly renewed itself within him. What had brought her to this pass? What weakness had placed her so abominably at her enemyтАЩs mercy? And why should Bertha Dorset have turned into an enemy at the very moment when she so obviously needed the support of her sex? Even while his nerves raged at the subjection of husbands to their wives, and at the cruelty of women to their kind, reason obstinately harped on the proverbial relation between smoke and fire. The memory of Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs hints, and the corroboration of his own impressions, while they deepened his pity also increased his constraint, since, whichever way he sought a free outlet for sympathy, it was blocked by the fear of committing a blunder. + 

Suddenly it struck him that his silence must seem almost as accusatory as that of the men he had despised for turning from her; but before he could find the fitting word she had cut him short with a question. + 

тАЬDo you know of a quiet hotel? I can send for my maid in the morning.тАЭ + 

тАЬAn hotelтБатАФhereтБатАФthat you can go to alone? ItтАЩs not possible.тАЭ + 

She met this with a pale gleam of her old playfulness. тАЬWhat is, then? ItтАЩs too wet to sleep in the gardens.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut there must be someoneтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬSomeone to whom I can go? Of courseтБатАФany numberтБатАФbut at this hour? You see my change of plan was rather suddenтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬGood GodтБатАФif youтАЩd listened to me!тАЭ he cried, venting his helplessness in a burst of anger. + 

She still held him off with the gentle mockery of her smile. тАЬBut havenтАЩt I?тАЭ she rejoined. тАЬYou advised me to leave the yacht, and IтАЩm leaving it.тАЭ + 

He saw then, with a pang of self-reproach, that she meant neither to explain nor to defend herself; that by his miserable silence he had forfeited all chance of helping her, and that the decisive hour was past. + 

She had risen, and stood before him in a kind of clouded majesty, like some deposed princess moving tranquilly to exile. + 

тАЬLily!тАЭ he exclaimed, with a note of despairing appeal; butтБатАФтАЬOh, not now,тАЭ she gently admonished him; and then, in all the sweetness of her recovered composure: тАЬSince I must find shelter somewhere, and since youтАЩre so kindly here to help meтБатАФтАЭ + 

He gathered himself up at the challenge. тАЬYou will do as I tell you? ThereтАЩs but one thing, then; you must go straight to your cousins, the Stepneys.тАЭ + 

тАЬOhтБатАФтАЭ broke from her with a movement of instinctive resistance; but he insisted: тАЬComeтБатАФitтАЩs late, and you must appear to have gone there directly.тАЭ + 

He had drawn her hand into his arm, but she held him back with a last gesture of protest. тАЬI canтАЩtтБатАФI canтАЩtтБатАФnot thatтБатАФyou donтАЩt know Gwen: you mustnтАЩt ask me!тАЭ + 

тАЬI must ask youтБатАФyou must obey me,тАЭ he persisted, though infected at heart by her own fear. + 

Her voice sank to a whisper: тАЬAnd if she refuses?тАЭтБатАФbut, тАЬOh, trust meтБатАФtrust me!тАЭ he could only insist in return; and yielding to his touch, she let him lead her back in silence to the edge of the square. + 

In the cab they continued to remain silent through the brief drive which carried them to the illuminated portals of the StepneysтАЩ hotel. Here he left her outside, in the darkness of the raised hood, while his name was sent up to Stepney, and he paced the showy hall, awaiting the latterтАЩs descent. Ten minutes later the two men passed out together between the gold-laced custodians of the threshold; but in the vestibule Stepney drew up with a last flare of reluctance. + 

тАЬItтАЩs understood, then?тАЭ he stipulated nervously, with his hand on SeldenтАЩs arm. тАЬShe leaves tomorrow by the early trainтБатАФand my wifeтАЩs asleep, and canтАЩt be disturbed.тАЭ + 

IV + 

The blinds of Mrs.┬аPenistonтАЩs drawing-room were drawn down against the oppressive June sun, and in the sultry twilight the faces of her assembled relatives took on a fitting shadow of bereavement. + 

They were all there: Van Alstynes, Stepneys and MelsonsтБатАФeven a stray Peniston or two, indicating, by a greater latitude in dress and manner, the fact of remoter relationship and more settled hopes. The Peniston side was, in fact, secure in the knowledge that the bulk of Mr.┬аPenistonтАЩs property тАЬwent backтАЭ; while the direct connection hung suspended on the disposal of his widowтАЩs private fortune and on the uncertainty of its extent. Jack Stepney, in his new character as the richest nephew, tacitly took the lead, emphasizing his importance by the deeper gloss of his mourning and the subdued authority of his manner; while his wifeтАЩs bored attitude and frivolous gown proclaimed the heiressтАЩs disregard of the insignificant interests at stake. Old Ned Van Alstyne, seated next to her in a coat that made affliction dapper, twirled his white moustache to conceal the eager twitch of his lips; and Grace Stepney, red-nosed and smelling of crape, whispered emotionally to Mrs.┬аHerbert Melson: тАЬI couldnтАЩt bear to see the Niagara anywhere else!тАЭ + 

A rustle of weeds and quick turning of heads hailed the opening of the door, and Lily Bart appeared, tall and noble in her black dress, with Gerty Farish at her side. The womenтАЩs faces, as she paused interrogatively on the threshold, were a study in hesitation. One or two made faint motions of recognition, which might have been subdued either by the solemnity of the scene, or by the doubt as to how far the others meant to go; Mrs.┬аJack Stepney gave a careless nod, and Grace Stepney, with a sepulchral gesture, indicated a seat at her side. But Lily, ignoring the invitation, as well as Jack StepneyтАЩs official attempt to direct her, moved across the room with her smooth free gait, and seated herself in a chair which seemed to have been purposely placed apart from the others. + 

It was the first time that she had faced her family since her return from Europe, two weeks earlier; but if she perceived any uncertainty in their welcome, it served only to add a tinge of irony to the usual composure of her bearing. The shock of dismay with which, on the dock, she had heard from Gerty Farish of Mrs.┬аPenistonтАЩs sudden death, had been mitigated, almost at once, by the irrepressible thought that now, at last, she would be able to pay her debts. She had looked forward with considerable uneasiness to her first encounter with her aunt. Mrs.┬аPeniston had vehemently opposed her nieceтАЩs departure with the Dorsets, and had marked her continued disapproval by not writing during LilyтАЩs absence. The certainty that she had heard of the rupture with the Dorsets made the prospect of the meeting more formidable; and how should Lily have repressed a quick sense of relief at the thought that, instead of undergoing the anticipated ordeal, she had only to enter gracefully on a long-assured inheritance? It had been, in the consecrated phrase, тАЬalways understoodтАЭ that Mrs.┬аPeniston was to provide handsomely for her niece; and in the latterтАЩs mind the understanding had long since crystallized into fact. + 

тАЬShe gets everything, of courseтБатАФI donтАЩt see what weтАЩre here for,тАЭ Mrs.┬аJack Stepney remarked with careless loudness to Ned Van Alstyne; and the latterтАЩs deprecating murmurтБатАФтАЬJulia was always a just womanтАЭтБатАФmight have been interpreted as signifying either acquiescence or doubt. + 

тАЬWell, itтАЩs only about four hundred thousand,тАЭ Mrs.┬аStepney rejoined with a yawn; and Grace Stepney, in the silence produced by the lawyerтАЩs preliminary cough, was heard to sob out: тАЬThey wonтАЩt find a towel missingтБатАФI went over them with her the very dayтБатАФтАЭ + 

Lily, oppressed by the close atmosphere, and the stifling odour of fresh mourning, felt her attention straying as Mrs.┬аPenistonтАЩs lawyer, solemnly erect behind the Buhl table at the end of the room, began to rattle through the preamble of the will. + 

тАЬItтАЩs like being in church,тАЭ she reflected, wondering vaguely where Gwen Stepney had got such an awful hat. Then she noticed how stout Jack had grownтБатАФhe would soon be almost as plethoric as Herbert Melson, who sat a few feet off, breathing puffily as he leaned his black-gloved hands on his stick. + 

тАЬI wonder why rich people always grow fatтБатАФI suppose itтАЩs because thereтАЩs nothing to worry them. If I inherit, I shall have to be careful of my figure,тАЭ she mused, while the lawyer droned on through a labyrinth of legacies. The servants came first, then a few charitable institutions, then several remoter Melsons and Stepneys, who stirred consciously as their names rang out, and then subsided into a state of impassiveness befitting the solemnity of the occasion. Ned Van Alstyne, Jack Stepney, and a cousin or two followed, each coupled with the mention of a few thousands: Lily wondered that Grace Stepney was not among them. Then she heard her own nameтБатАФтАЬto my niece Lily Bart ten thousand dollarsтБатАФтАЭ and after that the lawyer again lost himself in a coil of unintelligible periods, from which the concluding phrase flashed out with startling distinctness: тАЬand the residue of my estate to my dear cousin and namesake, Grace Julia Stepney.тАЭ + 

There was a subdued gasp of surprise, a rapid turning of heads, and a surging of sable figures toward the corner in which Miss Stepney wailed out her sense of unworthiness through the crumpled ball of a black-edged handkerchief. + 

Lily stood apart from the general movement, feeling herself for the first time utterly alone. No one looked at her, no one seemed aware of her presence; she was probing the very depths of insignificance. And under her sense of the collective indifference came the acuter pang of hopes deceived. DisinheritedтБатАФshe had been disinheritedтБатАФand for Grace Stepney! She met GertyтАЩs lamentable eyes, fixed on her in a despairing effort at consolation, and the look brought her to herself. There was something to be done before she left the house: to be done with all the nobility she knew how to put into such gestures. She advanced to the group about Miss Stepney, and holding out her hand said simply: тАЬDear Grace, I am so glad.тАЭ + 

The other ladies had fallen back at her approach, and a space created itself about her. It widened as she turned to go, and no one advanced to fill it up. She paused a moment, glancing about her, calmly taking the measure of her situation. She heard someone ask a question about the date of the will; she caught a fragment of the lawyerтАЩs answerтБатАФsomething about a sudden summons, and an тАЬearlier instrument.тАЭ Then the tide of dispersal began to drift past her; Mrs.┬аJack Stepney and Mrs.┬аHerbert Melson stood on the doorstep awaiting their motor; a sympathizing group escorted Grace Stepney to the cab it was felt to be fitting she should take, though she lived but a street or two away; and Miss Bart and Gerty found themselves almost alone in the purple drawing-room, which more than ever, in its stuffy dimness, resembled a well-kept family vault, in which the last corpse had just been decently deposited. + 

In Gerty FarishтАЩs sitting-room, whither a hansom had carried the two friends, Lily dropped into a chair with a faint sound of laughter: it struck her as a humorous coincidence that her auntтАЩs legacy should so nearly represent the amount of her debt to Trenor. The need of discharging that debt had reasserted itself with increased urgency since her return to America, and she spoke her first thought in saying to the anxiously hovering Gerty: тАЬI wonder when the legacies will be paid.тАЭ + 

But Miss Farish could not pause over the legacies; she broke into a larger indignation. тАЬOh, Lily, itтАЩs unjust; itтАЩs cruelтБатАФGrace Stepney must feel she has no right to all that money!тАЭ + 

тАЬAnyone who knew how to please Aunt Julia has a right to her money,тАЭ Miss Bart rejoined philosophically. + 

тАЬBut she was devoted to youтБатАФshe led everyone to thinkтБатАФтАЭ Gerty checked herself in evident embarrassment, and Miss Bart turned to her with a direct look. тАЬGerty, be honest: this will was made only six weeks ago. She had heard of my break with the Dorsets?тАЭ + 

тАЬEveryone heard, of course, that there had been some disagreementтБатАФsome misunderstandingтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬDid she hear that Bertha turned me off the yacht?тАЭ + 

тАЬLily!тАЭ + 

тАЬThat was what happened, you know. She said I was trying to marry George Dorset. She did it to make him think she was jealous. IsnтАЩt that what she told Gwen Stepney?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt knowтБатАФI donтАЩt listen to such horrors.тАЭ + 

тАЬI must listen to themтБатАФI must know where I stand.тАЭ She paused, and again sounded a faint note of derision. тАЬDid you notice the women? They were afraid to snub me while they thought I was going to get the moneyтБатАФafterward they scuttled off as if I had the plague.тАЭ Gerty remained silent, and she continued: тАЬI stayed on to see what would happen. They took their cue from Gwen Stepney and Lulu MelsonтБатАФI saw them watching to see what Gwen would do.тБатАФGerty, I must know just what is being said of me.тАЭ + 

тАЬI tell you I donтАЩt listenтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬOne hears such things without listening.тАЭ She rose and laid her resolute hands on Miss FarishтАЩs shoulders. тАЬGerty, are people going to cut me?тАЭ + 

тАЬYour friends, LilyтБатАФhow can you think it?тАЭ + 

тАЬWho are oneтАЩs friends at such a time? Who, but you, you poor trustful darling? And heaven knows what you suspect me of!тАЭ She kissed Gerty with a whimsical murmur. тАЬYouтАЩd never let it make any differenceтБатАФbut then youтАЩre fond of criminals, Gerty! How about the irreclaimable ones, though? For IтАЩm absolutely impenitent, you know.тАЭ + 

She drew herself up to the full height of her slender majesty, towering like some dark angel of defiance above the troubled Gerty, who could only falter out: тАЬLily, LilyтБатАФhow can you laugh about such things?тАЭ + 

тАЬSo as not to weep, perhaps. But noтБатАФIтАЩm not of the tearful order. I discovered early that crying makes my nose red, and the knowledge has helped me through several painful episodes.тАЭ She took a restless turn about the room, and then, reseating herself, lifted the bright mockery of her eyes to GertyтАЩs anxious countenance. + 

тАЬI shouldnтАЩt have minded, you know, if IтАЩd got the moneyтБатАФтАЭ and at Miss FarishтАЩs protesting тАЬOh!тАЭ she repeated calmly: тАЬNot a straw, my dear; for, in the first place, they wouldnтАЩt have quite dared to ignore me; and if they had, it wouldnтАЩt have mattered, because I should have been independent of them. But nowтБатАФ!тАЭ The irony faded from her eyes, and she bent a clouded face upon her friend. + 

тАЬHow can you talk so, Lily? Of course the money ought to have been yours, but after all that makes no difference. The important thingтБатАФтАЭ Gerty paused, and then continued firmly: тАЬThe important thing is that you should clear yourselfтБатАФshould tell your friends the whole truth.тАЭ + 

тАЬThe whole truth?тАЭ Miss Bart laughed. тАЬWhat is truth? Where a woman is concerned, itтАЩs the story thatтАЩs easiest to believe. In this case itтАЩs a great deal easier to believe Bertha DorsetтАЩs story than mine, because she has a big house and an opera box, and itтАЩs convenient to be on good terms with her.тАЭ + 

Miss Farish still fixed her with an anxious gaze. тАЬBut what is your story, Lily? I donтАЩt believe anyone knows it yet.тАЭ + 

тАЬMy story?тБатАФI donтАЩt believe I know it myself. You see I never thought of preparing a version in advance as Bertha didтБатАФand if I had, I donтАЩt think I should take the trouble to use it now.тАЭ + 

But Gerty continued with her quiet reasonableness: тАЬI donтАЩt want a version prepared in advanceтБатАФbut I want you to tell me exactly what happened from the beginning.тАЭ + 

тАЬFrom the beginning?тАЭ Miss Bart gently mimicked her. тАЬDear Gerty, how little imagination you good people have! Why, the beginning was in my cradle, I supposeтБатАФin the way I was brought up, and the things I was taught to care for. Or noтБатАФI wonтАЩt blame anybody for my faults: IтАЩll say it was in my blood, that I got it from some wicked pleasure-loving ancestress, who reacted against the homely virtues of New Amsterdam, and wanted to be back at the court of the Charleses!тАЭ And as Miss Farish continued to press her with troubled eyes, she went on impatiently: тАЬYou asked me just now for the truthтБатАФwell, the truth about any girl is that once sheтАЩs talked about sheтАЩs done for; and the more she explains her case the worse it looks.тБатАФMy good Gerty, you donтАЩt happen to have a cigarette about you?тАЭ + 

In her stuffy room at the hotel to which she had gone on landing, Lily Bart that evening reviewed her situation. It was the last week in June, and none of her friends were in town. The few relatives who had stayed on, or returned, for the reading of Mrs.┬аPenistonтАЩs will, had taken flight again that afternoon to Newport or Long Island; and not one of them had made any proffer of hospitality to Lily. For the first time in her life she found herself utterly alone except for Gerty Farish. Even at the actual moment of her break with the Dorsets she had not had so keen a sense of its consequences, for the Duchess of Beltshire, hearing of the catastrophe from Lord Hubert, had instantly offered her protection, and under her sheltering wing Lily had made an almost triumphant progress to London. There she had been sorely tempted to linger on in a society which asked of her only to amuse and charm it, without enquiring too curiously how she had acquired her gift for doing so; but Selden, before they parted, had pressed on her the urgent need of returning at once to her aunt, and Lord Hubert, when he presently reappeared in London, abounded in the same counsel. Lily did not need to be told that the DuchessтАЩs championship was not the best road to social rehabilitation, and as she was besides aware that her noble defender might at any moment drop her in favour of a new prot├йg├йe, she reluctantly decided to return to America. But she had not been ten minutes on her native shore before she realized that she had delayed too long to regain it. The Dorsets, the Stepneys, the BrysтБатАФall the actors and witnesses in the miserable dramaтБатАФhad preceded her with their version of the case; and, even had she seen the least chance of gaining a hearing for her own, some obscure disdain and reluctance would have restrained her. She knew it was not by explanations and counter-charges that she could ever hope to recover her lost standing; but even had she felt the least trust in their efficacy, she would still have been held back by the feeling which had kept her from defending herself to Gerty FarishтБатАФa feeling that was half pride and half humiliation. For though she knew she had been ruthlessly sacrificed to Bertha DorsetтАЩs determination to win back her husband, and though her own relation to Dorset had been that of the merest good-fellowship, yet she had been perfectly aware from the outset that her part in the affair was, as Carry Fisher brutally put it, to distract DorsetтАЩs attention from his wife. That was what she was тАЬthere forтАЭ: it was the price she had chosen to pay for three months of luxury and freedom from care. Her habit of resolutely facing the facts, in her rare moments of introspection, did not now allow her to put any false gloss on the situation. She had suffered for the very faithfulness with which she had carried out her part of the tacit compact, but the part was not a handsome one at best, and she saw it now in all the ugliness of failure. + 

She saw, too, in the same uncompromising light, the train of consequences resulting from that failure; and these became clearer to her with every day of her weary lingering in town. She stayed on partly for the comfort of Gerty FarishтАЩs nearness, and partly for lack of knowing where to go. She understood well enough the nature of the task before her. She must set out to regain, little by little, the position she had lost; and the first step in the tedious task was to find out, as soon as possible, on how many of her friends she could count. Her hopes were mainly centred on Mrs.┬аTrenor, who had treasures of easygoing tolerance for those who were amusing or useful to her, and in the noisy rush of whose existence the still small voice of detraction was slow to make itself heard. But Judy, though she must have been apprised of Miss BartтАЩs return, had not even recognized it by the formal note of condolence which her friendтАЩs bereavement demanded. Any advance on LilyтАЩs side might have been perilous: there was nothing to do but to trust to the happy chance of an accidental meeting, and Lily knew that, even so late in the season, there was always a hope of running across her friends in their frequent passages through town. + 

To this end she assiduously showed herself at the restaurants they frequented, where, attended by the troubled Gerty, she lunched luxuriously, as she said, on her expectations. + 

тАЬMy dear Gerty, you wouldnтАЩt have me let the headwaiter see that IтАЩve nothing to live on but Aunt JuliaтАЩs legacy? Think of Grace StepneyтАЩs satisfaction if she came in and found us lunching on cold mutton and tea! What sweet shall we have today, dearтБатАФCoupe Jacques or P├кches ├а la Melba?тАЭ + 

She dropped the menu abruptly, with a quick heightening of colour, and Gerty, following her glance, was aware of the advance, from an inner room, of a party headed by Mrs.┬аTrenor and Carry Fisher. It was impossible for these ladies and their companionsтБатАФamong whom Lily had at once distinguished both Trenor and RosedaleтБатАФnot to pass, in going out, the table at which the two girls were seated; and GertyтАЩs sense of the fact betrayed itself in the helpless trepidation of her manner. Miss Bart, on the contrary, borne forward on the wave of her buoyant grace, and neither shrinking from her friends nor appearing to lie in wait for them, gave to the encounter the touch of naturalness which she could impart to the most strained situations. Such embarrassment as was shown was on Mrs.┬аTrenorтАЩs side, and manifested itself in the mingling of exaggerated warmth with imperceptible reservations. Her loudly affirmed pleasure at seeing Miss Bart took the form of a nebulous generalization, which included neither enquiries as to her future nor the expression of a definite wish to see her again. Lily, well-versed in the language of these omissions, knew that they were equally intelligible to the other members of the party: even Rosedale, flushed as he was with the importance of keeping such company, at once took the temperature of Mrs.┬аTrenorтАЩs cordiality, and reflected it in his offhand greeting of Miss Bart. Trenor, red and uncomfortable, had cut short his salutations on the pretext of a word to say to the headwaiter; and the rest of the group soon melted away in Mrs.┬аTrenorтАЩs wake. + 

It was over in a momentтБатАФthe waiter, menu in hand, still hung on the result of the choice between Coupe Jacques and P├кches ├а la MelbaтБатАФbut Miss Bart, in the interval, had taken the measure of her fate. Where Judy Trenor led, all the world would follow; and Lily had the doomed sense of the castaway who has signalled in vain to fleeing sails. + 

In a flash she remembered Mrs.┬аTrenorтАЩs complaints of Carry FisherтАЩs rapacity, and saw that they denoted an unexpected acquaintance with her husbandтАЩs private affairs. In the large tumultuous disorder of the life at Bellomont, where no one seemed to have time to observe anyone else, and private aims and personal interests were swept along unheeded in the rush of collective activities, Lily had fancied herself sheltered from inconvenient scrutiny; but if Judy knew when Mrs.┬аFisher borrowed money of her husband, was she likely to ignore the same transaction on LilyтАЩs part? If she was careless of his affections she was plainly jealous of his pocket; and in that fact Lily read the explanation of her rebuff. The immediate result of these conclusions was the passionate resolve to pay back her debt to Trenor. That obligation discharged, she would have but a thousand dollars of Mrs.┬аPenistonтАЩs legacy left, and nothing to live on but her own small income, which was considerably less than Gerty FarishтАЩs wretched pittance; but this consideration gave way to the imperative claim of her wounded pride. She must be quits with the Trenors first; after that she would take thought for the future. + 

In her ignorance of legal procrastinations she had supposed that her legacy would be paid over within a few days of the reading of her auntтАЩs will; and after an interval of anxious suspense, she wrote to enquire the cause of the delay. There was another interval before Mrs.┬аPenistonтАЩs lawyer, who was also one of the executors, replied to the effect that, some questions having arisen relative to the interpretation of the will, he and his associates might not be in a position to pay the legacies till the close of the twelvemonth legally allotted for their settlement. Bewildered and indignant, Lily resolved to try the effect of a personal appeal; but she returned from her expedition with a sense of the powerlessness of beauty and charm against the unfeeling processes of the law. It seemed intolerable to live on for another year under the weight of her debt; and in her extremity she decided to turn to Miss Stepney, who still lingered in town, immersed in the delectable duty of тАЬgoing overтАЭ her benefactressтАЩs effects. It was bitter enough for Lily to ask a favour of Grace Stepney, but the alternative was bitterer still; and one morning she presented herself at Mrs.┬аPenistonтАЩs, where Grace, for the facilitation of her pious task, had taken up a provisional abode. + 

The strangeness of entering as a suppliant the house where she had so long commanded, increased LilyтАЩs desire to shorten the ordeal; and when Miss Stepney entered the darkened drawing-room, rustling with the best quality of crape, her visitor went straight to the point: would she be willing to advance the amount of the expected legacy? + 

Grace, in reply, wept and wondered at the request, bemoaned the inexorableness of the law, and was astonished that Lily had not realized the exact similarity of their positions. Did she think that only the payment of the legacies had been delayed? Why, Miss Stepney herself had not received a penny of her inheritance, and was paying rentтБатАФyes, actually!тБатАФfor the privilege of living in a house that belonged to her. She was sure it was not what poor dear cousin Julia would have wishedтБатАФshe had told the executors so to their faces; but they were inaccessible to reason, and there was nothing to do but to wait. Let Lily take example by her, and be patientтБатАФlet them both remember how beautifully patient cousin Julia had always been. + 

Lily made a movement which showed her imperfect assimilation of this example. тАЬBut you will have everything, GraceтБатАФit would be easy for you to borrow ten times the amount I am asking for.тАЭ + 

тАЬBorrowтБатАФeasy for me to borrow?тАЭ Grace Stepney rose up before her in sable wrath. тАЬDo you imagine for a moment that I would raise money on my expectations from cousin Julia, when I know so well her unspeakable horror of every transaction of the sort? Why, Lily, if you must know the truth, it was the idea of your being in debt that brought on her illnessтБатАФyou remember she had a slight attack before you sailed. Oh, I donтАЩt know the particulars, of courseтБатАФI donтАЩt want to know themтБатАФbut there were rumours about your affairs that made her most unhappyтБатАФno one could be with her without seeing that. I canтАЩt help it if you are offended by my telling you this nowтБатАФif I can do anything to make you realize the folly of your course, and how deeply she disapproved of it, I shall feel it is the truest way of making up to you for her loss.тАЭ + 

V + 

It seemed to Lily, as Mrs.┬аPenistonтАЩs door closed on her, that she was taking a final leave of her old life. The future stretched before her dull and bare as the deserted length of Fifth Avenue, and opportunities showed as meagrely as the few cabs trailing in quest of fares that did not come. The completeness of the analogy was, however, disturbed as she reached the sidewalk by the rapid approach of a hansom which pulled up at sight of her. + 

From beneath its luggage-laden top, she caught the wave of a signalling hand; and the next moment Mrs.┬аFisher, springing to the street, had folded her in a demonstrative embrace. + 

тАЬMy dear, you donтАЩt mean to say youтАЩre still in town? When I saw you the other day at SherryтАЩs I didnтАЩt have time to askтБатАФтАЭ She broke off, and added with a burst of frankness: тАЬThe truth is I was horrid, Lily, and IтАЩve wanted to tell you so ever since.тАЭ + 

тАЬOhтБатАФтАЭ Miss Bart protested, drawing back from her penitent clasp; but Mrs.┬аFisher went on with her usual directness: тАЬLook here, Lily, donтАЩt letтАЩs beat about the bush: half the trouble in life is caused by pretending there isnтАЩt any. ThatтАЩs not my way, and I can only say IтАЩm thoroughly ashamed of myself for following the other womenтАЩs lead. But weтАЩll talk of that by and byтБатАФtell me now where youтАЩre staying and what your plans are. I donтАЩt suppose youтАЩre keeping house in there with Grace Stepney, eh?тБатАФand it struck me you might be rather at loose ends.тАЭ + 

In LilyтАЩs present mood there was no resisting the honest friendliness of this appeal, and she said with a smile: тАЬI am at loose ends for the moment, but Gerty Farish is still in town, and sheтАЩs good enough to let me be with her whenever she can spare the time.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аFisher made a slight grimace. тАЬHтАЩmтБатАФthatтАЩs a temperate joy. Oh, I knowтБатАФGertyтАЩs a trump, and worth all the rest of us put together; but ├а la longue youтАЩre used to a little higher seasoning, arenтАЩt you, dear? And besides, I suppose sheтАЩll be off herself before longтБатАФthe first of August, you say? Well, look here, you canтАЩt spend your summer in town; weтАЩll talk of that later too. But meanwhile, what do you say to putting a few things in a trunk and coming down with me to the Sam GormersтАЩ tonight?тАЭ + 

And as Lily stared at the breathless suddenness of the suggestion, she continued with her easy laugh: тАЬYou donтАЩt know them and they donтАЩt know you; but that donтАЩt make a rap of difference. TheyтАЩve taken the Van Alstyne place at Roslyn, and IтАЩve got carte blanche to bring my friends down thereтБатАФthe more the merrier. They do things awfully well, and thereтАЩs to be rather a jolly party there this weekтБатАФтАЭ she broke off, checked by an undefinable change in Miss BartтАЩs expression. тАЬOh, I donтАЩt mean your particular set, you know: rather a different crowd, but very good fun. The fact is, the Gormers have struck out on a line of their own: what they want is to have a good time, and to have it in their own way. They gave the other thing a few monthsтАЩ trial, under my distinguished auspices, and they were really doing extremely wellтБатАФgetting on a good deal faster than the Brys, just because they didnтАЩt care as muchтБатАФbut suddenly they decided that the whole business bored them, and that what they wanted was a crowd they could really feel at home with. Rather original of them, donтАЩt you think so? Mattie Gormer has got aspirations still; women always have; but sheтАЩs awfully easygoing, and Sam wonтАЩt be bothered, and they both like to be the most important people in sight, so theyтАЩve started a sort of continuous performance of their own, a kind of social Coney Island, where everybody is welcome who can make noise enough and doesnтАЩt put on airs. I think itтАЩs awfully good fun myselfтБатАФsome of the artistic set, you know, any pretty actress thatтАЩs going, and so on. This week, for instance, they have Audrey Anstell, who made such a hit last spring in The Winning of Winny; and Paul MorpethтБатАФheтАЩs painting Mattie GormerтБатАФand the Dick Bellingers, and Kate CorbyтБатАФwell, everyone you can think of whoтАЩs jolly and makes a row. Now donтАЩt stand there with your nose in the air, my dearтБатАФit will be a good deal better than a broiling Sunday in town, and youтАЩll find clever people as well as noisy onesтБатАФMorpeth, who admires Mattie enormously, always brings one or two of his set.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аFisher drew Lily toward the hansom with friendly authority. тАЬJump in now, thereтАЩs a dear, and weтАЩll drive round to your hotel and have your things packed, and then weтАЩll have tea, and the two maids can meet us at the train.тАЭ + 

It was a good deal better than a broiling Sunday in townтБатАФof that no doubt remained to Lily as, reclining in the shade of a leafy verandah, she looked seaward across a stretch of greensward picturesquely dotted with groups of ladies in lace raiment and men in tennis flannels. The huge Van Alstyne house and its rambling dependencies were packed to their fullest capacity with the GormersтАЩ weekend guests, who now, in the radiance of the Sunday forenoon, were dispersing themselves over the grounds in quest of the various distractions the place afforded: distractions ranging from tennis-courts to shooting-galleries, from bridge and whiskey within doors to motors and steam-launches without. Lily had the odd sense of having been caught up into the crowd as carelessly as a passenger is gathered in by an express train. The blonde and genial Mrs.┬аGormer might, indeed, have figured the conductor, calmly assigning seats to the rush of travellers, while Carry Fisher represented the porter pushing their bags into place, giving them their numbers for the dining-car, and warning them when their station was at hand. The train, meanwhile, had scarcely slackened speedтБатАФlife whizzed on with a deafeningтАЩ rattle and roar, in which one traveller at least found a welcome refuge from the sound of her own thoughts. + 

The Gormer milieu represented a social outskirt which Lily had always fastidiously avoided; but it struck her, now that she was in it, as only a flamboyant copy of her own world, a caricature approximating the real thing as the тАЬsociety playтАЭ approaches the manners of the drawing-room. The people about her were doing the same things as the Trenors, the Van Osburghs and the Dorsets: the difference lay in a hundred shades of aspect and manner, from the pattern of the menтАЩs waistcoats to the inflection of the womenтАЩs voices. Everything was pitched in a higher key, and there was more of each thing: more noise, more colour, more champagne, more familiarityтБатАФbut also greater good-nature, less rivalry, and a fresher capacity for enjoyment. + 

Miss BartтАЩs arrival had been welcomed with an uncritical friendliness that first irritated her pride and then brought her to a sharp sense of her own situationтБатАФof the place in life which, for the moment, she must accept and make the best of. These people knew her storyтБатАФof that her first long talk with Carry Fisher had left no doubt: she was publicly branded as the heroine of a тАЬqueerтАЭ episodeтБатАФbut instead of shrinking from her as her own friends had done, they received her without question into the easy promiscuity of their lives. They swallowed her past as easily as they did Miss AnstellтАЩs, and with no apparent sense of any difference in the size of the mouthful: all they asked was that she shouldтБатАФin her own way, for they recognized a diversity of giftsтБатАФcontribute as much to the general amusement as that graceful actress, whose talents, when off the stage, were of the most varied order. Lily felt at once that any tendency to be тАЬstuck-up,тАЭ to mark a sense of differences and distinctions, would be fatal to her continuance in the Gormer set. To be taken in on such termsтБатАФand into such a world!тБатАФwas hard enough to the lingering pride in her; but she realized, with a pang of self-contempt, that to be excluded from it would, after all, be harder still. For, almost at once, she had felt the insidious charm of slipping back into a life where every material difficulty was smoothed away. The sudden escape from a stifling hotel in a dusty deserted city to the space and luxury of a great country-house fanned by sea breezes, had produced a state of moral lassitude agreeable enough after the nervous tension and physical discomfort of the past weeks. For the moment she must yield to the refreshment her senses cravedтБатАФafter that she would reconsider her situation, and take counsel with her dignity. Her enjoyment of her surroundings was, indeed, tinged by the unpleasant consideration that she was accepting the hospitality and courting the approval of people she had disdained under other conditions. But she was growing less sensitive on such points: a hard glaze of indifference was fast forming over her delicacies and susceptibilities, and each concession to expediency hardened the surface a little more. + 

On the Monday, when the party disbanded with uproarious adieux, the return to town threw into stronger relief the charms of the life she was leaving. The other guests were dispersing to take up the same existence in a different setting: some at Newport, some at Bar Harbour, some in the elaborate rusticity of an Adirondack camp. Even Gerty Farish, who welcomed LilyтАЩs return with tender solicitude, would soon be preparing to join the aunt with whom she spent her summers on Lake George: only Lily herself remained without plan or purpose, stranded in a backwater of the great current of pleasure. But Carry Fisher, who had insisted on transporting her to her own house, where she herself was to perch for a day or two on the way to the BrysтАЩ camp, came to the rescue with a new suggestion. + 

тАЬLook here, LilyтБатАФIтАЩll tell you what it is: I want you to take my place with Mattie Gormer this summer. TheyтАЩre taking a party out to Alaska next month in their private car, and Mattie, who is the laziest woman alive, wants me to go with them, and relieve her of the bother of arranging things; but the Brys want me tooтБатАФoh, yes, weтАЩve made it up: didnтАЩt I tell you?тБатАФand, to put it frankly, though I like the Gormers best, thereтАЩs more profit for me in the Brys. The fact is, they want to try Newport this summer, and if I can make it a success for them theyтБатАФwell, theyтАЩll make it a success for me.тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher clasped her hands enthusiastically. тАЬDo you know, Lily, the more I think of my idea the better I like itтБатАФquite as much for you as for myself. The Gormers have both taken a tremendous fancy to you, and the trip to Alaska isтБатАФwellтБатАФthe very thing I should want for you just at present.тАЭ + 

Miss Bart lifted her eyes with a keen glance. тАЬTo take me out of my friendsтАЩ way, you mean?тАЭ she said quietly; and Mrs.┬аFisher responded with a deprecating kiss: тАЬTo keep you out of their sight till they realize how much they miss you.тАЭ + 

Miss Bart went with the Gormers to Alaska; and the expedition, if it did not produce the effect anticipated by her friend, had at least the negative advantage of removing her from the fiery centre of criticism and discussion. Gerty Farish had opposed the plan with all the energy of her somewhat inarticulate nature. She had even offered to give up her visit to Lake George, and remain in town with Miss Bart, if the latter would renounce her journey; but Lily could disguise her real distaste for this plan under a sufficiently valid reason. + 

тАЬYou dear innocent, donтАЩt you see,тАЭ she protested, тАЬthat Carry is quite right, and that I must take up my usual life, and go about among people as much as possible? If my old friends choose to believe lies about me I shall have to make new ones, thatтАЩs all; and you know beggars mustnтАЩt be choosers. Not that I donтАЩt like Mattie GormerтБатАФI do like her: sheтАЩs kind and honest and unaffected; and donтАЩt you suppose I feel grateful to her for making me welcome at a time when, as youтАЩve yourself seen, my own family have unanimously washed their hands of me?тАЭ + 

Gerty shook her head, mutely unconvinced. She felt not only that Lily was cheapening herself by making use of an intimacy she would never have cultivated from choice, but that, in drifting back now to her former manner of life, she was forfeiting her last chance of ever escaping from it. Gerty had but an obscure conception of what LilyтАЩs actual experience had been: but its consequences had established a lasting hold on her pity since the memorable night when she had offered up her own secret hope to her friendтАЩs extremity. To characters like GertyтАЩs such a sacrifice constitutes a moral claim on the part of the person in whose behalf it has been made. Having once helped Lily, she must continue to help her; and helping her, must believe in her, because faith is the mainspring of such natures. But even if Miss Bart, after her renewed taste of the amenities of life, could have returned to the barrenness of a New York August, mitigated only by poor GertyтАЩs presence, her worldly wisdom would have counselled her against such an act of abnegation. She knew that Carry Fisher was right: that an opportune absence might be the first step toward rehabilitation, and that, at any rate, to linger on in town out of season was a fatal admission of defeat. + 

From the GormersтАЩ tumultuous progress across their native continent, she returned with an altered view of her situation. The renewed habit of luxuryтБатАФthe daily waking to an assured absence of care and presence of material easeтБатАФgradually blunted her appreciation of these values, and left her more conscious of the void they could not fill. Mattie GormerтАЩs undiscriminating good-nature, and the slapdash sociability of her friends, who treated Lily precisely as they treated each otherтБатАФall these characteristic notes of difference began to wear upon her endurance; and the more she saw to criticize in her companions, the less justification she found for making use of them. The longing to get back to her former surroundings hardened to a fixed idea; but with the strengthening of her purpose came the inevitable perception that, to attain it, she must exact fresh concessions from her pride. These, for the moment, took the unpleasant form of continuing to cling to her hosts after their return from Alaska. Little as she was in the key of their milieu, her immense social facility, her long habit of adapting herself to others without suffering her own outline to be blurred, the skilled manipulation of all the polished implements of her craft, had won for her an important place in the Gormer group. If their resonant hilarity could never be hers, she contributed a note of easy elegance more valuable to Mattie Gormer than the louder passages of the band. Sam Gormer and his special cronies stood indeed a little in awe of her; but MattieтАЩs following, headed by Paul Morpeth, made her feel that they prized her for the very qualities they most conspicuously lacked. If Morpeth, whose social indolence was as great as his artistic activity, had abandoned himself to the easy current of the Gormer existence, where the minor exactions of politeness were unknown or ignored, and a man could either break his engagements, or keep them in a painting-jacket and slippers, he still preserved his sense of differences, and his appreciation of graces he had no time to cultivate. During the preparations for the BrysтАЩ tableaux he had been immensely struck by LilyтАЩs plastic possibilitiesтБатАФтАЬnot the face: too self-controlled for expression; but the rest of herтБатАФgad, what a model sheтАЩd make!тАЭтБатАФand though his abhorrence of the world in which he had seen her was too great for him to think of seeking her there, he was fully alive to the privilege of having her to look at and listen to while he lounged in Mattie GormerтАЩs dishevelled drawing-room. + 

Lily had thus formed, in the tumult of her surroundings, a little nucleus of friendly relations which mitigated the crudeness of her course in lingering with the Gormers after their return. Nor was she without pale glimpses of her own world, especially since the breaking-up of the Newport season had set the social current once more toward Long Island. Kate Corby, whose tastes made her as promiscuous as Carry Fisher was rendered by her necessities, occasionally descended on the Gormers, where, after a first stare of surprise, she took LilyтАЩs presence almost too much as a matter of course. Mrs.┬аFisher, too, appearing frequently in the neighbourhood, drove over to impart her experiences and give Lily what she called the latest report from the weather-bureau; and the latter, who had never directly invited her confidence, could yet talk with her more freely than with Gerty Farish, in whose presence it was impossible even to admit the existence of much that Mrs.┬аFisher conveniently took for granted. + 

Mrs.┬аFisher, moreover, had no embarrassing curiosity. She did not wish to probe the inwardness of LilyтАЩs situation, but simply to view it from the outside, and draw her conclusions accordingly; and these conclusions, at the end of a confidential talk, she summed up to her friend in the succinct remark: тАЬYou must marry as soon as you can.тАЭ + 

Lily uttered a faint laughтБатАФfor once Mrs.┬аFisher lacked originality. тАЬDo you mean, like Gerty Farish, to recommend the unfailing panacea of тАШa good manтАЩs loveтАЩ?тАЭ + 

тАЬNoтБатАФI donтАЩt think either of my candidates would answer to that description,тАЭ said Mrs.┬аFisher after a pause of reflection. + 

тАЬEither? Are there actually two?тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, perhaps I ought to say one and a halfтБатАФfor the moment.тАЭ + 

Miss Bart received this with increasing amusement. тАЬOther things being equal, I think I should prefer a half-husband: who is he?тАЭ + 

тАЬDonтАЩt fly out at me till you hear my reasonsтБатАФGeorge Dorset.тАЭ + 

тАЬOhтБатАФтАЭ Lily murmured reproachfully; but Mrs.┬аFisher pressed on unrebuffed. тАЬWell, why not? They had a few weeksтАЩ honeymoon when they first got back from Europe, but now things are going badly with them again. Bertha has been behaving more than ever like a madwoman, and GeorgeтАЩs powers of credulity are very nearly exhausted. TheyтАЩre at their place here, you know, and I spent last Sunday with them. It was a ghastly partyтБатАФno one else but poor Neddy Silverton, who looks like a galley-slave (they used to talk of my making that poor boy unhappy!)тБатАФand after luncheon George carried me off on a long walk, and told me the end would have to come soon.тАЭ + 

Miss Bart made an incredulous gesture. тАЬAs far as that goes, the end will never comeтБатАФBertha will always know how to get him back when she wants him.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аFisher continued to observe her tentatively. тАЬNot if he has anyone else to turn to! YesтБатАФthatтАЩs just what it comes to: the poor creature canтАЩt stand alone. And I remember him such a good fellow, full of life and enthusiasm.тАЭ She paused, and went on, dropping her glance from LilyтАЩs: тАЬHe wouldnтАЩt stay with her ten minutes if he knewтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬKnewтБатАФ?тАЭ Miss Bart repeated. + 

тАЬWhat you must, for instanceтБатАФwith the opportunities youтАЩve had! If he had positive proof, I meanтБатАФтАЭ + 

Lily interrupted her with a deep blush of displeasure. тАЬPlease let us drop the subject, Carry: itтАЩs too odious to me.тАЭ And to divert her companionтАЩs attention she added, with an attempt at lightness: тАЬAnd your second candidate? We must not forget him.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аFisher echoed her laugh. тАЬI wonder if youтАЩll cry out just as loud if I sayтБатАФSim Rosedale?тАЭ + 

Miss Bart did not cry out: she sat silent, gazing thoughtfully at her friend. The suggestion, in truth, gave expression to a possibility which, in the last weeks, had more than once recurred to her; but after a moment she said carelessly: тАЬMr.┬аRosedale wants a wife who can establish him in the bosom of the Van Osburghs and Trenors.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аFisher caught her up eagerly. тАЬAnd so you couldтБатАФwith his money! DonтАЩt you see how beautifully it would work out for you both?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt see any way of making him see it,тАЭ Lily returned, with a laugh intended to dismiss the subject. + 

But in reality it lingered with her long after Mrs.┬аFisher had taken leave. She had seen very little of Rosedale since her annexation by the Gormers, for he was still steadily bent on penetrating to the inner Paradise from which she was now excluded; but once or twice, when nothing better offered, he had turned up for a Sunday, and on these occasions he had left her in no doubt as to his view of her situation. That he still admired her was, more than ever, offensively evident; for in the Gormer circle, where he expanded as in his native element, there were no puzzling conventions to check the full expression of his approval. But it was in the quality of his admiration that she read his shrewd estimate of her case. He enjoyed letting the Gormers see that he had known тАЬMiss LilyтАЭтБатАФshe was тАЬMiss LilyтАЭ to him nowтБатАФbefore they had had the faintest social existence: enjoyed more especially impressing Paul Morpeth with the distance to which their intimacy dated back. But he let it be felt that that intimacy was a mere ripple on the surface of a rushing social current, the kind of relaxation which a man of large interests and manifold preoccupations permits himself in his hours of ease. + 

The necessity of accepting this view of their past relation, and of meeting it in the key of pleasantry prevalent among her new friends, was deeply humiliating to Lily. But she dared less than ever to quarrel with Rosedale. She suspected that her rejection rankled among the most unforgettable of his rebuffs, and the fact that he knew something of her wretched transaction with Trenor, and was sure to put the basest construction on it, seemed to place her hopelessly in his power. Yet at Carry FisherтАЩs suggestion a new hope had stirred in her. Much as she disliked Rosedale, she no longer absolutely despised him. For he was gradually attaining his object in life, and that, to Lily, was always less despicable than to miss it. With the slow unalterable persistency which she had always felt in him, he was making his way through the dense mass of social antagonisms. Already his wealth, and the masterly use he had made of it, were giving him an enviable prominence in the world of affairs, and placing Wall Street under obligations which only Fifth Avenue could repay. In response to these claims, his name began to figure on municipal committees and charitable boards; he appeared at banquets to distinguished strangers, and his candidacy at one of the fashionable clubs was discussed with diminishing opposition. He had figured once or twice at the Trenor dinners, and had learned to speak with just the right note of disdain of the big Van Osburgh crushes; and all he now needed was a wife whose affiliations would shorten the last tedious steps of his ascent. It was with that object that, a year earlier, he had fixed his affections on Miss Bart; but in the interval he had mounted nearer to the goal, while she had lost the power to abbreviate the remaining steps of the way. All this she saw with the clearness of vision that came to her in moments of despondency. It was success that dazzled herтБатАФshe could distinguish facts plainly enough in the twilight of failure. And the twilight, as she now sought to pierce it, was gradually lighted by a faint spark of reassurance. Under the utilitarian motive of RosedaleтАЩs wooing she had felt, clearly enough, the heat of personal inclination. She would not have detested him so heartily had she not known that he dared to admire her. What, then, if the passion persisted, though the other motive had ceased to sustain it? She had never even tried to please himтБатАФhe had been drawn to her in spite of her manifest disdain. What if she now chose to exert the power which, even in its passive state, he had felt so strongly? What if she made him marry her for love, now that he had no other reason for marrying her? + 

VI + 

As became persons of their rising consequence, the Gormers were engaged in building a country-house on Long Island; and it was a part of Miss BartтАЩs duty to attend her hostess on frequent visits of inspection to the new estate. There, while Mrs.┬аGormer plunged into problems of lighting and sanitation, Lily had leisure to wander, in the bright autumn air, along the tree-fringed bay to which the land declined. Little as she was addicted to solitude, there had come to be moments when it seemed a welcome escape from the empty noises of her life. She was weary of being swept passively along a current of pleasure and business in which she had no share; weary of seeing other people pursue amusement and squander money, while she felt herself of no more account among them than an expensive toy in the hands of a spoiled child. + 

It was in this frame of mind that, striking back from the shore one morning into the windings of an unfamiliar lane, she came suddenly upon the figure of George Dorset. The Dorset place was in the immediate neighbourhood of the GormersтАЩ newly-acquired estate, and in her motor-flights thither with Mrs.┬аGormer, Lily had caught one or two passing glimpses of the couple; but they moved in so different an orbit that she had not considered the possibility of a direct encounter. + 

Dorset, swinging along with bent head, in moody abstraction, did not see Miss Bart till he was close upon her; but the sight, instead of bringing him to a halt, as she had half-expected, sent him toward her with an eagerness which found expression in his opening words. + 

тАЬMiss Bart!тБатАФYouтАЩll shake hands, wonтАЩt you? IтАЩve been hoping to meet youтБатАФI should have written to you if IтАЩd dared.тАЭ His face, with its tossed red hair and straggling moustache, had a driven uneasy look, as though life had become an unceasing race between himself and the thoughts at his heels. + 

The look drew a word of compassionate greeting from Lily, and he pressed on, as if encouraged by her tone: тАЬI wanted to apologizeтБатАФto ask you to forgive me for the miserable part I playedтБатАФтАЭ + 

She checked him with a quick gesture. тАЬDonтАЩt let us speak of it: I was very sorry for you,тАЭ she said, with a tinge of disdain which, as she instantly perceived, was not lost on him. + 

He flushed to his haggard eyes, flushed so cruelly that she repented the thrust. тАЬYou might well be; you donтАЩt knowтБатАФyou must let me explain. I was deceived: abominably deceivedтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬI am still more sorry for you, then,тАЭ she interposed, without irony; тАЬbut you must see that I am not exactly the person with whom the subject can be discussed.тАЭ + 

He met this with a look of genuine wonder. тАЬWhy not? IsnтАЩt it to you, of all people, that I owe an explanationтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬNo explanation is necessary: the situation was perfectly clear to me.тАЭ + 

тАЬAhтБатАФтАЭ he murmured, his head drooping again, and his irresolute hand switching at the underbrush along the lane. But as Lily made a movement to pass on, he broke out with fresh vehemence: тАЬMiss Bart, for GodтАЩs sake donтАЩt turn from me! We used to be good friendsтБатАФyou were always kind to meтБатАФand you donтАЩt know how I need a friend now.тАЭ + 

The lamentable weakness of the words roused a motion of pity in LilyтАЩs breast. She too needed friendsтБатАФshe had tasted the pang of loneliness; and her resentment of Bertha DorsetтАЩs cruelty softened her heart to the poor wretch who was after all the chief of BerthaтАЩs victims. + 

тАЬI still wish to be kind; I feel no ill-will toward you,тАЭ she said. тАЬBut you must understand that after what has happened we canтАЩt be friends againтБатАФwe canтАЩt see each other.тАЭ + 

тАЬAh, you are kindтБатАФyouтАЩre mercifulтБатАФyou always were!тАЭ He fixed his miserable gaze on her. тАЬBut why canтАЩt we be friendsтБатАФwhy not, when IтАЩve repented in dust and ashes? IsnтАЩt it hard that you should condemn me to suffer for the falseness, the treachery of others? I was punished enough at the timeтБатАФis there to be no respite for me?тАЭ + 

тАЬI should have thought you had found complete respite in the reconciliation which was effected at my expense,тАЭ Lily began, with renewed impatience; but he broke in imploringly: тАЬDonтАЩt put it in that wayтБатАФwhen thatтАЩs been the worst of my punishment. My God! what could I doтБатАФwasnтАЩt I powerless? You were singled out as a sacrifice: any word I might have said would have been turned against youтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬI have told you I donтАЩt blame you; all I ask you to understand is that, after the use Bertha chose to make of meтБатАФafter all that her behaviour has since impliedтБатАФitтАЩs impossible that you and I should meet.тАЭ + 

He continued to stand before her, in his dogged weakness. тАЬIs itтБатАФneed it be? MightnтАЩt there be circumstancesтБатАФ?тАЭ he checked himself, slashing at the wayside weeds in a wider radius. Then he began again: тАЬMiss Bart, listenтБатАФgive me a minute. If weтАЩre not to meet again, at least let me have a hearing now. You say we canтАЩt be friends afterтБатАФafter what has happened. But canтАЩt I at least appeal to your pity? CanтАЩt I move you if I ask you to think of me as a prisonerтБатАФa prisoner you alone can set free?тАЭ + 

LilyтАЩs inward start betrayed itself in a quick blush: was it possible that this was really the sense of Carry FisherтАЩs adumbrations? + 

тАЬI canтАЩt see how I can possibly be of any help to you,тАЭ she murmured, drawing back a little from the mounting excitement of his look. + 

Her tone seemed to sober him, as it had so often done in his stormiest moments. The stubborn lines of his face relaxed, and he said, with an abrupt drop to docility: тАЬYou would see, if youтАЩd be as merciful as you used to be: and heaven knows IтАЩve never needed it more!тАЭ + 

She paused a moment, moved in spite of herself by this reminder of her influence over him. Her fibres had been softened by suffering, and the sudden glimpse into his mocked and broken life disarmed her contempt for his weakness. + 

тАЬI am very sorry for youтБатАФI would help you willingly; but you must have other friends, other advisers.тАЭ + 

тАЬI never had a friend like you,тАЭ he answered simply. тАЬAnd besidesтБатАФcanтАЩt you see?тБатАФyouтАЩre the only personтАЭтБатАФhis voice dropped to a whisperтБатАФтАЬthe only person who knows.тАЭ + 

Again she felt her colour change; again her heart rose in precipitate throbs to meet what she felt was coming. + 

He lifted his eyes to her entreatingly. тАЬYou do see, donтАЩt you? You understand? IтАЩm desperateтБатАФIтАЩm at the end of my tether. I want to be free, and you can free me. I know you can. You donтАЩt want to keep me bound fast in hell, do you? You canтАЩt want to take such a vengeance as that. You were always kindтБатАФyour eyes are kind now. You say youтАЩre sorry for me. Well, it rests with you to show it; and heaven knows thereтАЩs nothing to keep you back. You understand, of courseтБатАФthere wouldnтАЩt be a hint of publicityтБатАФnot a sound or a syllable to connect you with the thing. It would never come to that, you know: all I need is to be able to say definitely: тАШI know thisтБатАФand thisтБатАФand thisтАЩтБатАФand the fight would drop, and the way be cleared, and the whole abominable business swept out of sight in a second.тАЭ + 

He spoke pantingly, like a tired runner, with breaks of exhaustion between his words; and through the breaks she caught, as through the shifting rents of a fog, great golden vistas of peace and safety. For there was no mistaking the definite intention behind his vague appeal; she could have filled up the blanks without the help of Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs insinuations. Here was a man who turned to her in the extremity of his loneliness and his humiliation: if she came to him at such a moment he would be hers with all the force of his deluded faith. And the power to make him so lay in her handтБатАФlay there in a completeness he could not even remotely conjecture. Revenge and rehabilitation might be hers at a strokeтБатАФthere was something dazzling in the completeness of the opportunity. + 

She stood silent, gazing away from him down the autumnal stretch of the deserted lane. And suddenly fear possessed herтБатАФfear of herself, and of the terrible force of the temptation. All her past weaknesses were like so many eager accomplices drawing her toward the path their feet had already smoothed. She turned quickly, and held out her hand to Dorset. + 

тАЬGoodbyeтБатАФIтАЩm sorry; thereтАЩs nothing in the world that I can do.тАЭ + 

тАЬNothing? Ah, donтАЩt say that,тАЭ he cried; тАЬsay whatтАЩs true: that you abandon me like the others. You, the only creature who could have saved me!тАЭ + 

тАЬGoodbyeтБатАФgoodbye,тАЭ she repeated hurriedly; and as she moved away she heard him cry out on a last note of entreaty: тАЬAt least youтАЩll let me see you once more?тАЭ + 

Lily, on regaining the Gormer grounds, struck rapidly across the lawn toward the unfinished house, where she fancied that her hostess might be speculating, not too resignedly, on the cause of her delay; for, like many unpunctual persons, Mrs.┬аGormer disliked to be kept waiting. + 

As Miss Bart reached the avenue, however, she saw a smart phaeton with a high-stepping pair disappear behind the shrubbery in the direction of the gate; and on the doorstep stood Mrs.┬аGormer, with a glow of retrospective pleasure on her open countenance. At sight of Lily the glow deepened to an embarrassed red, and she said with a slight laugh: тАЬDid you see my visitor? Oh, I thought you came back by the avenue. It was Mrs.┬аGeorge DorsetтБатАФshe said sheтАЩd dropped in to make a neighbourly call.тАЭ + 

Lily met the announcement with her usual composure, though her experience of BerthaтАЩs idiosyncrasies would not have led her to include the neighbourly instinct among them; and Mrs.┬аGormer, relieved to see that she gave no sign of surprise, went on with a deprecating laugh: тАЬOf course what really brought her was curiosityтБатАФshe made me take her all over the house. But no one could have been nicerтБатАФno airs, you know, and so good-natured: I can quite see why people think her so fascinating.тАЭ + 

This surprising event, coinciding too completely with her meeting with Dorset to be regarded as contingent upon it, had yet immediately struck Lily with a vague sense of foreboding. It was not in BerthaтАЩs habits to be neighbourly, much less to make advances to anyone outside the immediate circle of her affinities. She had always consistently ignored the world of outer aspirants, or had recognized its individual members only when prompted by motives of self-interest; and the very capriciousness of her condescensions had, as Lily was aware, given them special value in the eyes of the persons she distinguished. Lily saw this now in Mrs.┬аGormerтАЩs unconcealable complacency, and in the happy irrelevance with which, for the next day or two, she quoted BerthaтАЩs opinions and speculated on the origin of her gown. All the secret ambitions which Mrs.┬аGormerтАЩs native indolence, and the attitude of her companions, kept in habitual abeyance, were now germinating afresh in the glow of BerthaтАЩs advances; and whatever the cause of the latter, Lily saw that, if they were followed up, they were likely to have a disturbing effect upon her own future. + 

She had arranged to break the length of her stay with her new friends by one or two visits to other acquaintances as recent; and on her return from this somewhat depressing excursion she was immediately conscious that Mrs.┬аDorsetтАЩs influence was still in the air. There had been another exchange of visits, a tea at a country-club, an encounter at a hunt ball; there was even a rumour of an approaching dinner, which Mattie Gormer, with an unnatural effort at discretion, tried to smuggle out of the conversation whenever Miss Bart took part in it. + 

The latter had already planned to return to town after a farewell Sunday with her friends; and, with Gerty FarishтАЩs aid, had discovered a small private hotel where she might establish herself for the winter. The hotel being on the edge of a fashionable neighbourhood, the price of the few square feet she was to occupy was considerably in excess of her means; but she found a justification for her dislike of poorer quarters in the argument that, at this particular juncture, it was of the utmost importance to keep up a show of prosperity. In reality, it was impossible for her, while she had the means to pay her way for a week ahead, to lapse into a form of existence like Gerty FarishтАЩs. She had never been so near the brink of insolvency; but she could at least manage to meet her weekly hotel bill, and having settled the heaviest of her previous debts out of the money she had received from Trenor, she had a still fair margin of credit to go upon. The situation, however, was not agreeable enough to lull her to complete unconsciousness of its insecurity. Her rooms, with their cramped outlook down a sallow vista of brick walls and fire-escapes, her lonely meals in the dark restaurant with its surcharged ceiling and haunting smell of coffeeтБатАФall these material discomforts, which were yet to be accounted as so many privileges soon to be withdrawn, kept constantly before her the disadvantages of her state; and her mind reverted the more insistently to Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs counsels. Beat about the question as she would, she knew the outcome of it was that she must try to marry Rosedale; and in this conviction she was fortified by an unexpected visit from George Dorset. + 

She found him, on the first Sunday after her return to town, pacing her narrow sitting-room to the imminent peril of the few knickknacks with which she had tried to disguise its plush exuberances; but the sight of her seemed to quiet him, and he said meekly that he hadnтАЩt come to bother herтБатАФthat he asked only to be allowed to sit for half an hour and talk of anything she liked. In reality, as she knew, he had but one subject: himself and his wretchedness; and it was the need of her sympathy that had drawn him back. But he began with a pretence of questioning her about herself, and as she replied, she saw that, for the first time, a faint realization of her plight penetrated the dense surface of his self-absorption. Was it possible that her old beast of an aunt had actually cut her off? That she was living alone like this because there was no one else for her to go to, and that she really hadnтАЩt more than enough to keep alive on till the wretched little legacy was paid? The fibres of sympathy were nearly atrophied in him, but he was suffering so intensely that he had a faint glimpse of what other sufferings might meanтБатАФand, as she perceived, an almost simultaneous perception of the way in which her particular misfortunes might serve him. + 

When at length she dismissed him, on the pretext that she must dress for dinner, he lingered entreatingly on the threshold to blurt out: тАЬItтАЩs been such a comfortтБатАФdo say youтАЩll let me see you againтБатАФтАЭ But to this direct appeal it was impossible to give an assent; and she said with friendly decisiveness: тАЬIтАЩm sorryтБатАФbut you know why I canтАЩt.тАЭ + 

He coloured to the eyes, pushed the door shut, and stood before her embarrassed but insistent. тАЬI know how you might, if you wouldтБатАФif things were differentтБатАФand it lies with you to make them so. ItтАЩs just a word to say, and you put me out of my misery!тАЭ + 

Their eyes met, and for a second she trembled again with the nearness of the temptation. тАЬYouтАЩre mistaken; I know nothing; I saw nothing,тАЭ she exclaimed, striving, by sheer force of reiteration, to build a barrier between herself and her peril; and as he turned away, groaning out тАЬYou sacrifice us both,тАЭ she continued to repeat, as if it were a charm: тАЬI know nothingтБатАФabsolutely nothing.тАЭ + 

Lily had seen little of Rosedale since her illuminating talk with Mrs.┬аFisher, but on the two or three occasions when they had met she was conscious of having distinctly advanced in his favour. There could be no doubt that he admired her as much as ever, and she believed it rested with herself to raise his admiration to the point where it should bear down the lingering counsels of expediency. The task was not an easy one; but neither was it easy, in her long sleepless nights, to face the thought of what George Dorset was so clearly ready to offer. Baseness for baseness, she hated the other least: there were even moments when a marriage with Rosedale seemed the only honourable solution of her difficulties. She did not indeed let her imagination range beyond the day of plighting: after that everything faded into a haze of material well-being, in which the personality of her benefactor remained mercifully vague. She had learned, in her long vigils, that there were certain things not good to think of, certain midnight images that must at any cost be exorcisedтБатАФand one of these was the image of herself as RosedaleтАЩs wife. + 

Carry Fisher, on the strength, as she frankly owned, of the BrysтАЩ Newport success, had taken for the autumn months a small house at Tuxedo; and thither Lily was bound on the Sunday after DorsetтАЩs visit. Though it was nearly dinnertime when she arrived, her hostess was still out, and the firelit quiet of the small silent house descended on her spirit with a sense of peace and familiarity. It may be doubted if such an emotion had ever before been evoked by Carry FisherтАЩs surroundings; but, contrasted to the world in which Lily had lately lived, there was an air of repose and stability in the very placing of the furniture, and in the quiet competence of the parlourmaid who led her up to her room. Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs unconventionality was, after all, a merely superficial divergence from an inherited social creed, while the manners of the Gormer circle represented their first attempt to formulate such a creed for themselves. + 

It was the first time since her return from Europe that Lily had found herself in a congenial atmosphere, and the stirring of familiar associations had almost prepared her, as she descended the stairs before dinner, to enter upon a group of her old acquaintances. But this expectation was instantly checked by the reflection that the friends who remained loyal were precisely those who would be least willing to expose her to such encounters; and it was hardly with surprise that she found, instead, Mr.┬аRosedale kneeling domestically on the drawing-room hearth before his hostessтАЩs little girl. + 

Rosedale in the paternal role was hardly a figure to soften Lily; yet she could not but notice a quality of homely goodness in his advances to the child. They were not, at any rate, the premeditated and perfunctory endearments of the guest under his hostessтАЩs eye, for he and the little girl had the room to themselves; and something in his attitude made him seem a simple and kindly being compared to the small critical creature who endured his homage. Yes, he would be kindтБатАФLily, from the threshold, had time to feelтБатАФkind in his gross, unscrupulous, rapacious way, the way of the predatory creature with his mate. She had but a moment in which to consider whether this glimpse of the fireside man mitigated her repugnance, or gave it, rather, a more concrete and intimate form; for at sight of her he was immediately on his feet again, the florid and dominant Rosedale of Mattie GormerтАЩs drawing-room. + 

It was no surprise to Lily to find that he had been selected as her only fellow-guest. Though she and her hostess had not met since the latterтАЩs tentative discussion of her future, Lily knew that the acuteness which enabled Mrs.┬аFisher to lay a safe and pleasant course through a world of antagonistic forces was not infrequently exercised for the benefit of her friends. It was, in fact, characteristic of Carry that, while she actively gleaned her own stores from the fields of affluence, her real sympathies were on the other sideтБатАФwith the unlucky, the unpopular, the unsuccessful, with all her hungry fellow-toilers in the shorn stubble of success. + 

Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs experience guarded her against the mistake of exposing Lily, for the first evening, to the unmitigated impression of RosedaleтАЩs personality. Kate Corby and two or three men dropped in to dinner, and Lily, alive to every detail of her friendтАЩs method, saw that such opportunities as had been contrived for her were to be deferred till she had, as it were, gained courage to make effectual use of them. She had a sense of acquiescing in this plan with the passiveness of a sufferer resigned to the surgeonтАЩs touch; and this feeling of almost lethargic helplessness continued when, after the departure of the guests, Mrs.┬аFisher followed her upstairs. + 

тАЬMay I come in and smoke a cigarette over your fire? If we talk in my room we shall disturb the child.тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher looked about her with the eye of the solicitous hostess. тАЬI hope youтАЩve managed to make yourself comfortable, dear? IsnтАЩt it a jolly little house? ItтАЩs such a blessing to have a few quiet weeks with the baby.тАЭ + 

Carry, in her rare moments of prosperity, became so expansively maternal that Miss Bart sometimes wondered whether, if she could ever get time and money enough, she would not end by devoting them both to her daughter. + 

тАЬItтАЩs a well-earned rest: IтАЩll say that for myself,тАЭ she continued, sinking down with a sigh of content on the pillowed lounge near the fire. тАЬLouisa Bry is a stern taskmaster: I often used to wish myself back with the Gormers. Talk of love making people jealous and suspiciousтБатАФitтАЩs nothing to social ambition! Louisa used to lie awake at night wondering whether the women who called on us called on me because I was with her, or on her because she was with me; and she was always laying traps to find out what I thought. Of course I had to disown my oldest friends, rather than let her suspect she owed me the chance of making a single acquaintanceтБатАФwhen, all the while, that was what she had me there for, and what she wrote me a handsome cheque for when the season was over!тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аFisher was not a woman who talked of herself without cause, and the practice of direct speech, far from precluding in her an occasional resort to circuitous methods, served rather, at crucial moments, the purpose of the jugglerтАЩs chatter while he shifts the contents of his sleeves. Through the haze of her cigarette smoke she continued to gaze meditatively at Miss Bart, who, having dismissed her maid, sat before the toilet-table shaking out over her shoulders the loosened undulations of her hair. + 

тАЬYour hairтАЩs wonderful, Lily. ThinnerтБатАФ? What does that matter, when itтАЩs so light and alive? So many womenтАЩs worries seem to go straight to their hairтБатАФbut yours looks as if there had never been an anxious thought under it. I never saw you look better than you did this evening. Mattie Gormer told me that Morpeth wanted to paint youтБатАФwhy donтАЩt you let him?тАЭ + 

Miss BartтАЩs immediate answer was to address a critical glance to the reflection of the countenance under discussion. Then she said, with a slight touch of irritation: тАЬI donтАЩt care to accept a portrait from Paul Morpeth.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аFisher mused. тАЬNтБатАФno. And just now, especiallyтБатАФwell, he can do you after youтАЩre married.тАЭ She waited a moment, and then went on: тАЬBy the way, I had a visit from Mattie the other day. She turned up here last SundayтБатАФand with Bertha Dorset, of all people in the world!тАЭ + 

She paused again to measure the effect of this announcement on her hearer, but the brush in Miss BartтАЩs lifted hand maintained its unwavering stroke from brow to nape. + 

тАЬI never was more astonished,тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher pursued. тАЬI donтАЩt know two women less predestined to intimacyтБатАФfrom BerthaтАЩs standpoint, that is; for of course poor Mattie thinks it natural enough that she should be singled outтБатАФIтАЩve no doubt the rabbit always thinks it is fascinating the anaconda. Well, you know IтАЩve always told you that Mattie secretly longed to bore herself with the really fashionable; and now that the chance has come, I see that sheтАЩs capable of sacrificing all her old friends to it.тАЭ + 

Lily laid aside her brush and turned a penetrating glance upon her friend. тАЬIncluding me?тАЭ she suggested. + 

тАЬAh, my dear,тАЭ murmured Mrs.┬аFisher, rising to push back a log from the hearth. + 

тАЬThatтАЩs what Bertha means, isnтАЩt it?тАЭ Miss Bart went on steadily. тАЬFor of course she always means something; and before I left Long Island I saw that she was beginning to lay her toils for Mattie.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аFisher sighed evasively. тАЬShe has her fast now, at any rate. To think of that loud independence of MattieтАЩs being only a subtler form of snobbishness! Bertha can already make her believe anything she pleasesтБатАФand IтАЩm afraid sheтАЩs begun, my poor child, by insinuating horrors about you.тАЭ + 

Lily flushed under the shadow of her drooping hair. тАЬThe world is too vile,тАЭ she murmured, averting herself from Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs anxious scrutiny. + 

тАЬItтАЩs not a pretty place; and the only way to keep a footing in it is to fight it on its own termsтБатАФand above all, my dear, not alone!тАЭ Mrs.┬аFisher gathered up her floating implications in a resolute grasp. тАЬYouтАЩve told me so little that I can only guess what has been happening; but in the rush we all live in thereтАЩs no time to keep on hating anyone without a cause, and if Bertha is still nasty enough to want to injure you with other people it must be because sheтАЩs still afraid of you. From her standpoint thereтАЩs only one reason for being afraid of you; and my own idea is that, if you want to punish her, you hold the means in your hand. I believe you can marry George Dorset tomorrow; but if you donтАЩt care for that particular form of retaliation, the only thing to save you from Bertha is to marry somebody else.тАЭ + 

VII + 

The light projected on the situation by Mrs.┬аFisher had the cheerless distinctness of a winter dawn. It outlined the facts with a cold precision unmodified by shade or colour, and refracted, as it were, from the blank walls of the surrounding limitations: she had opened windows from which no sky was ever visible. But the idealist subdued to vulgar necessities must employ vulgar minds to draw the inferences to which he cannot stoop; and it was easier for Lily to let Mrs.┬аFisher formulate her case than to put it plainly to herself. Once confronted with it, however, she went the full length of its consequences; and these had never been more clearly present to her than when, the next afternoon, she set out for a walk with Rosedale. + 

It was one of those still November days when the air is haunted with the light of summer, and something in the lines of the landscape, and in the golden haze which bathed them, recalled to Miss Bart the September afternoon when she had climbed the slopes of Bellomont with Selden. The importunate memory was kept before her by its ironic contrast to her present situation, since her walk with Selden had represented an irresistible flight from just such a climax as the present excursion was designed to bring about. But other memories importuned her also; the recollection of similar situations, as skillfully led up to, but through some malice of fortune, or her own unsteadiness of purpose, always failing of the intended result. Well, her purpose was steady enough now. She saw that the whole weary work of rehabilitation must begin again, and against far greater odds, if Bertha Dorset should succeed in breaking up her friendship with the Gormers; and her longing for shelter and security was intensified by the passionate desire to triumph over Bertha, as only wealth and predominance could triumph over her. As the wife of RosedaleтБатАФthe Rosedale she felt it in her power to createтБатАФshe would at least present an invulnerable front to her enemy. + 

She had to draw upon this thought, as upon some fiery stimulant, to keep up her part in the scene toward which Rosedale was too frankly tending. As she walked beside him, shrinking in every nerve from the way in which his look and tone made free of her, yet telling herself that this momentary endurance of his mood was the price she must pay for her ultimate power over him, she tried to calculate the exact point at which concession must turn to resistance, and the price he would have to pay be made equally clear to him. But his dapper self-confidence seemed impenetrable to such hints, and she had a sense of something hard and self-contained behind the superficial warmth of his manner. + 

They had been seated for some time in the seclusion of a rocky glen above the lake, when she suddenly cut short the culmination of an impassioned period by turning upon him the grave loveliness of her gaze. + 

тАЬI do believe what you say, Mr.┬аRosedale,тАЭ she said quietly; тАЬand I am ready to marry you whenever you wish.тАЭ + 

Rosedale, reddening to the roots of his glossy hair, received this announcement with a recoil which carried him to his feet, where he halted before her in an attitude of almost comic discomfiture. + 

тАЬFor I suppose that is what you do wish,тАЭ she continued, in the same quiet tone. тАЬAnd, though I was unable to consent when you spoke to me in this way before, I am ready, now that I know you so much better, to trust my happiness to your hands.тАЭ + 

She spoke with the noble directness which she could command on such occasions, and which was like a large steady light thrown across the tortuous darkness of the situation. In its inconvenient brightness Rosedale seemed to waver a moment, as though conscious that every avenue of escape was unpleasantly illuminated. + 

Then he gave a short laugh, and drew out a gold cigarette-case, in which, with plump jewelled fingers, he groped for a gold-tipped cigarette. Selecting one, he paused to contemplate it a moment before saying: тАЬMy dear Miss Lily, IтАЩm sorry if thereтАЩs been any little misapprehension between usтАФbut you made me feel my suit was so hopeless that I had really no intention of renewing it.тАЭ + 

LilyтАЩs blood tingled with the grossness of the rebuff; but she checked the first leap of her anger, and said in a tone of gentle dignity: тАЬI have no one but myself to blame if I gave you the impression that my decision was final.тАЭ + 

Her wordplay was always too quick for him, and this reply held him in puzzled silence while she extended her hand and added, with the faintest inflection of sadness in her voice: тАЬBefore we bid each other goodbye, I want at least to thank you for having once thought of me as you did.тАЭ + 

The touch of her hand, the moving softness of her look, thrilled a vulnerable fibre in Rosedale. It was her exquisite inaccessibleness, the sense of distance she could convey without a hint of disdain, that made it most difficult for him to give her up. + 

тАЬWhy do you talk of saying goodbye? AinтАЩt we going to be good friends all the same?тАЭ he urged, without releasing her hand. + 

She drew it away quietly. тАЬWhat is your idea of being good friends?тАЭ she returned with a slight smile. тАЬMaking love to me without asking me to marry you?тАЭ + 

Rosedale laughed with a recovered sense of ease. тАЬWell, thatтАЩs about the size of it, I suppose. I canтАЩt help making love to youтБатАФI donтАЩt see how any man could; but I donтАЩt mean to ask you to marry me as long as I can keep out of it.тАЭ + 

She continued to smile. тАЬI like your frankness; but I am afraid our friendship can hardly continue on those terms.тАЭ + 

She turned away, as though to mark that its final term had in fact been reached, and he followed her for a few steps with a baffled sense of her having after all kept the game in her own hands. + 

тАЬMiss LilyтБатАФтАЭ he began impulsively; but she walked on without seeming to hear him. + 

He overtook her in a few quick strides, and laid an entreating hand on her arm. тАЬMiss LilyтБатАФdonтАЩt hurry away like that. YouтАЩre beastly hard on a fellow; but if you donтАЩt mind speaking the truth I donтАЩt see why you shouldnтАЩt allow me to do the same.тАЭ + 

She had paused a moment with raised brows, drawing away instinctively from his touch, though she made no effort to evade his words. + 

тАЬI was under the impression,тАЭ she rejoined, тАЬthat you had done so without waiting for my permission.тАЭ + 

тАЬWellтБатАФwhy shouldnтАЩt you hear my reasons for doing it, then? WeтАЩre neither of us such new hands that a little plain speaking is going to hurt us. IтАЩm all broken up on you: thereтАЩs nothing new in that. IтАЩm more in love with you than I was this time last year; but IтАЩve got to face the fact that the situation is changed.тАЭ + 

She continued to confront him with the same air of ironic composure. тАЬYou mean to say that IтАЩm not as desirable a match as you thought me?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes; thatтАЩs what I do mean,тАЭ he answered resolutely. тАЬI wonтАЩt go into whatтАЩs happened. I donтАЩt believe the stories about youтБатАФI donтАЩt want to believe them. But theyтАЩre there, and my not believing them ainтАЩt going to alter the situation.тАЭ + 

She flushed to her temples, but the extremity of her need checked the retort on her lip and she continued to face him composedly. тАЬIf they are not true,тАЭ she said, тАЬdoesnтАЩt that alter the situation?тАЭ + 

He met this with a steady gaze of his small stocktaking eyes, which made her feel herself no more than some superfine human merchandise. тАЬI believe it does in novels; but IтАЩm certain it donтАЩt in real life. You know that as well as I do: if weтАЩre speaking the truth, letтАЩs speak the whole truth. Last year I was wild to marry you, and you wouldnтАЩt look at me: this yearтБатАФwell, you appear to be willing. Now, what has changed in the interval? Your situation, thatтАЩs all. Then you thought you could do better; nowтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬYou think you can?тАЭ broke from her ironically. + 

тАЬWhy, yes, I do: in one way, that is.тАЭ He stood before her, his hands in his pockets, his chest sturdily expanded under its vivid waistcoat. тАЬItтАЩs this way, you see: IтАЩve had a pretty steady grind of it these last years, working up my social position. Think itтАЩs funny I should say that? Why should I mind saying I want to get into society? A man ainтАЩt ashamed to say he wants to own a racing stable or a picture gallery. Well, a taste for societyтАЩs just another kind of hobby. Perhaps I want to get even with some of the people who cold-shouldered me last yearтБатАФput it that way if it sounds better. Anyhow, I want to have the run of the best houses; and IтАЩm getting it too, little by little. But I know the quickest way to queer yourself with the right people is to be seen with the wrong ones; and thatтАЩs the reason I want to avoid mistakes.тАЭ + 

Miss Bart continued to stand before him in a silence that might have expressed either mockery or a half-reluctant respect for his candour, and after a momentтАЩs pause he went on: тАЬThere it is, you see. IтАЩm more in love with you than ever, but if I married you now IтАЩd queer myself for good and all, and everything IтАЩve worked for all these years would be wasted.тАЭ + 

She received this with a look from which all tinge of resentment had faded. After the tissue of social falsehoods in which she had so long moved it was refreshing to step into the open daylight of an avowed expediency. + 

тАЬI understand you,тАЭ she said. тАЬA year ago I should have been of use to you, and now I should be an encumbrance; and I like you for telling me so quite honestly.тАЭ She extended her hand with a smile. + 

Again the gesture had a disturbing effect upon Mr.┬аRosedaleтАЩs self-command. тАЬBy George, youтАЩre a dead game sport, you are!тАЭ he exclaimed; and as she began once more to move away, he broke out suddenlyтБатАФтАЬMiss LilyтБатАФstop. You know I donтАЩt believe those storiesтБатАФI believe they were all got up by a woman who didnтАЩt hesitate to sacrifice you to her own convenienceтБатАФтАЭ + 

Lily drew away with a movement of quick disdain: it was easier to endure his insolence than his commiseration. + 

тАЬYou are very kind; but I donтАЩt think we need discuss the matter farther.тАЭ + 

But RosedaleтАЩs natural imperviousness to hints made it easy for him to brush such resistance aside. тАЬI donтАЩt want to discuss anything; I just want to put a plain case before you,тАЭ he persisted. + 

She paused in spite of herself, held by the note of a new purpose in his look and tone; and he went on, keeping his eyes firmly upon her: тАЬThe wonder to me is that youтАЩve waited so long to get square with that woman, when youтАЩve had the power in your hands.тАЭ She continued silent under the rush of astonishment that his words produced, and he moved a step closer to ask with low-toned directness: тАЬWhy donтАЩt you use those letters of hers you bought last year?тАЭ + 

Lily stood speechless under the shock of the interrogation. In the words preceding it she had conjectured, at most, an allusion to her supposed influence over George Dorset; nor did the astonishing indelicacy of the reference diminish the likelihood of RosedaleтАЩs resorting to it. But now she saw how far short of the mark she had fallen; and the surprise of learning that he had discovered the secret of the letters left her, for the moment, unconscious of the special use to which he was in the act of putting his knowledge. + 

Her temporary loss of self-possession gave him time to press his point; and he went on quickly, as though to secure completer control of the situation: тАЬYou see I know where you standтБатАФI know how completely sheтАЩs in your power. That sounds like stage-talk, donтАЩt it?тБатАФbut thereтАЩs a lot of truth in some of those old gags; and I donтАЩt suppose you bought those letters simply because youтАЩre collecting autographs.тАЭ + 

She continued to look at him with a deepening bewilderment: her only clear impression resolved itself into a scared sense of his power. + 

тАЬYouтАЩre wondering how I found out about тАЩem?тАЭ he went on, answering her look with a note of conscious pride. тАЬPerhaps youтАЩve forgotten that IтАЩm the owner of the BenedickтБатАФbut never mind about that now. Getting on to things is a mighty useful accomplishment in business, and IтАЩve simply extended it to my private affairs. For this is partly my affair, you seeтБатАФat least, it depends on you to make it so. LetтАЩs look the situation straight in the eye. Mrs.┬аDorset, for reasons we neednтАЩt go into, did you a beastly bad turn last spring. Everybody knows what Mrs.┬аDorset is, and her best friends wouldnтАЩt believe her on oath where their own interests were concerned; but as long as theyтАЩre out of the row itтАЩs much easier to follow her lead than to set themselves against it, and youтАЩve simply been sacrificed to their laziness and selfishness. IsnтАЩt that a pretty fair statement of the case?тБатАФWell, some people say youтАЩve got the neatest kind of an answer in your hands: that George Dorset would marry you tomorrow, if youтАЩd tell him all you know, and give him the chance to show the lady the door. I daresay he would; but you donтАЩt seem to care for that particular form of getting even, and, taking a purely business view of the question, I think youтАЩre right. In a deal like that, nobody comes out with perfectly clean hands, and the only way for you to start fresh is to get Bertha Dorset to back you up, instead of trying to fight her.тАЭ + 

He paused long enough to draw breath, but not to give her time for the expression of her gathering resistance; and as he pressed on, expounding and elucidating his idea with the directness of the man who has no doubts of his cause, she found the indignation gradually freezing on her lip, found herself held fast in the grasp of his argument by the mere cold strength of its presentation. There was no time now to wonder how he had heard of her obtaining the letters: all her world was dark outside the monstrous glare of his scheme for using them. And it was not, after the first moment, the horror of the idea that held her spellbound, subdued to his will; it was rather its subtle affinity to her own inmost cravings. He would marry her tomorrow if she could regain Bertha DorsetтАЩs friendship; and to induce the open resumption of that friendship, and the tacit retractation of all that had caused its withdrawal, she had only to put to the lady the latent menace contained in the packet so miraculously delivered into her hands. Lily saw in a flash the advantage of this course over that which poor Dorset had pressed upon her. The other plan depended for its success on the infliction of an open injury, while this reduced the transaction to a private understanding, of which no third person need have the remotest hint. Put by Rosedale in terms of businesslike give-and-take, this understanding took on the harmless air of a mutual accommodation, like a transfer of property or a revision of boundary lines. It certainly simplified life to view it as a perpetual adjustment, a play of party politics, in which every concession had its recognized equivalent: LilyтАЩs tired mind was fascinated by this escape from fluctuating ethical estimates into a region of concrete weights and measures. + 

Rosedale, as she listened, seemed to read in her silence not only a gradual acquiescence in his plan, but a dangerously far-reaching perception of the chances it offered; for as she continued to stand before him without speaking, he broke out, with a quick return upon himself: тАЬYou see how simple it is, donтАЩt you? Well, donтАЩt be carried away by the idea that itтАЩs too simple. It isnтАЩt exactly as if youтАЩd started in with a clean bill of health. Now weтАЩre talking letтАЩs call things by their right names, and clear the whole business up. You know well enough that Bertha Dorset couldnтАЩt have touched you if there hadnтАЩt beenтБатАФwellтБатАФquestions asked beforeтБатАФlittle points of interrogation, eh? Bound to happen to a good-looking girl with stingy relatives, I suppose; anyhow, they did happen, and she found the ground prepared for her. Do you see where IтАЩm coming out? You donтАЩt want these little questions cropping up again. ItтАЩs one thing to get Bertha Dorset into lineтБатАФbut what you want is to keep her there. You can frighten her fast enoughтБатАФbut how are you going to keep her frightened? By showing her that youтАЩre as powerful as she is. All the letters in the world wonтАЩt do that for you as you are now; but with a big backing behind you, youтАЩll keep her just where you want her to be. ThatтАЩs my share in the businessтБатАФthatтАЩs what IтАЩm offering you. You canтАЩt put the thing through without meтБатАФdonтАЩt run away with any idea that you can. In six months youтАЩd be back again among your old worries, or worse ones; and here I am, ready to lift you out of тАЩem tomorrow if you say so. Do you say so, Miss Lily?тАЭ he added, moving suddenly nearer. + 

The words, and the movement which accompanied them, combined to startle Lily out of the state of tranced subservience into which she had insensibly slipped. Light comes in devious ways to the groping consciousness, and it came to her now through the disgusted perception that her would-be accomplice assumed, as a matter of course, the likelihood of her distrusting him and perhaps trying to cheat him of his share of the spoils. This glimpse of his inner mind seemed to present the whole transaction in a new aspect, and she saw that the essential baseness of the act lay in its freedom from risk. + 

She drew back with a quick gesture of rejection, saying, in a voice that was a surprise to her own ears: тАЬYou are mistakenтБатАФquite mistakenтБатАФboth in the facts and in what you infer from them.тАЭ + 

Rosedale stared a moment, puzzled by her sudden dash in a direction so different from that toward which she had appeared to be letting him guide her. + 

тАЬNow what on earth does that mean? I thought we understood each other!тАЭ he exclaimed; and to her murmur of тАЬAh, we do now,тАЭ he retorted with a sudden burst of violence: тАЬI suppose itтАЩs because the letters are to him, then? Well, IтАЩll be damned if I see what thanks youтАЩve got from him!тАЭ + 

VIII + 

The autumn days declined to winter. Once more the leisure world was in transition between country and town, and Fifth Avenue, still deserted at the weekend, showed from Monday to Friday a broadening stream of carriages between house-fronts gradually restored to consciousness. + 

The Horse Show, some two weeks earlier, had produced a passing semblance of reanimation, filling the theatres and restaurants with a human display of the same costly and high-stepping kind as circled daily about its ring. In Miss BartтАЩs world the Horse Show, and the public it attracted, had ostensibly come to be classed among the spectacles disdained of the elect; but, as the feudal lord might sally forth to join in the dance on his village green, so society, unofficially and incidentally, still condescended to look in upon the scene. Mrs.┬аGormer, among the rest, was not above seizing such an occasion for the display of herself and her horses; and Lily was given one or two opportunities of appearing at her friendтАЩs side in the most conspicuous box the house afforded. But this lingering semblance of intimacy made her only the more conscious of a change in the relation between Mattie and herself, of a dawning discrimination, a gradually formed social standard, emerging from Mrs.┬аGormerтАЩs chaotic view of life. It was inevitable that Lily herself should constitute the first sacrifice to this new ideal, and she knew that, once the Gormers were established in town, the whole drift of fashionable life would facilitate MattieтАЩs detachment from her. She had, in short, failed to make herself indispensable; or rather, her attempt to do so had been thwarted by an influence stronger than any she could exert. That influence, in its last analysis, was simply the power of money: Bertha DorsetтАЩs social credit was based on an impregnable bank-account. + 

Lily knew that Rosedale had overstated neither the difficulty of her own position nor the completeness of the vindication he offered: once BerthaтАЩs match in material resources, her superior gifts would make it easy for her to dominate her adversary. An understanding of what such domination would mean, and of the disadvantages accruing from her rejection of it, was brought home to Lily with increasing clearness during the early weeks of the winter. Hitherto, she had kept up a semblance of movement outside the main flow of the social current; but with the return to town, and the concentrating of scattered activities, the mere fact of not slipping back naturally into her old habits of life marked her as being unmistakably excluded from them. If one were not a part of the seasonтАЩs fixed routine, one swung unsphered in a void of social nonexistence. Lily, for all her dissatisfied dreaming, had never really conceived the possibility of revolving about a different centre: it was easy enough to despise the world, but decidedly difficult to find any other habitable region. Her sense of irony never quite deserted her, and she could still note, with self-directed derision, the abnormal value suddenly acquired by the most tiresome and insignificant details of her former life. Its very drudgeries had a charm now that she was involuntarily released from them: card-leaving, note-writing, enforced civilities to the dull and elderly, and the smiling endurance of tedious dinnersтБатАФhow pleasantly such obligations would have filled the emptiness of her days! She did indeed leave cards in plenty; she kept herself, with a smiling and valiant persistence, well in the eye of her world; nor did she suffer any of those gross rebuffs which sometimes produce a wholesome reaction of contempt in their victim. Society did not turn away from her, it simply drifted by, preoccupied and inattentive, letting her feel, to the full measure of her humbled pride, how completely she had been the creature of its favour. + 

She had rejected RosedaleтАЩs suggestion with a promptness of scorn almost surprising to herself: she had not lost her capacity for high flashes of indignation. But she could not breathe long on the heights; there had been nothing in her training to develop any continuity of moral strength: what she craved, and really felt herself entitled to, was a situation in which the noblest attitude should also be the easiest. Hitherto her intermittent impulses of resistance had sufficed to maintain her self-respect. If she slipped she recovered her footing, and it was only afterward that she was aware of having recovered it each time on a slightly lower level. She had rejected RosedaleтАЩs offer without conscious effort; her whole being had risen against it; and she did not yet perceive that, by the mere act of listening to him, she had learned to live with ideas which would once have been intolerable to her. + 

To Gerty Farish, keeping watch over her with a tenderer if less discerning eye than Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs, the results of the struggle were already distinctly visible. She did not, indeed, know what hostages Lily had already given to expediency; but she saw her passionately and irretrievably pledged to the ruinous policy of тАЬkeeping up.тАЭ Gerty could smile now at her own early dream of her friendтАЩs renovation through adversity: she understood clearly enough that Lily was not of those to whom privation teaches the unimportance of what they have lost. But this very fact, to Gerty, made her friend the more piteously in want of aid, the more exposed to the claims of a tenderness she was so little conscious of needing. + 

Lily, since her return to town, had not often climbed Miss FarishтАЩs stairs. There was something irritating to her in the mute interrogation of GertyтАЩs sympathy: she felt the real difficulties of her situation to be incommunicable to anyone whose theory of values was so different from her own, and the restrictions of GertyтАЩs life, which had once had the charm of contrast, now reminded her too painfully of the limits to which her own existence was shrinking. When at length, one afternoon, she put into execution the belated resolve to visit her friend, this sense of shrunken opportunities possessed her with unusual intensity. The walk up Fifth Avenue, unfolding before her, in the brilliance of the hard winter sunlight, an interminable procession of fastidiously-equipped carriagesтБатАФgiving her, through the little squares of brougham-windows, peeps of familiar profiles bent above visiting-lists, of hurried hands dispensing notes and cards to attendant footmenтБатАФthis glimpse of the ever-revolving wheels of the great social machine made Lily more than ever conscious of the steepness and narrowness of GertyтАЩs stairs, and of the cramped blind alley of life to which they led. Dull stairs destined to be mounted by dull people: how many thousands of insignificant figures were going up and down such stairs all over the world at that very momentтБатАФfigures as shabby and uninteresting as that of the middle-aged lady in limp black who descended GertyтАЩs flight as Lily climbed to it! + 

тАЬThat was poor Miss Jane SilvertonтБатАФshe came to talk things over with me: she and her sister want to do something to support themselves,тАЭ Gerty explained, as Lily followed her into the sitting-room. + 

тАЬTo support themselves? Are they so hard up?тАЭ Miss Bart asked with a touch of irritation: she had not come to listen to the woes of other people. + 

тАЬIтАЩm afraid they have nothing left: NedтАЩs debts have swallowed up everything. They had such hopes, you know, when he broke away from Carry Fisher; they thought Bertha Dorset would be such a good influence, because she doesnтАЩt care for cards, andтБатАФwell, she talked quite beautifully to poor Miss Jane about feeling as if Ned were her younger brother, and wanting to carry him off on the yacht, so that he might have a chance to drop cards and racing, and take up his literary work again.тАЭ + 

Miss Farish paused with a sigh which reflected the perplexity of her departing visitor. тАЬBut that isnтАЩt all; it isnтАЩt even the worst. It seems that Ned has quarrelled with the Dorsets; or at least Bertha wonтАЩt allow him to see her, and he is so unhappy about it that he has taken to gambling again, and going about with all sorts of queer people. And cousin Grace Van Osburgh accuses him of having had a very bad influence on Freddy, who left Harvard last spring, and has been a great deal with Ned ever since. She sent for Miss Jane, and made a dreadful scene; and Jack Stepney and Herbert Melson, who were there too, told Miss Jane that Freddy was threatening to marry some dreadful woman to whom Ned had introduced him, and that they could do nothing with him because now heтАЩs of age he has his own money. You can fancy how poor Miss Jane feltтБатАФshe came to me at once, and seemed to think that if I could get her something to do she could earn enough to pay NedтАЩs debts and send him awayтБатАФIтАЩm afraid she has no idea how long it would take her to pay for one of his evenings at bridge. And he was horribly in debt when he came back from the cruiseтБатАФI canтАЩt see why he should have spent so much more money under BerthaтАЩs influence than CarryтАЩs: can you?тАЭ + 

Lily met this query with an impatient gesture. тАЬMy dear Gerty, I always understand how people can spend much more moneyтБатАФnever how they can spend any less!тАЭ + 

She loosened her furs and settled herself in GertyтАЩs easy-chair, while her friend busied herself with the teacups. + 

тАЬBut what can they doтБатАФthe Miss Silvertons? How do they mean to support themselves?тАЭ she asked, conscious that the note of irritation still persisted in her voice. It was the very last topic she had meant to discussтБатАФit really did not interest her in the leastтБатАФbut she was seized by a sudden perverse curiosity to know how the two colourless shrinking victims of young SilvertonтАЩs sentimental experiments meant to cope with the grim necessity which lurked so close to her own threshold. + 

тАЬI donтАЩt knowтБатАФI am trying to find something for them. Miss Jane reads aloud very nicelyтБатАФbut itтАЩs so hard to find anyone who is willing to be read to. And Miss Annie paints a littleтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬOh, I knowтБатАФapple-blossoms on blotting-paper; just the kind of thing I shall be doing myself before long!тАЭ exclaimed Lily, starting up with a vehemence of movement that threatened destruction to Miss FarishтАЩs fragile tea-table. + 

Lily bent over to steady the cups; then she sank back into her seat. тАЬIтАЩd forgotten there was no room to dash about inтБатАФhow beautifully one does have to behave in a small flat! Oh, Gerty, I wasnтАЩt meant to be good,тАЭ she sighed out incoherently. + 

Gerty lifted an apprehensive look to her pale face, in which the eyes shone with a peculiar sleepless lustre. + 

тАЬYou look horribly tired, Lily; take your tea, and let me give you this cushion to lean against.тАЭ + 

Miss Bart accepted the cup of tea, but put back the cushion with an impatient hand. + 

тАЬDonтАЩt give me that! I donтАЩt want to lean backтБатАФI shall go to sleep if I do.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, why not, dear? IтАЩll be as quiet as a mouse,тАЭ Gerty urged affectionately. + 

тАЬNoтБатАФno; donтАЩt be quiet; talk to meтБатАФkeep me awake! I donтАЩt sleep at night, and in the afternoon a dreadful drowsiness creeps over me.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou donтАЩt sleep at night? Since when?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt knowтБатАФI canтАЩt remember.тАЭ She rose and put the empty cup on the tea-tray. тАЬAnother, and stronger, please; if I donтАЩt keep awake now I shall see horrors tonightтБатАФperfect horrors!тАЭ + 

тАЬBut theyтАЩll be worse if you drink too much tea.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo, noтБатАФgive it to me; and donтАЩt preach, please,тАЭ Lily returned imperiously. Her voice had a dangerous edge, and Gerty noticed that her hand shook as she held it out to receive the second cup. + 

тАЬBut you look so tired: IтАЩm sure you must be illтБатАФтАЭ + 

Miss Bart set down her cup with a start. тАЬDo I look ill? Does my face show it?тАЭ She rose and walked quickly toward the little mirror above the writing-table. тАЬWhat a horrid looking-glassтБатАФitтАЩs all blotched and discoloured. Anyone would look ghastly in it!тАЭ She turned back, fixing her plaintive eyes on Gerty. тАЬYou stupid dear, why do you say such odious things to me? ItтАЩs enough to make one ill to be told one looks so! And looking ill means looking ugly.тАЭ She caught GertyтАЩs wrists, and drew her close to the window. тАЬAfter all, IтАЩd rather know the truth. Look me straight in the face, Gerty, and tell me: am I perfectly frightful?тАЭ + 

тАЬYouтАЩre perfectly beautiful now, Lily: your eyes are shining, and your cheeks have grown so pink all of a suddenтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬAh, they were pale, thenтБатАФghastly pale, when I came in? Why donтАЩt you tell me frankly that IтАЩm a wreck? My eyes are bright now because IтАЩm so nervousтБатАФbut in the mornings they look like lead. And I can see the lines coming in my faceтБатАФthe lines of worry and disappointment and failure! Every sleepless night leaves a new oneтБатАФand how can I sleep, when I have such dreadful things to think about?тАЭ + 

тАЬDreadful thingsтБатАФwhat things?тАЭ asked Gerty, gently detaching her wrists from her friendтАЩs feverish fingers. + 

тАЬWhat things? Well, poverty, for oneтБатАФand I donтАЩt know any thatтАЩs more dreadful.тАЭ Lily turned away and sank with sudden weariness into the easy-chair near the tea-table. тАЬYou asked me just now if I could understand why Ned Silverton spent so much money. Of course I understandтБатАФhe spends it on living with the rich. You think we live on the rich, rather than with them: and so we do, in a senseтБатАФbut itтАЩs a privilege we have to pay for! We eat their dinners, and drink their wine, and smoke their cigarettes, and use their carriages and their opera-boxes and their private carsтБатАФyes, but thereтАЩs a tax to pay on every one of those luxuries. The man pays it by big tips to the servants, by playing cards beyond his means, by flowers and presentsтБатАФandтБатАФandтБатАФlots of other things that cost; the girl pays it by tips and cards tooтБатАФoh, yes, IтАЩve had to take up bridge againтБатАФand by going to the best dressmakers, and having just the right dress for every occasion, and always keeping herself fresh and exquisite and amusing!тАЭ + 

She leaned back for a moment, closing her eyes, and as she sat there, her pale lips slightly parted, and the lids dropped above her fagged brilliant gaze, Gerty had a startled perception of the change in her faceтБатАФof the way in which an ashen daylight seemed suddenly to extinguish its artificial brightness. She looked up, and the vision vanished. + 

тАЬIt doesnтАЩt sound very amusing, does it? And it isnтАЩtтБатАФIтАЩm sick to death of it! And yet the thought of giving it all up nearly kills meтБатАФitтАЩs what keeps me awake at night, and makes me so crazy for your strong tea. For I canтАЩt go on in this way much longer, you knowтБатАФIтАЩm nearly at the end of my tether. And then what can I doтБатАФhow on earth am I to keep myself alive? I see myself reduced to the fate of that poor Silverton womanтБатАФslinking about to employment agencies, and trying to sell painted blotting-pads to WomenтАЩs Exchanges! And there are thousands and thousands of women trying to do the same thing already, and not one of the number who has less idea how to earn a dollar than I have!тАЭ + 

She rose again with a hurried glance at the clock. тАЬItтАЩs late, and I must be offтБатАФI have an appointment with Carry Fisher. DonтАЩt look so worried, you dear thingтБатАФdonтАЩt think too much about the nonsense IтАЩve been talking.тАЭ She was before the mirror again, adjusting her hair with a light hand, drawing down her veil, and giving a dexterous touch to her furs. тАЬOf course, you know, it hasnтАЩt come to the employment agencies and the painted blotting-pads yet; but IтАЩm rather hard-up just for the moment, and if I could find something to doтБатАФnotes to write and visiting-lists to make up, or that kind of thingтБатАФit would tide me over till the legacy is paid. And Carry has promised to find somebody who wants a kind of social secretaryтБатАФyou know she makes a specialty of the helpless rich.тАЭ + 

Miss Bart had not revealed to Gerty the full extent of her anxiety. She was in fact in urgent and immediate need of money: money to meet the vulgar weekly claims which could neither be deferred nor evaded. To give up her apartment, and shrink to the obscurity of a boardinghouse, or the provisional hospitality of a bed in Gerty FarishтАЩs sitting-room, was an expedient which could only postpone the problem confronting her; and it seemed wiser as well as more agreeable to remain where she was and find some means of earning her living. The possibility of having to do this was one which she had never before seriously considered, and the discovery that, as a breadwinner, she was likely to prove as helpless and ineffectual as poor Miss Silverton, was a severe shock to her self-confidence. + 

Having been accustomed to take herself at the popular valuation, as a person of energy and resource, naturally fitted to dominate any situation in which she found herself, she vaguely imagined that such gifts would be of value to seekers after social guidance; but there was unfortunately no specific head under which the art of saying and doing the right thing could be offered in the market, and even Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs resourcefulness failed before the difficulty of discovering a workable vein in the vague wealth of LilyтАЩs graces. Mrs.┬аFisher was full of indirect expedients for enabling her friends to earn a living, and could conscientiously assert that she had put several opportunities of this kind before Lily; but more legitimate methods of bread-winning were as much out of her line as they were beyond the capacity of the sufferers she was generally called upon to assist. LilyтАЩs failure to profit by the chances already afforded her might, moreover, have justified the abandonment of farther effort on her behalf; but Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs inexhaustible good-nature made her an adept at creating artificial demands in response to an actual supply. In the pursuance of this end she at once started on a voyage of discovery in Miss BartтАЩs behalf; and as the result of her explorations she now summoned the latter with the announcement that she had тАЬfound something.тАЭ + 

Left to herself, Gerty mused distressfully upon her friendтАЩs plight, and her own inability to relieve it. It was clear to her that Lily, for the present, had no wish for the kind of help she could give. Miss Farish could see no hope for her friend but in a life completely reorganized and detached from its old associations; whereas all LilyтАЩs energies were centred in the determined effort to hold fast to those associations, to keep herself visibly identified with them, as long as the illusion could be maintained. Pitiable as such an attitude seemed to Gerty, she could not judge it as harshly as Selden, for instance, might have done. She had not forgotten the night of emotion when she and Lily had lain in each otherтАЩs arms, and she had seemed to feel her very heartтАЩs blood passing into her friend. The sacrifice she had made had seemed unavailing enough; no trace remained in Lily of the subduing influences of that hour; but GertyтАЩs tenderness, disciplined by long years of contact with obscure and inarticulate suffering, could wait on its object with a silent forbearance which took no account of time. She could not, however, deny herself the solace of taking anxious counsel with Lawrence Selden, with whom, since his return from Europe, she had renewed her old relation of cousinly confidence. + 

Selden himself had never been aware of any change in their relation. He found Gerty as he had left her, simple, undemanding and devoted, but with a quickened intelligence of the heart which he recognized without seeking to explain it. To Gerty herself it would once have seemed impossible that she should ever again talk freely with him of Lily Bart; but what had passed in the secrecy of her own breast seemed to resolve itself, when the mist of the struggle cleared, into a breaking down of the bounds of self, a deflecting of the wasted personal emotion into the general current of human understanding. + 

It was not till some two weeks after her visit from Lily that Gerty had the opportunity of communicating her fears to Selden. The latter, having presented himself on a Sunday afternoon, had lingered on through the dowdy animation of his cousinтАЩs tea-hour, conscious of something in her voice and eye which solicited a word apart; and as soon as the last visitor was gone Gerty opened her case by asking how lately he had seen Miss Bart. + 

SeldenтАЩs perceptible pause gave her time for a slight stir of surprise. + 

тАЬI havenтАЩt seen her at allтБатАФIтАЩve perpetually missed seeing her since she came back.тАЭ + 

This unexpected admission made Gerty pause too; and she was still hesitating on the brink of her subject when he relieved her by adding: тАЬIтАЩve wanted to see herтБатАФbut she seems to have been absorbed by the Gormer set since her return from Europe.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs all the more reason: sheтАЩs been very unhappy.тАЭ + 

тАЬUnhappy at being with the Gormers?тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, I donтАЩt defend her intimacy with the Gormers; but that too is at an end now, I think. You know people have been very unkind since Bertha Dorset quarrelled with her.тАЭ + 

тАЬAhтБатАФтАЭ Selden exclaimed, rising abruptly to walk to the window, where he remained with his eyes on the darkening street while his cousin continued to explain: тАЬJudy Trenor and her own family have deserted her tooтБатАФand all because Bertha Dorset has said such horrible things. And she is very poorтБатАФyou know Mrs.┬аPeniston cut her off with a small legacy, after giving her to understand that she was to have everything.тАЭ + 

тАЬYesтБатАФI know,тАЭ Selden assented curtly, turning back into the room, but only to stir about with restless steps in the circumscribed space between door and window. тАЬYesтБатАФsheтАЩs been abominably treated; but itтАЩs unfortunately the precise thing that a man who wants to show his sympathy canтАЩt say to her.тАЭ + 

His words caused Gerty a slight chill of disappointment. тАЬThere would be other ways of showing your sympathy,тАЭ she suggested. + 

Selden, with a slight laugh, sat down beside her on the little sofa which projected from the hearth. тАЬWhat are you thinking of, you incorrigible missionary?тАЭ he asked. + 

GertyтАЩs colour rose, and her blush was for a moment her only answer. Then she made it more explicit by saying: тАЬI am thinking of the fact that you and she used to be great friendsтБатАФthat she used to care immensely for what you thought of herтБатАФand that, if she takes your staying away as a sign of what you think now, I can imagine its adding a great deal to her unhappiness.тАЭ + 

тАЬMy dear child, donтАЩt add to it still moreтБатАФat least to your conception of itтБатАФby attributing to her all sorts of susceptibilities of your own.тАЭ Selden, for his life, could not keep a note of dryness out of his voice; but he met GertyтАЩs look of perplexity by saying more mildly: тАЬBut, though you immensely exaggerate the importance of anything I could do for Miss Bart, you canтАЩt exaggerate my readiness to do itтБатАФif you ask me to.тАЭ He laid his hand for a moment on hers, and there passed between them, on the current of the rare contact, one of those exchanges of meaning which fill the hidden reservoirs of affection. Gerty had the feeling that he measured the cost of her request as plainly as she read the significance of his reply; and the sense of all that was suddenly clear between them made her next words easier to find. + 

тАЬI do ask you, then; I ask you because she once told me that you had been a help to her, and because she needs help now as she has never needed it before. You know how dependent she has always been on ease and luxuryтБатАФhow she has hated what was shabby and ugly and uncomfortable. She canтАЩt help itтБатАФshe was brought up with those ideas, and has never been able to find her way out of them. But now all the things she cared for have been taken from her, and the people who taught her to care for them have abandoned her too; and it seems to me that if someone could reach out a hand and show her the other sideтБатАФshow her how much is left in life and in herselfтБатАФтАЭ Gerty broke off, abashed at the sound of her own eloquence, and impeded by the difficulty of giving precise expression to her vague yearning for her friendтАЩs retrieval. тАЬI canтАЩt help her myself: sheтАЩs passed out of my reach,тАЭ she continued. тАЬI think sheтАЩs afraid of being a burden to me. When she was last here, two weeks ago, she seemed dreadfully worried about her future: she said Carry Fisher was trying to find something for her to do. A few days later she wrote me that she had taken a position as private secretary, and that I was not to be anxious, for everything was all right, and she would come in and tell me about it when she had time; but she has never come, and I donтАЩt like to go to her, because I am afraid of forcing myself on her when IтАЩm not wanted. Once, when we were children, and I had rushed up after a long separation, and thrown my arms about her, she said: тАШPlease donтАЩt kiss me unless I ask you to, GertyтАЩтБатАФand she did ask me, a minute later; but since then IтАЩve always waited to be asked.тАЭ + 

Selden had listened in silence, with the concentrated look which his thin dark face could assume when he wished to guard it against any involuntary change of expression. When his cousin ended, he said with a slight smile: тАЬSince youтАЩve learned the wisdom of waiting, I donтАЩt see why you urge me to rush inтБатАФтАЭ but the troubled appeal of her eyes made him add, as he rose to take leave: тАЬStill, IтАЩll do what you wish, and not hold you responsible for my failure.тАЭ + 

SeldenтАЩs avoidance of Miss Bart had not been as unintentional as he had allowed his cousin to think. At first, indeed, while the memory of their last hour at Monte Carlo still held the full heat of his indignation, he had anxiously watched for her return; but she had disappointed him by lingering in England, and when she finally reappeared it happened that business had called him to the West, whence he came back only to learn that she was starting for Alaska with the Gormers. The revelation of this suddenly-established intimacy effectually chilled his desire to see her. If, at a moment when her whole life seemed to be breaking up, she could cheerfully commit its reconstruction to the Gormers, there was no reason why such accidents should ever strike her as irreparable. Every step she took seemed in fact to carry her farther from the region where, once or twice, he and she had met for an illumined moment; and the recognition of this fact, when its first pang had been surmounted, produced in him a sense of negative relief. It was much simpler for him to judge Miss Bart by her habitual conduct than by the rare deviations from it which had thrown her so disturbingly in his way; and every act of hers which made the recurrence of such deviations more unlikely, confirmed the sense of relief with which he returned to the conventional view of her. + 

But Gerty FarishтАЩs words had sufficed to make him see how little this view was really his, and how impossible it was for him to live quietly with the thought of Lily Bart. To hear that she was in need of helpтБатАФeven such vague help as he could offerтБатАФwas to be at once repossessed by that thought; and by the time he reached the street he had sufficiently convinced himself of the urgency of his cousinтАЩs appeal to turn his steps directly toward LilyтАЩs hotel. + 

There his zeal met a check in the unforeseen news that Miss Bart had moved away; but, on his pressing his enquiries, the clerk remembered that she had left an address, for which he presently began to search through his books. + 

It was certainly strange that she should have taken this step without letting Gerty Farish know of her decision; and Selden waited with a vague sense of uneasiness while the address was sought for. The process lasted long enough for uneasiness to turn to apprehension; but when at length a slip of paper was handed him, and he read on it: тАЬCare of Mrs.┬аNorma Hatch, Emporium Hotel,тАЭ his apprehension passed into an incredulous stare, and this into the gesture of disgust with which he tore the paper in two, and turned to walk quickly homeward. + 

IX + 

When Lily woke on the morning after her translation to the Emporium Hotel, her first feeling was one of purely physical satisfaction. The force of contrast gave an added keenness to the luxury of lying once more in a soft-pillowed bed, and looking across a spacious sunlit room at a breakfast-table set invitingly near the fire. Analysis and introspection might come later; but for the moment she was not even troubled by the excesses of the upholstery or the restless convolutions of the furniture. The sense of being once more lapped and folded in ease, as in some dense mild medium impenetrable to discomfort, effectually stilled the faintest note of criticism. + 

When, the afternoon before, she had presented herself to the lady to whom Carry Fisher had directed her, she had been conscious of entering a new world. CarryтАЩs vague presentment of Mrs.┬аNorma Hatch (whose reversion to her Christian name was explained as the result of her latest divorce), left her under the implication of coming тАЬfrom the West,тАЭ with the not unusual extenuation of having brought a great deal of money with her. She was, in short, rich, helpless, unplaced: the very subject for LilyтАЩs hand. Mrs.┬аFisher had not specified the line her friend was to take; she owned herself unacquainted with Mrs.┬аHatch, whom she тАЬknew aboutтАЭ through Melville Stancy, a lawyer in his leisure moments, and the Falstaff of a certain section of festive club life. Socially, Mr.┬аStancy might have been said to form a connecting link between the Gormer world and the more dimly-lit region on which Miss Bart now found herself entering. It was, however, only figuratively that the illumination of Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs world could be described as dim: in actual fact, Lily found her seated in a blaze of electric light, impartially projected from various ornamental excrescences on a vast concavity of pink damask and gilding, from which she rose like Venus from her shell. The analogy was justified by the appearance of the lady, whose large-eyed prettiness had the fixity of something impaled and shown under glass. This did not preclude the immediate discovery that she was some years younger than her visitor, and that under her showiness, her ease, the aggression of her dress and voice, there persisted that ineradicable innocence which, in ladies of her nationality, so curiously coexists with startling extremes of experience. + 

The environment in which Lily found herself was as strange to her as its inhabitants. She was unacquainted with the world of the fashionable New York hotelтБатАФa world overheated, over-upholstered, and over-fitted with mechanical appliances for the gratification of fantastic requirements, while the comforts of a civilized life were as unattainable as in a desert. Through this atmosphere of torrid splendour moved wan beings as richly upholstered as the furniture, beings without definite pursuits or permanent relations, who drifted on a languid tide of curiosity from restaurant to concert-hall, from palm-garden to music-room, from тАЬart exhibitтАЭ to dressmakerтАЩs opening. High-stepping horses or elaborately equipped motors waited to carry these ladies into vague metropolitan distances, whence they returned, still more wan from the weight of their sables, to be sucked back into the stifling inertia of the hotel routine. Somewhere behind them, in the background of their lives, there was doubtless a real past, peopled by real human activities: they themselves were probably the product of strong ambitions, persistent energies, diversified contacts with the wholesome roughness of life; yet they had no more real existence than the poetтАЩs shades in limbo. + 

Lily had not been long in this pallid world without discovering that Mrs.┬аHatch was its most substantial figure. That lady, though still floating in the void, showed faint symptoms of developing an outline; and in this endeavour she was actively seconded by Mr.┬аMelville Stancy. It was Mr.┬аStancy, a man of large resounding presence, suggestive of convivial occasions and of a chivalry finding expression in тАЬfirst-nightтАЭ boxes and thousand dollar bonbonni├иres, who had transplanted Mrs.┬аHatch from the scene of her first development to the higher stage of hotel life in the metropolis. It was he who had selected the horses with which she had taken the blue ribbon at the Show, had introduced her to the photographer whose portraits of her formed the recurring ornament of тАЬSunday Supplements,тАЭ and had got together the group which constituted her social world. It was a small group still, with heterogeneous figures suspended in large unpeopled spaces; but Lily did not take long to learn that its regulation was no longer in Mr.┬аStancyтАЩs hands. As often happens, the pupil had outstripped the teacher, and Mrs.┬аHatch was already aware of heights of elegance as well as depths of luxury beyond the world of the Emporium. This discovery at once produced in her a craving for higher guidance, for the adroit feminine hand which should give the right turn to her correspondence, the right тАЬlookтАЭ to her hats, the right succession to the items of her menus. It was, in short, as the regulator of a germinating social life that Miss BartтАЩs guidance was required; her ostensible duties as secretary being restricted by the fact that Mrs.┬аHatch, as yet, knew hardly anyone to write to. + 

The daily details of Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs existence were as strange to Lily as its general tenor. The ladyтАЩs habits were marked by an Oriental indolence and disorder peculiarly trying to her companion. Mrs.┬аHatch and her friends seemed to float together outside the bounds of time and space. No definite hours were kept; no fixed obligations existed: night and day flowed into one another in a blur of confused and retarded engagements, so that one had the impression of lunching at the tea-hour, while dinner was often merged in the noisy after-theatre supper which prolonged Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs vigil till daylight. + 

Through this jumble of futile activities came and went a strange throng of hangers-onтБатАФmanicures, beauty-doctors, hairdressers, teachers of bridge, of French, of тАЬphysical developmentтАЭ: figures sometimes indistinguishable, by their appearance, or by Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs relation to them, from the visitors constituting her recognized society. But strangest of all to Lily was the encounter, in this latter group, of several of her acquaintances. She had supposed, and not without relief, that she was passing, for the moment, completely out of her own circle; but she found that Mr.┬аStancy, one side of whose sprawling existence overlapped the edge of Mrs.┬аFisherтАЩs world, had drawn several of its brightest ornaments into the circle of the Emporium. To find Ned Silverton among the habitual frequenters of Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs drawing-room was one of LilyтАЩs first astonishments; but she soon discovered that he was not Mr.┬аStancyтАЩs most important recruit. It was on little Freddy Van Osburgh, the small slim heir of the Van Osburgh millions, that the attention of Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs group was centred. Freddy, barely out of college, had risen above the horizon since LilyтАЩs eclipse, and she now saw with surprise what an effulgence he shed on the outer twilight of Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs existence. This, then, was one of the things that young men тАЬwent inтАЭ for when released from the official social routine; this was the kind of тАЬprevious engagementтАЭ that so frequently caused them to disappoint the hopes of anxious hostesses. Lily had an odd sense of being behind the social tapestry, on the side where the threads were knotted and the loose ends hung. For a moment she found a certain amusement in the show, and in her own share of it: the situation had an ease and unconventionality distinctly refreshing after her experience of the irony of conventions. But these flashes of amusement were but brief reactions from the long disgust of her days. Compared with the vast gilded void of Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs existence, the life of LilyтАЩs former friends seemed packed with ordered activities. Even the most irresponsible pretty woman of her acquaintance had her inherited obligations, her conventional benevolences, her share in the working of the great civic machine; and all hung together in the solidarity of these traditional functions. The performance of specific duties would have simplified Miss BartтАЩs position; but the vague attendance on Mrs.┬аHatch was not without its perplexities. + 

It was not her employer who created these perplexities. Mrs.┬аHatch showed from the first an almost touching desire for LilyтАЩs approval. Far from asserting the superiority of wealth, her beautiful eyes seemed to urge the plea of inexperience: she wanted to do what was тАЬnice,тАЭ to be taught how to be тАЬlovely.тАЭ The difficulty was to find any point of contact between her ideals and LilyтАЩs. + 

Mrs.┬аHatch swam in a haze of indeterminate enthusiasms, of aspirations culled from the stage, the newspapers, the fashion journals, and a gaudy world of sport still more completely beyond her companionтАЩs ken. To separate from these confused conceptions those most likely to advance the lady on her way, was LilyтАЩs obvious duty; but its performance was hampered by rapidly-growing doubts. Lily was in fact becoming more and more aware of a certain ambiguity in her situation. It was not that she had, in the conventional sense, any doubt of Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs irreproachableness. The ladyтАЩs offences were always against taste rather than conduct; her divorce record seemed due to geographical rather than ethical conditions; and her worst laxities were likely to proceed from a wandering and extravagant good-nature. But if Lily did not mind her detaining her manicure for luncheon, or offering the тАЬBeauty-DoctorтАЭ a seat in Freddy Van OsburghтАЩs box at the play, she was not equally at ease in regard to some less apparent lapses from convention. Ned SilvertonтАЩs relation to Stancy seemed, for instance, closer and less clear than any natural affinities would warrant; and both appeared united in the effort to cultivate Freddy Van OsburghтАЩs growing taste for Mrs.┬аHatch. There was as yet nothing definable in the situation, which might well resolve itself into a huge joke on the part of the other two; but Lily had a vague sense that the subject of their experiment was too young, too rich and too credulous. Her embarrassment was increased by the fact that Freddy seemed to regard her as cooperating with himself in the social development of Mrs.┬аHatch: a view that suggested, on his part, a permanent interest in the ladyтАЩs future. There were moments when Lily found an ironic amusement in this aspect of the case. The thought of launching such a missile as Mrs.┬аHatch at the perfidious bosom of society was not without its charm: Miss Bart had even beguiled her leisure with visions of the fair Norma introduced for the first time to a family banquet at the Van OsburghsтАЩ. But the thought of being personally connected with the transaction was less agreeable; and her momentary flashes of amusement were followed by increasing periods of doubt. + 

The sense of these doubts was uppermost when, late one afternoon, she was surprised by a visit from Lawrence Selden. He found her alone in the wilderness of pink damask, for in Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs world the tea-hour was not dedicated to social rites, and the lady was in the hands of her masseuse. + 

SeldenтАЩs entrance had caused Lily an inward start of embarrassment; but his air of constraint had the effect of restoring her self-possession, and she took at once the tone of surprise and pleasure, wondering frankly that he should have traced her to so unlikely a place, and asking what had inspired him to make the search. + 

Selden met this with an unusual seriousness: she had never seen him so little master of the situation, so plainly at the mercy of any obstructions she might put in his way. тАЬI wanted to see you,тАЭ he said; and she could not resist observing in reply that he had kept his wishes under remarkable control. She had in truth felt his long absence as one of the chief bitternesses of the last months: his desertion had wounded sensibilities far below the surface of her pride. + 

Selden met the challenge with directness. тАЬWhy should I have come, unless I thought I could be of use to you? It is my only excuse for imagining you could want me.тАЭ + 

This struck her as a clumsy evasion, and the thought gave a flash of keenness to her answer. тАЬThen you have come now because you think you can be of use to me?тАЭ + 

He hesitated again. тАЬYes: in the modest capacity of a person to talk things over with.тАЭ + 

For a clever man it was certainly a stupid beginning; and the idea that his awkwardness was due to the fear of her attaching a personal significance to his visit, chilled her pleasure in seeing him. Even under the most adverse conditions, that pleasure always made itself felt: she might hate him, but she had never been able to wish him out of the room. She was very near hating him now; yet the sound of his voice, the way the light fell on his thin dark hair, the way he sat and moved and wore his clothesтБатАФshe was conscious that even these trivial things were inwoven with her deepest life. In his presence a sudden stillness came upon her, and the turmoil of her spirit ceased; but an impulse of resistance to this stealing influence now prompted her to say: тАЬItтАЩs very good of you to present yourself in that capacity; but what makes you think I have anything particular to talk about?тАЭ + 

Though she kept the even tone of light intercourse, the question was framed in a way to remind him that his good offices were unsought; and for a moment Selden was checked by it. The situation between them was one which could have been cleared up only by a sudden explosion of feeling; and their whole training and habit of mind were against the chances of such an explosion. SeldenтАЩs calmness seemed rather to harden into resistance, and Miss BartтАЩs into a surface of glittering irony, as they faced each other from the opposite corners of one of Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs elephantine sofas. The sofa in question, and the apartment peopled by its monstrous mates, served at length to suggest the turn of SeldenтАЩs reply. + 

тАЬGerty told me that you were acting as Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs secretary; and I knew she was anxious to hear how you were getting on.тАЭ + 

Miss Bart received this explanation without perceptible softening. тАЬWhy didnтАЩt she look me up herself, then?тАЭ she asked. + 

тАЬBecause, as you didnтАЩt send her your address, she was afraid of being importunate.тАЭ Selden continued with a smile: тАЬYou see no such scruples restrained me; but then I havenтАЩt as much to risk if I incur your displeasure.тАЭ + 

Lily answered his smile. тАЬYou havenтАЩt incurred it as yet; but I have an idea that you are going to.тАЭ + 

тАЬThat rests with you, doesnтАЩt it? You see my initiative doesnтАЩt go beyond putting myself at your disposal.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut in what capacity? What am I to do with you?тАЭ she asked in the same light tone. + 

Selden again glanced about Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs drawing-room; then he said, with a decision which he seemed to have gathered from this final inspection: тАЬYou are to let me take you away from here.тАЭ + 

Lily flushed at the suddenness of the attack; then she stiffened under it and said coldly: тАЬAnd may I ask where you mean me to go?тАЭ + 

тАЬBack to Gerty in the first place, if you will; the essential thing is that it should be away from here.тАЭ + 

The unusual harshness of his tone might have shown her how much the words cost him; but she was in no state to measure his feelings while her own were in a flame of revolt. To neglect her, perhaps even to avoid her, at a time when she had most need of her friends, and then suddenly and unwarrantably to break into her life with this strange assumption of authority, was to rouse in her every instinct of pride and self-defence. + 

тАЬI am very much obliged to you,тАЭ she said, тАЬfor taking such an interest in my plans; but I am quite contented where I am, and have no intention of leaving.тАЭ + 

Selden had risen, and was standing before her in an attitude of uncontrollable expectancy. + 

тАЬThat simply means that you donтАЩt know where you are!тАЭ he exclaimed. + 

Lily rose also, with a quick flash of anger. тАЬIf you have come here to say disagreeable things about Mrs.┬аHatchтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬIt is only with your relation to Mrs.┬аHatch that I am concerned.тАЭ + 

тАЬMy relation to Mrs.┬аHatch is one I have no reason to be ashamed of. She has helped me to earn a living when my old friends were quite resigned to seeing me starve.тАЭ + 

тАЬNonsense! Starvation is not the only alternative. You know you can always find a home with Gerty till you are independent again.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou show such an intimate acquaintance with my affairs that I suppose you meanтБатАФtill my auntтАЩs legacy is paid?тАЭ + 

тАЬI do mean that; Gerty told me of it,тАЭ Selden acknowledged without embarrassment. He was too much in earnest now to feel any false constraint in speaking his mind. + 

тАЬBut Gerty does not happen to know,тАЭ Miss Bart rejoined, тАЬthat I owe every penny of that legacy.тАЭ + 

тАЬGood God!тАЭ Selden exclaimed, startled out of his composure by the abruptness of the statement. + 

тАЬEvery penny of it, and more too,тАЭ Lily repeated; тАЬand you now perhaps see why I prefer to remain with Mrs.┬аHatch rather than take advantage of GertyтАЩs kindness. I have no money left, except my small income, and I must earn something more to keep myself alive.тАЭ + 

Selden hesitated a moment; then he rejoined in a quieter tone: тАЬBut with your income and GertyтАЩsтБатАФsince you allow me to go so far into the details of the situationтБатАФyou and she could surely contrive a life together which would put you beyond the need of having to support yourself. Gerty, I know, is eager to make such an arrangement, and would be quite happy in itтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬBut I should not,тАЭ Miss Bart interposed. тАЬThere are many reasons why it would be neither kind to Gerty nor wise for myself.тАЭ She paused a moment, and as he seemed to await a farther explanation, added with a quick lift of her head: тАЬYou will perhaps excuse me from giving you these reasons.тАЭ + 

тАЬI have no claim to know them,тАЭ Selden answered, ignoring her tone; тАЬno claim to offer any comment or suggestion beyond the one I have already made. And my right to make that is simply the universal right of a man to enlighten a woman when he sees her unconsciously placed in a false position.тАЭ + 

Lily smiled. тАЬI suppose,тАЭ she rejoined, тАЬthat by a false position you mean one outside of what we call society; but you must remember that I had been excluded from those sacred precincts long before I met Mrs.┬аHatch. As far as I can see, there is very little real difference in being inside or out, and I remember your once telling me that it was only those inside who took the difference seriously.тАЭ + 

She had not been without intention in making this allusion to their memorable talk at Bellomont, and she waited with an odd tremor of the nerves to see what response it would bring; but the result of the experiment was disappointing. Selden did not allow the allusion to deflect him from his point; he merely said with completer fullness of emphasis: тАЬThe question of being inside or out is, as you say, a small one, and it happens to have nothing to do with the case, except in so far as Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs desire to be inside may put you in the position I call false.тАЭ + 

In spite of the moderation of his tone, each word he spoke had the effect of confirming LilyтАЩs resistance. The very apprehensions he aroused hardened her against him: she had been on the alert for the note of personal sympathy, for any sign of recovered power over him; and his attitude of sober impartiality, the absence of all response to her appeal, turned her hurt pride to blind resentment of his interference. The conviction that he had been sent by Gerty, and that, whatever straits he conceived her to be in, he would never voluntarily have come to her aid, strengthened her resolve not to admit him a hairтАЩs breadth farther into her confidence. However doubtful she might feel her situation to be, she would rather persist in darkness than owe her enlightenment to Selden. + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know,тАЭ she said, when he had ceased to speak, тАЬwhy you imagine me to be situated as you describe; but as you have always told me that the sole object of a bringing-up like mine was to teach a girl to get what she wants, why not assume that that is precisely what I am doing?тАЭ + 

The smile with which she summed up her case was like a clear barrier raised against farther confidences: its brightness held him at such a distance that he had a sense of being almost out of hearing as he rejoined: тАЬI am not sure that I have ever called you a successful example of that kind of bringing-up.тАЭ + 

Her colour rose a little at the implication, but she steeled herself with a light laugh. + 

тАЬAh, wait a little longerтБатАФgive me a little more time before you decide!тАЭ And as he wavered before her, still watching for a break in the impenetrable front she presented: тАЬDonтАЩt give me up; I may still do credit to my training!тАЭ she affirmed. + 

X + 

тАЬLook at those spangles, Miss BartтБатАФevery one of тАЩem sewed on crooked.тАЭ + 

The tall forewoman, a pinched perpendicular figure, dropped the condemned structure of wire and net on the table at LilyтАЩs side, and passed on to the next figure in the line. + 

There were twenty of them in the workroom, their fagged profiles, under exaggerated hair, bowed in the harsh north light above the utensils of their art; for it was something more than an industry, surely, this creation of ever-varied settings for the face of fortunate womanhood. Their own faces were sallow with the unwholesomeness of hot air and sedentary toil, rather than with any actual signs of want: they were employed in a fashionable millinery establishment, and were fairly well clothed and well paid; but the youngest among them was as dull and colourless as the middle-aged. In the whole workroom there was only one skin beneath which the blood still visibly played; and that now burned with vexation as Miss Bart, under the lash of the forewomanтАЩs comment, began to strip the hat-frame of its overlapping spangles. + 

To Gerty FarishтАЩs hopeful spirit a solution appeared to have been reached when she remembered how beautifully Lily could trim hats. Instances of young lady-milliners establishing themselves under fashionable patronage, and imparting to their тАЬcreationsтАЭ that indefinable touch which the professional hand can never give, had flattered GertyтАЩs visions of the future, and convinced even Lily that her separation from Mrs.┬аNorma Hatch need not reduce her to dependence on her friends. + 

The parting had occurred a few weeks after SeldenтАЩs visit, and would have taken place sooner had it not been for the resistance set up in Lily by his ill-starred offer of advice. The sense of being involved in a transaction she would not have cared to examine too closely had soon afterward defined itself in the light of a hint from Mr.┬аStancy that, if she тАЬsaw them through,тАЭ she would have no reason to be sorry. The implication that such loyalty would meet with a direct reward had hastened her flight, and flung her back, ashamed and penitent, on the broad bosom of GertyтАЩs sympathy. She did not, however, propose to lie there prone, and GertyтАЩs inspiration about the hats at once revived her hopes of profitable activity. Here was, after all, something that her charming listless hands could really do; she had no doubt of their capacity for knotting a ribbon or placing a flower to advantage. And of course only these finishing touches would be expected of her: subordinate fingers, blunt, grey, needle-pricked fingers, would prepare the shapes and stitch the linings, while she presided over the charming little front shopтБатАФa shop all white panels, mirrors, and moss-green hangingsтБатАФwhere her finished creations, hats, wreaths, aigrettes and the rest, perched on their stands like birds just poising for flight. + 

But at the very outset of GertyтАЩs campaign this vision of the green-and-white shop had been dispelled. Other young ladies of fashion had been thus тАЬset-up,тАЭ selling their hats by the mere attraction of a name and the reputed knack of tying a bow; but these privileged beings could command a faith in their powers materially expressed by the readiness to pay their shop-rent and advance a handsome sum for current expenses. Where was Lily to find such support? And even could it have been found, how were the ladies on whose approval she depended to be induced to give her their patronage? Gerty learned that whatever sympathy her friendтАЩs case might have excited a few months since had been imperilled, if not lost, by her association with Mrs.┬аHatch. Once again, Lily had withdrawn from an ambiguous situation in time to save her self-respect, but too late for public vindication. Freddy Van Osburgh was not to marry Mrs.┬аHatch; he had been rescued at the eleventh hourтБатАФsome said by the efforts of Gus Trenor and RosedaleтБатАФand despatched to Europe with old Ned Van Alstyne; but the risk he had run would always be ascribed to Miss BartтАЩs connivance, and would somehow serve as a summing-up and corroboration of the vague general distrust of her. It was a relief to those who had hung back from her to find themselves thus justified, and they were inclined to insist a little on her connection with the Hatch case in order to show that they had been right. + 

GertyтАЩs quest, at any rate, brought up against a solid wall of resistance; and even when Carry Fisher, momentarily penitent for her share in the Hatch affair, joined her efforts to Miss FarishтАЩs, they met with no better success. Gerty had tried to veil her failure in tender ambiguities; but Carry, always the soul of candour, put the case squarely to her friend. + 

тАЬI went straight to Judy Trenor; she has fewer prejudices than the others, and besides sheтАЩs always hated Bertha Dorset. But what have you done to her, Lily? At the very first word about giving you a start she flamed out about some money youтАЩd got from Gus; I never knew her so hot before. You know sheтАЩll let him do anything but spend money on his friends: the only reason sheтАЩs decent to me now is that she knows IтАЩm not hard up.тБатАФHe speculated for you, you say? Well, whatтАЩs the harm? He had no business to lose. He didnтАЩt lose? Then what on earthтБатАФbut I never could understand you, Lily!тАЭ + 

The end of it was that, after anxious enquiry and much deliberation, Mrs.┬аFisher and Gerty, for once oddly united in their effort to help their friend, decided on placing her in the workroom of Mme.┬аReginaтАЩs renowned millinery establishment. Even this arrangement was not effected without considerable negotiation, for Mme.┬аRegina had a strong prejudice against untrained assistance, and was induced to yield only by the fact that she owed the patronage of Mrs.┬аBry and Mrs.┬аGormer to Carry FisherтАЩs influence. She had been willing from the first to employ Lily in the showroom: as a displayer of hats, a fashionable beauty might be a valuable asset. But to this suggestion Miss Bart opposed a negative which Gerty emphatically supported, while Mrs.┬аFisher, inwardly unconvinced, but resigned to this latest proof of LilyтАЩs unreason, agreed that perhaps in the end it would be more useful that she should learn the trade. To ReginaтАЩs workroom Lily was therefore committed by her friends, and there Mrs.┬аFisher left her with a sigh of relief, while GertyтАЩs watchfulness continued to hover over her at a distance. + 

Lily had taken up her work early in January: it was now two months later, and she was still being rebuked for her inability to sew spangles on a hat-frame. As she returned to her work she heard a titter pass down the tables. She knew she was an object of criticism and amusement to the other work-women. They were, of course, aware of her historyтБатАФthe exact situation of every girl in the room was known and freely discussed by all the othersтБатАФbut the knowledge did not produce in them any awkward sense of class distinction: it merely explained why her untutored fingers were still blundering over the rudiments of the trade. Lily had no desire that they should recognize any social difference in her; but she had hoped to be received as their equal, and perhaps before long to show herself their superior by a special deftness of touch, and it was humiliating to find that, after two months of drudgery, she still betrayed her lack of early training. Remote was the day when she might aspire to exercise the talents she felt confident of possessing; only experienced workers were entrusted with the delicate art of shaping and trimming the hat, and the forewoman still held her inexorably to the routine of preparatory work. + 

She began to rip the spangles from the frame, listening absently to the buzz of talk which rose and fell with the coming and going of Miss HainesтАЩs active figure. The air was closer than usual, because Miss Haines, who had a cold, had not allowed a window to be opened even during the noon recess; and LilyтАЩs head was so heavy with the weight of a sleepless night that the chatter of her companions had the incoherence of a dream. + 

тАЬI told her heтАЩd never look at her again; and he didnтАЩt. I wouldnтАЩt have, eitherтБатАФI think she acted real mean to him. He took her to the Arion Ball, and had a hack for her both ways.тБатАКтБатАж SheтАЩs taken ten bottles, and her headaches donтАЩt seem no betterтБатАФbut sheтАЩs written a testimonial to say the first bottle cured her, and she got five dollars and her picture in the paper.тБатАКтБатАж Mrs.┬аTrenorтАЩs hat? The one with the green Paradise? Here, Miss HainesтБатАФitтАЩll be ready right off.тБатАКтБатАж That was one of the Trenor girls here yesterday with Mrs.┬аGeorge Dorset. HowтАЩd I know? Why, Madam sent for me to alter the flower in that Virot hatтБатАФthe blue tulle: sheтАЩs tall and slight, with her hair fuzzed outтБатАФa good deal like Mamie Leach, onтАЩy thinner.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

On and on it flowed, a current of meaningless sound, on which, startlingly enough, a familiar name now and then floated to the surface. It was the strangest part of LilyтАЩs strange experience, the hearing of these names, the seeing the fragmentary and distorted image of the world she had lived in reflected in the mirror of the working-girlsтАЩ minds. She had never before suspected the mixture of insatiable curiosity and contemptuous freedom with which she and her kind were discussed in this underworld of toilers who lived on their vanity and self-indulgence. Every girl in Mme.┬аReginaтАЩs workroom knew to whom the headgear in her hands was destined, and had her opinion of its future wearer, and a definite knowledge of the latterтАЩs place in the social system. That Lily was a star fallen from that sky did not, after the first stir of curiosity had subsided, materially add to their interest in her. She had fallen, she had тАЬgone under,тАЭ and true to the ideal of their race, they were awed only by successтБатАФby the gross tangible image of material achievement. The consciousness of her different point of view merely kept them at a little distance from her, as though she were a foreigner with whom it was an effort to talk. + 

тАЬMiss Bart, if you canтАЩt sew those spangles on more regular I guess youтАЩd better give the hat to Miss Kilroy.тАЭ + 

Lily looked down ruefully at her handiwork. The forewoman was right: the sewing on of the spangles was inexcusably bad. What made her so much more clumsy than usual? Was it a growing distaste for her task, or actual physical disability? She felt tired and confused: it was an effort to put her thoughts together. She rose and handed the hat to Miss Kilroy, who took it with a suppressed smile. + 

тАЬIтАЩm sorry; IтАЩm afraid I am not well,тАЭ she said to the forewoman. + 

Miss Haines offered no comment. From the first she had augured ill of Mme.┬аReginaтАЩs consenting to include a fashionable apprentice among her workers. In that temple of art no raw beginners were wanted, and Miss Haines would have been more than human had she not taken a certain pleasure in seeing her forebodings confirmed. + 

тАЬYouтАЩd better go back to binding edges,тАЭ she said drily. + 

Lily slipped out last among the band of liberated work-women. She did not care to be mingled in their noisy dispersal: once in the street, she always felt an irresistible return to her old standpoint, an instinctive shrinking from all that was unpolished and promiscuous. In the daysтБатАФhow distant they now seemed!тБатАФwhen she had visited the GirlsтАЩ Club with Gerty Farish, she had felt an enlightened interest in the working-classes; but that was because she looked down on them from above, from the happy altitude of her grace and her beneficence. Now that she was on a level with them, the point of view was less interesting. + 

She felt a touch on her arm, and met the penitent eye of Miss Kilroy. + 

тАЬMiss Bart, I guess you can sew those spangles on as well as I can when youтАЩre feeling right. Miss Haines didnтАЩt act fair to you.тАЭ + 

LilyтАЩs colour rose at the unexpected advance: it was a long time since real kindness had looked at her from any eyes but GertyтАЩs. + 

тАЬOh, thank you: IтАЩm not particularly well, but Miss Haines was right. I am clumsy.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, itтАЩs mean work for anybody with a headache.тАЭ Miss Kilroy paused irresolutely. тАЬYou ought to go right home and lay down. Ever try orangeine?тАЭ + 

тАЬThank you.тАЭ Lily held out her hand. тАЬItтАЩs very kind of youтБатАФI mean to go home.тАЭ + 

She looked gratefully at Miss Kilroy, but neither knew what more to say. Lily was aware that the other was on the point of offering to go home with her, but she wanted to be alone and silentтБатАФeven kindness, the sort of kindness that Miss Kilroy could give, would have jarred on her just then. + 

тАЬThank you,тАЭ she repeated as she turned away. + 

She struck westward through the dreary March twilight, toward the street where her boardinghouse stood. She had resolutely refused GertyтАЩs offer of hospitality. Something of her motherтАЩs fierce shrinking from observation and sympathy was beginning to develop in her, and the promiscuity of small quarters and close intimacy seemed, on the whole, less endurable than the solitude of a hall bedroom in a house where she could come and go unremarked among other workers. For a while she had been sustained by this desire for privacy and independence; but now, perhaps from increasing physical weariness, the lassitude brought about by hours of unwonted confinement, she was beginning to feel acutely the ugliness and discomfort of her surroundings. The dayтАЩs task done, she dreaded to return to her narrow room, with its blotched wallpaper and shabby paint; and she hated every step of the walk thither, through the degradation of a New York street in the last stages of decline from fashion to commerce. + 

But what she dreaded most of all was having to pass the chemistтАЩs at the corner of Sixth Avenue. She had meant to take another street: she had usually done so of late. But today her steps were irresistibly drawn toward the flaring plate-glass corner; she tried to take the lower crossing, but a laden dray crowded her back, and she struck across the street obliquely, reaching the sidewalk just opposite the chemistтАЩs door. + 

Over the counter she caught the eye of the clerk who had waited on her before, and slipped the prescription into his hand. There could be no question about the prescription: it was a copy of one of Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs, obligingly furnished by that ladyтАЩs chemist. Lily was confident that the clerk would fill it without hesitation; yet the nervous dread of a refusal, or even of an expression of doubt, communicated itself to her restless hands as she affected to examine the bottles of perfume stacked on the glass case before her. + 

The clerk had read the prescription without comment; but in the act of handing out the bottle he paused. + 

тАЬYou donтАЩt want to increase the dose, you know,тАЭ he remarked. + 

LilyтАЩs heart contracted. What did he mean by looking at her in that way? + 

тАЬOf course not,тАЭ she murmured, holding out her hand. + 

тАЬThatтАЩs all right: itтАЩs a queer-acting drug. A drop or two more, and off you goтБатАФthe doctors donтАЩt know why.тАЭ + 

The dread lest he should question her, or keep the bottle back, choked the murmur of acquiescence in her throat; and when at length she emerged safely from the shop she was almost dizzy with the intensity of her relief. The mere touch of the packet thrilled her tired nerves with the delicious promise of a night of sleep, and in the reaction from her momentary fear she felt as if the first fumes of drowsiness were already stealing over her. + 

In her confusion she stumbled against a man who was hurrying down the last steps of the elevated station. He drew back, and she heard her name uttered with surprise. It was Rosedale, fur-coated, glossy and prosperousтБатАФbut why did she seem to see him so far off, and as if through a mist of splintered crystals? Before she could account for the phenomenon she found herself shaking hands with him. They had parted with scorn on her side and anger upon his; but all trace of these emotions seemed to vanish as their hands met, and she was only aware of a confused wish that she might continue to hold fast to him. + 

тАЬWhy, whatтАЩs the matter, Miss Lily? YouтАЩre not well!тАЭ he exclaimed; and she forced her lips into a pallid smile of reassurance. + 

тАЬIтАЩm a little tiredтБатАФitтАЩs nothing. Stay with me a moment, please,тАЭ she faltered. That she should be asking this service of Rosedale! + 

He glanced at the dirty and unpropitious corner on which they stood, with the shriek of the тАЬelevatedтАЭ and the tumult of trams and wagons contending hideously in their ears. + 

тАЬWe canтАЩt stay here; but let me take you somewhere for a cup of tea. The Longworth is only a few yards off, and thereтАЩll be no one there at this hour.тАЭ + 

A cup of tea in quiet, somewhere out of the noise and ugliness, seemed for the moment the one solace she could bear. A few steps brought them to the ladiesтАЩ door of the hotel he had named, and a moment later he was seated opposite to her, and the waiter had placed the tea-tray between them. + 

тАЬNot a drop of brandy or whiskey first? You look regularly done up, Miss Lily. Well, take your tea strong, then; and, waiter, get a cushion for the ladyтАЩs back.тАЭ + 

Lily smiled faintly at the injunction to take her tea strong. It was the temptation she was always struggling to resist. Her craving for the keen stimulant was forever conflicting with that other craving for sleepтБатАФthe midnight craving which only the little phial in her hand could still. But today, at any rate, the tea could hardly be too strong: she counted on it to pour warmth and resolution into her empty veins. + 

As she leaned back before him, her lids drooping in utter lassitude, though the first warm draught already tinged her face with returning life, Rosedale was seized afresh by the poignant surprise of her beauty. The dark pencilling of fatigue under her eyes, the morbid blue-veined pallor of the temples, brought out the brightness of her hair and lips, as though all her ebbing vitality were centred there. Against the dull chocolate-coloured background of the restaurant, the purity of her head stood out as it had never done in the most brightly-lit ballroom. He looked at her with a startled uncomfortable feeling, as though her beauty were a forgotten enemy that had lain in ambush and now sprang out on him unawares. + 

To clear the air he tried to take an easy tone with her. тАЬWhy, Miss Lily, I havenтАЩt seen you for an age. I didnтАЩt know what had become of you.тАЭ + 

As he spoke, he was checked by an embarrassing sense of the complications to which this might lead. Though he had not seen her he had heard of her; he knew of her connection with Mrs.┬аHatch, and of the talk resulting from it. Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs milieu was one which he had once assiduously frequented, and now as devoutly shunned. + 

Lily, to whom the tea had restored her usual clearness of mind, saw what was in his thoughts and said with a slight smile: тАЬYou would not be likely to know about me. I have joined the working classes.тАЭ + 

He stared in genuine wonder. тАЬYou donтАЩt meanтБатАФ? Why, what on earth are you doing?тАЭ + 

тАЬLearning to be a millinerтБатАФat least trying to learn,тАЭ she hastily qualified the statement. + 

Rosedale suppressed a low whistle of surprise. тАЬCome offтБатАФyou ainтАЩt serious, are you?тАЭ + 

тАЬPerfectly serious. IтАЩm obliged to work for my living.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut I understoodтБатАФI thought you were with Norma Hatch.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou heard I had gone to her as her secretary?тАЭ + 

тАЬSomething of the kind, I believe.тАЭ He leaned forward to refill her cup. + 

Lily guessed the possibilities of embarrassment which the topic held for him, and raising her eyes to his, she said suddenly: тАЬI left her two months ago.тАЭ + 

Rosedale continued to fumble awkwardly with the teapot, and she felt sure that he had heard what had been said of her. But what was there that Rosedale did not hear? + 

тАЬWasnтАЩt it a soft berth?тАЭ he enquired, with an attempt at lightness. + 

тАЬToo softтБатАФone might have sunk in too deep.тАЭ Lily rested one arm on the edge of the table, and sat looking at him more intently than she had ever looked before. An uncontrollable impulse was urging her to put her case to this man, from whose curiosity she had always so fiercely defended herself. + 

тАЬYou know Mrs.┬аHatch, I think? Well, perhaps you can understand that she might make things too easy for one.тАЭ + 

Rosedale looked faintly puzzled, and she remembered that allusiveness was lost on him. + 

тАЬIt was no place for you, anyhow,тАЭ he agreed, so suffused and immersed in the light of her full gaze that he found himself being drawn into strange depths of intimacy. He who had had to subsist on mere fugitive glances, looks winged in flight and swiftly lost under covert, now found her eyes settling on him with a brooding intensity that fairly dazzled him. + 

тАЬI left,тАЭ Lily continued, тАЬlest people should say I was helping Mrs.┬аHatch to marry Freddy Van OsburghтБатАФwho is not in the least too good for herтБатАФand as they still continue to say it, I see that I might as well have stayed where I was.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, FreddyтБатАФтАЭ Rosedale brushed aside the topic with an air of its unimportance which gave a sense of the immense perspective he had acquired. тАЬFreddy donтАЩt countтБатАФbut I knew you werenтАЩt mixed up in that. It ainтАЩt your style.тАЭ + 

Lily coloured slightly: she could not conceal from herself that the words gave her pleasure. She would have liked to sit there, drinking more tea, and continuing to talk of herself to Rosedale. But the old habit of observing the conventions reminded her that it was time to bring their colloquy to an end, and she made a faint motion to push back her chair. + 

Rosedale stopped her with a protesting gesture. тАЬWait a minuteтБатАФdonтАЩt go yet; sit quiet and rest a little longer. You look thoroughly played out. And you havenтАЩt told meтБатАФтАЭ He broke off, conscious of going farther than he had meant. She saw the struggle and understood it; understood also the nature of the spell to which he yielded as, with his eyes on her face, he began again abruptly: тАЬWhat on earth did you mean by saying just now that you were learning to be a milliner?тАЭ + 

тАЬJust what I said. I am an apprentice at ReginaтАЩs.тАЭ + 

тАЬGood LordтБатАФyou? But what for? I knew your aunt had turned you down: Mrs.┬аFisher told me about it. But I understood you got a legacy from herтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬI got ten thousand dollars; but the legacy is not to be paid till next summer.тАЭ + 

тАЬWell, butтБатАФlook here: you could borrow on it any time you wanted.тАЭ + 

She shook her head gravely. тАЬNo; for I owe it already.тАЭ + 

тАЬOwe it? The whole ten thousand?тАЭ + 

тАЬEvery penny.тАЭ She paused, and then continued abruptly, with her eyes on his face: тАЬI think Gus Trenor spoke to you once about having made some money for me in stocks.тАЭ + 

She waited, and Rosedale, congested with embarrassment, muttered that he remembered something of the kind. + 

тАЬHe made about nine thousand dollars,тАЭ Lily pursued, in the same tone of eager communicativeness. тАЬAt the time, I understood that he was speculating with my own money: it was incredibly stupid of me, but I knew nothing of business. Afterward I found out that he had not used my moneyтБатАФthat what he said he had made for me he had really given me. It was meant in kindness, of course; but it was not the sort of obligation one could remain under. Unfortunately I had spent the money before I discovered my mistake; and so my legacy will have to go to pay it back. That is the reason why I am trying to learn a trade.тАЭ + 

She made the statement clearly, deliberately, with pauses between the sentences, so that each should have time to sink deeply into her hearerтАЩs mind. She had a passionate desire that someone should know the truth about this transaction, and also that the rumour of her intention to repay the money should reach Judy TrenorтАЩs ears. And it had suddenly occurred to her that Rosedale, who had surprised TrenorтАЩs confidence, was the fitting person to receive and transmit her version of the facts. She had even felt a momentary exhilaration at the thought of thus relieving herself of her detested secret; but the sensation gradually faded in the telling, and as she ended her pallor was suffused with a deep blush of misery. + 

Rosedale continued to stare at her in wonder; but the wonder took the turn she had least expected. + 

тАЬBut see hereтБатАФif thatтАЩs the case, it cleans you out altogether?тАЭ + 

He put it to her as if she had not grasped the consequences of her act; as if her incorrigible ignorance of business were about to precipitate her into a fresh act of folly. + 

тАЬAltogetherтБатАФyes,тАЭ she calmly agreed. + 

He sat silent, his thick hands clasped on the table, his little puzzled eyes exploring the recesses of the deserted restaurant. + 

тАЬSee hereтБатАФthatтАЩs fine,тАЭ he exclaimed abruptly. + 

Lily rose from her seat with a deprecating laugh. тАЬOh, noтБатАФitтАЩs merely a bore,тАЭ she asserted, gathering together the ends of her feather scarf. + 

Rosedale remained seated, too intent on his thoughts to notice her movement. тАЬMiss Lily, if you want any backingтБатАФI like pluckтБатАФтАЭ broke from him disconnectedly. + 

тАЬThank you.тАЭ She held out her hand. тАЬYour tea has given me a tremendous backing. I feel equal to anything now.тАЭ + 

Her gesture seemed to show a definite intention of dismissal, but her companion had tossed a bill to the waiter, and was slipping his short arms into his expensive overcoat. + 

тАЬWait a minuteтБатАФyouтАЩve got to let me walk home with you,тАЭ he said. + 

Lily uttered no protest, and when he had paused to make sure of his change they emerged from the hotel and crossed Sixth Avenue again. As she led the way westward past a long line of areas which, through the distortion of their paintless rails, revealed with increasing candour the disjecta membra of bygone dinners, Lily felt that Rosedale was taking contemptuous note of the neighbourhood; and before the doorstep at which she finally paused he looked up with an air of incredulous disgust. + 

тАЬThis isnтАЩt the place? Someone told me you were living with Miss Farish.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo: I am boarding here. I have lived too long on my friends.тАЭ + 

He continued to scan the blistered brown stone front, the windows draped with discoloured lace, and the Pompeian decoration of the muddy vestibule; then he looked back at her face and said with a visible effort: тАЬYouтАЩll let me come and see you some day?тАЭ + 

She smiled, recognizing the heroism of the offer to the point of being frankly touched by it. тАЬThank youтБатАФI shall be very glad,тАЭ she made answer, in the first sincere words she had ever spoken to him. + 

That evening in her own room Miss BartтБатАФwho had fled early from the heavy fumes of the basement dinner-tableтБатАФsat musing upon the impulse which had led her to unbosom herself to Rosedale. Beneath it she discovered an increasing sense of lonelinessтБатАФa dread of returning to the solitude of her room, while she could be anywhere else, or in any company but her own. Circumstances, of late, had combined to cut her off more and more from her few remaining friends. On Carry FisherтАЩs part the withdrawal was perhaps not quite involuntary. Having made her final effort on LilyтАЩs behalf, and landed her safely in Mme.┬аReginaтАЩs workroom, Mrs.┬аFisher seemed disposed to rest from her labours; and Lily, understanding the reason, could not condemn her. Carry had in fact come dangerously near to being involved in the episode of Mrs.┬аNorma Hatch, and it had taken some verbal ingenuity to extricate herself. She frankly owned to having brought Lily and Mrs.┬аHatch together, but then she did not know Mrs.┬аHatchтБатАФshe had expressly warned Lily that she did not know Mrs.┬аHatchтБатАФand besides, she was not LilyтАЩs keeper, and really the girl was old enough to take care of herself. Carry did not put her own case so brutally, but she allowed it to be thus put for her by her latest bosom friend, Mrs.┬аJack Stepney: Mrs.┬аStepney, trembling over the narrowness of her only brotherтАЩs escape, but eager to vindicate Mrs.┬аFisher, at whose house she could count on the тАЬjolly partiesтАЭ which had become a necessity to her since marriage had emancipated her from the Van Osburgh point of view. + 

Lily understood the situation and could make allowances for it. Carry had been a good friend to her in difficult days, and perhaps only a friendship like GertyтАЩs could be proof against such an increasing strain. GertyтАЩs friendship did indeed hold fast; yet Lily was beginning to avoid her also. For she could not go to GertyтАЩs without risk of meeting Selden; and to meet him now would be pure pain. It was pain enough even to think of him, whether she considered him in the distinctness of her waking thoughts, or felt the obsession of his presence through the blur of her tormented nights. That was one of the reasons why she had turned again to Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs prescription. In the uneasy snatches of her natural dreams he came to her sometimes in the old guise of fellowship and tenderness; and she would rise from the sweet delusion mocked and emptied of her courage. But in the sleep which the phial procured she sank far below such half-waking visitations, sank into depths of dreamless annihilation from which she woke each morning with an obliterated past. + 

Gradually, to be sure, the stress of the old thoughts would return; but at least they did not importune her waking hour. The drug gave her a momentary illusion of complete renewal, from which she drew strength to take up her daily work. The strength was more and more needed as the perplexities of her future increased. She knew that to Gerty and Mrs.┬аFisher she was only passing through a temporary period of probation, since they believed that the apprenticeship she was serving at Mme.┬аReginaтАЩs would enable her, when Mrs.┬аPenistonтАЩs legacy was paid, to realize the vision of the green-and-white shop with the fuller competence acquired by her preliminary training. But to Lily herself, aware that the legacy could not be put to such a use, the preliminary training seemed a wasted effort. She understood clearly enough that, even if she could ever learn to compete with hands formed from childhood for their special work, the small pay she received would not be a sufficient addition to her income to compensate her for such drudgery. And the realization of this fact brought her recurringly face to face with the temptation to use the legacy in establishing her business. Once installed, and in command of her own work-women, she believed she had sufficient tact and ability to attract a fashionable clientele; and if the business succeeded she could gradually lay aside money enough to discharge her debt to Trenor. But the task might take years to accomplish, even if she continued to stint herself to the utmost; and meanwhile her pride would be crushed under the weight of an intolerable obligation. + 

These were her superficial considerations; but under them lurked the secret dread that the obligation might not always remain intolerable. She knew she could not count on her continuity of purpose, and what really frightened her was the thought that she might gradually accommodate herself to remaining indefinitely in TrenorтАЩs debt, as she had accommodated herself to the part allotted her on the Sabrina, and as she had so nearly drifted into acquiescing with StancyтАЩs scheme for the advancement of Mrs.┬аHatch. Her danger lay, as she knew, in her old incurable dread of discomfort and poverty; in the fear of that mounting tide of dinginess against which her mother had so passionately warned her. And now a new vista of peril opened before her. She understood that Rosedale was ready to lend her money; and the longing to take advantage of his offer began to haunt her insidiously. It was of course impossible to accept a loan from Rosedale; but proximate possibilities hovered temptingly before her. She was quite sure that he would come and see her again, and almost sure that, if he did, she could bring him to the point of offering to marry her on the terms she had previously rejected. Would she still reject them if they were offered? More and more, with every fresh mischance befalling her, did the pursuing furies seem to take the shape of Bertha Dorset; and close at hand, safely locked among her papers, lay the means of ending their pursuit. The temptation, which her scorn of Rosedale had once enabled her to reject, now insistently returned upon her; and how much strength was left her to oppose it? + 

What little there was must at any rate be husbanded to the utmost; she could not trust herself again to the perils of a sleepless night. Through the long hours of silence the dark spirit of fatigue and loneliness crouched upon her breast, leaving her so drained of bodily strength that her morning thoughts swam in a haze of weakness. The only hope of renewal lay in the little bottle at her bedside; and how much longer that hope would last she dared not conjecture. + 

XI + 

Lily, lingering for a moment on the corner, looked out on the afternoon spectacle of Fifth Avenue. It was a day in late April, and the sweetness of spring was in the air. It mitigated the ugliness of the long crowded thoroughfare, blurred the gaunt roof-lines, threw a mauve veil over the discouraging perspective of the side streets, and gave a touch of poetry to the delicate haze of green that marked the entrance to the Park. + 

As Lily stood there, she recognized several familiar faces in the passing carriages. The season was over, and its ruling forces had disbanded; but a few still lingered, delaying their departure for Europe, or passing through town on their return from the South. Among them was Mrs.┬аVan Osburgh, swaying majestically in her C-spring barouche, with Mrs.┬аPercy Gryce at her side, and the new heir to the Gryce millions enthroned before them on his nurseтАЩs knees. They were succeeded by Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs electric victoria, in which that lady reclined in the lonely splendour of a spring toilet obviously designed for company; and a moment or two later came Judy Trenor, accompanied by Lady Skiddaw, who had come over for her annual tarpon fishing and a dip into тАЬthe street.тАЭ + 

This fleeting glimpse of her past served to emphasize the sense of aimlessness with which Lily at length turned toward home. She had nothing to do for the rest of the day, nor for the days to come; for the season was over in millinery as well as in society, and a week earlier Mme.┬аRegina had notified her that her services were no longer required. Mme.┬аRegina always reduced her staff on the first of May, and Miss BartтАЩs attendance had of late been so irregularтБатАФshe had so often been unwell, and had done so little work when she cameтБатАФthat it was only as a favour that her dismissal had hitherto been deferred. + 

Lily did not question the justice of the decision. She was conscious of having been forgetful, awkward and slow to learn. It was bitter to acknowledge her inferiority even to herself, but the fact had been brought home to her that as a breadwinner she could never compete with professional ability. Since she had been brought up to be ornamental, she could hardly blame herself for failing to serve any practical purpose; but the discovery put an end to her consoling sense of universal efficiency. + 

As she turned homeward her thoughts shrank in anticipation from the fact that there would be nothing to get up for the next morning. The luxury of lying late in bed was a pleasure belonging to the life of ease; it had no part in the utilitarian existence of the boardinghouse. She liked to leave her room early, and to return to it as late as possible; and she was walking slowly now in order to postpone the detested approach to her doorstep. + 

But the doorstep, as she drew near it, acquired a sudden interest from the fact that it was occupiedтБатАФand indeed filledтБатАФby the conspicuous figure of Mr.┬аRosedale, whose presence seemed to take on an added amplitude from the meanness of his surroundings. + 

The sight stirred Lily with an irresistible sense of triumph. Rosedale, a day or two after their chance meeting, had called to enquire if she had recovered from her indisposition; but since then she had not seen or heard from him, and his absence seemed to betoken a struggle to keep away, to let her pass once more out of his life. If this were the case, his return showed that the struggle had been unsuccessful, for Lily knew he was not the man to waste his time in an ineffectual sentimental dalliance. He was too busy, too practical, and above all too much preoccupied with his own advancement, to indulge in such unprofitable asides. + 

In the peacock-blue parlour, with its bunches of dried pampas grass, and discoloured steel engravings of sentimental episodes, he looked about him with unconcealed disgust, laying his hat distrustfully on the dusty console adorned with a Rogers statuette. + 

Lily sat down on one of the plush and rosewood sofas, and he deposited himself in a rocking-chair draped with a starched antimacassar which scraped unpleasantly against the pink fold of skin above his collar. + 

тАЬMy goodnessтБатАФyou canтАЩt go on living here!тАЭ he exclaimed. + 

Lily smiled at his tone. тАЬI am not sure that I can; but I have gone over my expenses very carefully, and I rather think I shall be able to manage it.тАЭ + 

тАЬBe able to manage it? ThatтАЩs not what I meanтБатАФitтАЩs no place for you!тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩs what I mean; for I have been out of work for the last week.тАЭ + 

тАЬOut of workтБатАФout of work! What a way for you to talk! The idea of your having to workтБатАФitтАЩs preposterous.тАЭ He brought out his sentences in short violent jerks, as though they were forced up from a deep inner crater of indignation. тАЬItтАЩs a farceтБатАФa crazy farce,тАЭ he repeated, his eyes fixed on the long vista of the room reflected in the blotched glass between the windows. + 

Lily continued to meet his expostulations with a smile. тАЬI donтАЩt know why I should regard myself as an exceptionтБатАФтАЭ she began. + 

тАЬBecause you are; thatтАЩs why; and your being in a place like this is a damnable outrage. I canтАЩt talk of it calmly.тАЭ + 

She had in truth never seen him so shaken out of his usual glibness; and there was something almost moving to her in his inarticulate struggle with his emotions. + 

He rose with a start which left the rocking-chair quivering on its beam ends, and placed himself squarely before her. + 

тАЬLook here, Miss Lily, IтАЩm going to Europe next week: going over to Paris and London for a couple of monthsтБатАФand I canтАЩt leave you like this. I canтАЩt do it. I know itтАЩs none of my businessтБатАФyouтАЩve let me understand that often enough; but things are worse with you now than they have been before, and you must see that youтАЩve got to accept help from somebody. You spoke to me the other day about some debt to Trenor. I know what you meanтБатАФand I respect you for feeling as you do about it.тАЭ + 

A blush of surprise rose to LilyтАЩs pale face, but before she could interrupt him he had continued eagerly: тАЬWell, IтАЩll lend you the money to pay Trenor; and I wonтАЩtтБатАФIтБатАФsee here, donтАЩt take me up till IтАЩve finished. What I mean is, itтАЩll be a plain business arrangement, such as one man would make with another. Now, what have you got to say against that?тАЭ + 

LilyтАЩs blush deepened to a glow in which humiliation and gratitude were mingled; and both sentiments revealed themselves in the unexpected gentleness of her reply. + 

тАЬOnly this: that it is exactly what Gus Trenor proposed; and that I can never again be sure of understanding the plainest business arrangement.тАЭ Then, realizing that this answer contained a germ of injustice, she added, even more kindly: тАЬNot that I donтАЩt appreciate your kindnessтБатАФthat IтАЩm not grateful for it. But a business arrangement between us would in any case be impossible, because I shall have no security to give when my debt to Gus Trenor has been paid.тАЭ + 

Rosedale received this statement in silence: he seemed to feel the note of finality in her voice, yet to be unable to accept it as closing the question between them. + 

In the silence Lily had a clear perception of what was passing through his mind. Whatever perplexity he felt as to the inexorableness of her courseтБатАФhowever little he penetrated its motiveтБатАФshe saw that it unmistakably tended to strengthen her hold over him. It was as though the sense in her of unexplained scruples and resistances had the same attraction as the delicacy of feature, the fastidiousness of manner, which gave her an external rarity, an air of being impossible to match. As he advanced in social experience this uniqueness had acquired a greater value for him, as though he were a collector who had learned to distinguish minor differences of design and quality in some long-coveted object. + 

Lily, perceiving all this, understood that he would marry her at once, on the sole condition of a reconciliation with Mrs.┬аDorset; and the temptation was the less easy to put aside because, little by little, circumstances were breaking down her dislike for Rosedale. The dislike, indeed, still subsisted; but it was penetrated here and there by the perception of mitigating qualities in him: of a certain gross kindliness, a rather helpless fidelity of sentiment, which seemed to be struggling through the hard surface of his material ambitions. + 

Reading his dismissal in her eyes, he held out his hand with a gesture which conveyed something of this inarticulate conflict. + 

тАЬIf youтАЩd only let me, IтАЩd set you up over them allтБатАФIтАЩd put you where you could wipe your feet on тАЩem!тАЭ he declared; and it touched her oddly to see that his new passion had not altered his old standard of values. + 

Lily took no sleeping-drops that night. She lay awake viewing her situation in the crude light which RosedaleтАЩs visit had shed on it. In fending off the offer he was so plainly ready to renew, had she not sacrificed to one of those abstract notions of honour that might be called the conventionalities of the moral life? What debt did she owe to a social order which had condemned and banished her without trial? She had never been heard in her own defence; she was innocent of the charge on which she had been found guilty; and the irregularity of her conviction might seem to justify the use of methods as irregular in recovering her lost rights. Bertha Dorset, to save herself, had not scrupled to ruin her by an open falsehood; why should she hesitate to make private use of the facts that chance had put in her way? After all, half the opprobrium of such an act lies in the name attached to it. Call it blackmail and it becomes unthinkable; but explain that it injures no one, and that the rights regained by it were unjustly forfeited, and he must be a formalist indeed who can find no plea in its defence. + 

The arguments pleading for it with Lily were the old unanswerable ones of the personal situation: the sense of injury, the sense of failure, the passionate craving for a fair chance against the selfish despotism of society. She had learned by experience that she had neither the aptitude nor the moral constancy to remake her life on new lines; to become a worker among workers, and let the world of luxury and pleasure sweep by her unregarded. She could not hold herself much to blame for this ineffectiveness, and she was perhaps less to blame than she believed. Inherited tendencies had combined with early training to make her the highly specialized product she was: an organism as helpless out of its narrow range as the sea-anemone torn from the rock. She had been fashioned to adorn and delight; to what other end does nature round the rose-leaf and paint the hummingbirdтАЩs breast? And was it her fault that the purely decorative mission is less easily and harmoniously fulfilled among social beings than in the world of nature? That it is apt to be hampered by material necessities or complicated by moral scruples? + 

These last were the two antagonistic forces which fought out their battle in her breast during the long watches of the night; and when she rose the next morning she hardly knew where the victory lay. She was exhausted by the reaction of a night without sleep, coming after many nights of rest artificially obtained; and in the distorting light of fatigue the future stretched out before her grey, interminable and desolate. + 

She lay late in bed, refusing the coffee and fried eggs which the friendly Irish servant thrust through her door, and hating the intimate domestic noises of the house and the cries and rumblings of the street. Her week of idleness had brought home to her with exaggerated force these small aggravations of the boardinghouse world, and she yearned for that other luxurious world, whose machinery is so carefully concealed that one scene flows into another without perceptible agency. + 

At length she rose and dressed. Since she had left Mme.┬аReginaтАЩs she had spent her days in the streets, partly to escape from the uncongenial promiscuities of the boardinghouse, and partly in the hope that physical fatigue would help her to sleep. But once out of the house, she could not decide where to go; for she had avoided Gerty since her dismissal from the millinerтАЩs, and she was not sure of a welcome anywhere else. + 

The morning was in harsh contrast to the previous day. A cold grey sky threatened rain, and a high wind drove the dust in wild spirals up and down the streets. Lily walked up Fifth Avenue toward the Park, hoping to find a sheltered nook where she might sit; but the wind chilled her, and after an hourтАЩs wandering under the tossing boughs she yielded to her increasing weariness, and took refuge in a little restaurant in Fifty-ninth Street. She was not hungry, and had meant to go without luncheon; but she was too tired to return home, and the long perspective of white tables showed alluringly through the windows. + 

The room was full of women and girls, all too much engaged in the rapid absorption of tea and pie to remark her entrance. A hum of shrill voices reverberated against the low ceiling, leaving Lily shut out in a little circle of silence. She felt a sudden pang of profound loneliness. She had lost the sense of time, and it seemed to her as though she had not spoken to anyone for days. Her eyes sought the faces about her, craving a responsive glance, some sign of an intuition of her trouble. But the sallow preoccupied women, with their bags and notebooks and rolls of music, were all engrossed in their own affairs, and even those who sat by themselves were busy running over proof-sheets or devouring magazines between their hurried gulps of tea. Lily alone was stranded in a great waste of disoccupation. + 

She drank several cups of the tea which was served with her portion of stewed oysters, and her brain felt clearer and livelier when she emerged once more into the street. She realized now that, as she sat in the restaurant, she had unconsciously arrived at a final decision. The discovery gave her an immediate illusion of activity: it was exhilarating to think that she had actually a reason for hurrying home. To prolong her enjoyment of the sensation she decided to walk; but the distance was so great that she found herself glancing nervously at the clocks on the way. One of the surprises of her unoccupied state was the discovery that time, when it is left to itself and no definite demands are made on it, cannot be trusted to move at any recognized pace. Usually it loiters; but just when one has come to count upon its slowness, it may suddenly break into a wild irrational gallop. + 

She found, however, on reaching home, that the hour was still early enough for her to sit down and rest a few minutes before putting her plan into execution. The delay did not perceptibly weaken her resolve. She was frightened and yet stimulated by the reserved force of resolution which she felt within herself: she saw it was going to be easier, a great deal easier, than she had imagined. + 

At five oтАЩclock she rose, unlocked her trunk, and took out a sealed packet which she slipped into the bosom of her dress. Even the contact with the packet did not shake her nerves as she had half-expected it would. She seemed encased in a strong armour of indifference, as though the vigorous exertion of her will had finally benumbed her finer sensibilities. + 

She dressed herself once more for the street, locked her door and went out. When she emerged on the pavement, the day was still high, but a threat of rain darkened the sky and cold gusts shook the signs projecting from the basement shops along the street. She reached Fifth Avenue and began to walk slowly northward. She was sufficiently familiar with Mrs.┬аDorsetтАЩs habits to know that she could always be found at home after five. She might not, indeed, be accessible to visitors, especially to a visitor so unwelcome, and against whom it was quite possible that she had guarded herself by special orders; but Lily had written a note which she meant to send up with her name, and which she thought would secure her admission. + 

She had allowed herself time to walk to Mrs.┬аDorsetтАЩs, thinking that the quick movement through the cold evening air would help to steady her nerves; but she really felt no need of being tranquillized. Her survey of the situation remained calm and unwavering. + 

As she reached Fiftieth Street the clouds broke abruptly, and a rush of cold rain slanted into her face. She had no umbrella and the moisture quickly penetrated her thin spring dress. She was still half a mile from her destination, and she decided to walk across to Madison Avenue and take the electric car. As she turned into the side street, a vague memory stirred in her. The row of budding trees, the new brick and limestone house-fronts, the Georgian flat-house with flowerboxes on its balconies, were merged together into the setting of a familiar scene. It was down this street that she had walked with Selden, that September day two years ago; a few yards ahead was the doorway they had entered together. The recollection loosened a throng of benumbed sensationsтБатАФlongings, regrets, imaginings, the throbbing brood of the only spring her heart had ever known. It was strange to find herself passing his house on such an errand. She seemed suddenly to see her action as he would see itтБатАФand the fact of his own connection with it, the fact that, to attain her end, she must trade on his name, and profit by a secret of his past, chilled her blood with shame. What a long way she had travelled since the day of their first talk together! Even then her feet had been set in the path she was now followingтБатАФeven then she had resisted the hand he had held out. + 

All her resentment of his fancied coldness was swept away in this overwhelming rush of recollection. Twice he had been ready to help herтБатАФto help her by loving her, as he had saidтБатАФand if, the third time, he had seemed to fail her, whom but herself could she accuse?тБатАКтБатАж Well, that part of her life was over; she did not know why her thoughts still clung to it. But the sudden longing to see him remained; it grew to hunger as she paused on the pavement opposite his door. The street was dark and empty, swept by the rain. She had a vision of his quiet room, of the bookshelves, and the fire on the hearth. She looked up and saw a light in his window; then she crossed the street and entered the house. + 

XII + 

The library looked as she had pictured it. The green-shaded lamps made tranquil circles of light in the gathering dusk, a little fire flickered on the hearth, and SeldenтАЩs easy-chair, which stood near it, had been pushed aside when he rose to admit her. + 

He had checked his first movement of surprise, and stood silent, waiting for her to speak, while she paused a moment on the threshold, assailed by a rush of memories. + 

The scene was unchanged. She recognized the row of shelves from which he had taken down his La Bruy├иre, and the worn arm of the chair he had leaned against while she examined the precious volume. But then the wide September light had filled the room, making it seem a part of the outer world: now the shaded lamps and the warm hearth, detaching it from the gathering darkness of the street, gave it a sweeter touch of intimacy. + 

Becoming gradually aware of the surprise under SeldenтАЩs silence, Lily turned to him and said simply: тАЬI came to tell you that I was sorry for the way we partedтБатАФfor what I said to you that day at Mrs.┬аHatchтАЩs.тАЭ + 

The words rose to her lips spontaneously. Even on her way up the stairs, she had not thought of preparing a pretext for her visit, but she now felt an intense longing to dispel the cloud of misunderstanding that hung between them. + 

Selden returned her look with a smile. тАЬI was sorry too that we should have parted in that way; but I am not sure I didnтАЩt bring it on myself. Luckily I had foreseen the risk I was takingтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬSo that you really didnтАЩt careтБатАФ?тАЭ broke from her with a flash of her old irony. + 

тАЬSo that I was prepared for the consequences,тАЭ he corrected good-humouredly. тАЬBut weтАЩll talk of all this later. Do come and sit by the fire. I can recommend that armchair, if youтАЩll let me put a cushion behind you.тАЭ + 

While he spoke she had moved slowly to the middle of the room, and paused near his writing-table, where the lamp, striking upward, cast exaggerated shadows on the pallor of her delicately-hollowed face. + 

тАЬYou look tiredтБатАФdo sit down,тАЭ he repeated gently. + 

She did not seem to hear the request. тАЬI wanted you to know that I left Mrs.┬аHatch immediately after I saw you,тАЭ she said, as though continuing her confession. + 

тАЬYesтБатАФyes; I know,тАЭ he assented, with a rising tinge of embarrassment. + 

тАЬAnd that I did so because you told me to. Before you came I had already begun to see that it would be impossible to remain with herтБатАФfor the reasons you gave me; but I wouldnтАЩt admit itтБатАФI wouldnтАЩt let you see that I understood what you meant.тАЭ + 

тАЬAh, I might have trusted you to find your own way outтБатАФdonтАЩt overwhelm me with the sense of my officiousness!тАЭ + 

His light tone, in which, had her nerves been steadier, she would have recognized the mere effort to bridge over an awkward moment, jarred on her passionate desire to be understood. In her strange state of extra-lucidity, which gave her the sense of being already at the heart of the situation, it seemed incredible that anyone should think it necessary to linger in the conventional outskirts of wordplay and evasion. + 

тАЬIt was not thatтБатАФI was not ungrateful,тАЭ she insisted. But the power of expression failed her suddenly; she felt a tremor in her throat, and two tears gathered and fell slowly from her eyes. + 

Selden moved forward and took her hand. тАЬYou are very tired. Why wonтАЩt you sit down and let me make you comfortable?тАЭ + 

He drew her to the armchair near the fire, and placed a cushion behind her shoulders. + 

тАЬAnd now you must let me make you some tea: you know I always have that amount of hospitality at my command.тАЭ + 

She shook her head, and two more tears ran over. But she did not weep easily, and the long habit of self-control reasserted itself, though she was still too tremulous to speak. + 

тАЬYou know I can coax the water to boil in five minutes,тАЭ Selden continued, speaking as though she were a troubled child. + 

His words recalled the vision of that other afternoon when they had sat together over his tea-table and talked jestingly of her future. There were moments when that day seemed more remote than any other event in her life; and yet she could always relive it in its minutest detail. + 

She made a gesture of refusal. тАЬNo: I drink too much tea. I would rather sit quietтБатАФI must go in a moment,тАЭ she added confusedly. + 

Selden continued to stand near her, leaning against the mantelpiece. The tinge of constraint was beginning to be more distinctly perceptible under the friendly ease of his manner. Her self-absorption had not allowed her to perceive it at first; but now that her consciousness was once more putting forth its eager feelers, she saw that her presence was becoming an embarrassment to him. Such a situation can be saved only by an immediate outrush of feeling; and on SeldenтАЩs side the determining impulse was still lacking. + 

The discovery did not disturb Lily as it might once have done. She had passed beyond the phase of well-bred reciprocity, in which every demonstration must be scrupulously proportioned to the emotion it elicits, and generosity of feeling is the only ostentation condemned. But the sense of loneliness returned with redoubled force as she saw herself forever shut out from SeldenтАЩs inmost self. She had come to him with no definite purpose; the mere longing to see him had directed her; but the secret hope she had carried with her suddenly revealed itself in its death-pang. + 

тАЬI must go,тАЭ she repeated, making a motion to rise from her chair. тАЬBut I may not see you again for a long time, and I wanted to tell you that I have never forgotten the things you said to me at Bellomont, and that sometimesтБатАФsometimes when I seemed farthest from remembering themтБатАФthey have helped me, and kept me from mistakes; kept me from really becoming what many people have thought me.тАЭ + 

Strive as she would to put some order in her thoughts, the words would not come more clearly; yet she felt that she could not leave him without trying to make him understand that she had saved herself whole from the seeming ruin of her life. + 

A change had come over SeldenтАЩs face as she spoke. Its guarded look had yielded to an expression still untinged by personal emotion, but full of a gentle understanding. + 

тАЬI am glad to have you tell me that; but nothing I have said has really made the difference. The difference is in yourselfтБатАФit will always be there. And since it is there, it canтАЩt really matter to you what people think: you are so sure that your friends will always understand you.тАЭ + 

тАЬAh, donтАЩt say thatтБатАФdonтАЩt say that what you have told me has made no difference. It seems to shut me outтБатАФto leave me all alone with the other people.тАЭ She had risen and stood before him, once more completely mastered by the inner urgency of the moment. The consciousness of his half-divined reluctance had vanished. Whether he wished it or not, he must see her wholly for once before they parted. + 

Her voice had gathered strength, and she looked him gravely in the eyes as she continued. тАЬOnceтБатАФtwiceтБатАФyou gave me the chance to escape from my life, and I refused it: refused it because I was a coward. Afterward I saw my mistakeтБатАФI saw I could never be happy with what had contented me before. But it was too late: you had judged meтБатАФI understood. It was too late for happinessтБатАФbut not too late to be helped by the thought of what I had missed. That is all I have lived onтБатАФdonтАЩt take it from me now! Even in my worst moments it has been like a little light in the darkness. Some women are strong enough to be good by themselves, but I needed the help of your belief in me. Perhaps I might have resisted a great temptation, but the little ones would have pulled me down. And then I rememberedтБатАФI remembered your saying that such a life could never satisfy me; and I was ashamed to admit to myself that it could. That is what you did for meтБатАФthat is what I wanted to thank you for. I wanted to tell you that I have always remembered; and that I have triedтБатАФtried hardтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

She broke off suddenly. Her tears had risen again, and in drawing out her handkerchief her fingers touched the packet in the folds of her dress. A wave of colour suffused her, and the words died on her lips. Then she lifted her eyes to his and went on in an altered voice. + 

тАЬI have tried hardтБатАФbut life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else. What can one do when one finds that one only fits into one hole? One must get back to it or be thrown out into the rubbish heapтБатАФand you donтАЩt know what itтАЩs like in the rubbish heap!тАЭ + 

Her lips wavered into a smileтБатАФshe had been distracted by the whimsical remembrance of the confidences she had made to him, two years earlier, in that very room. Then she had been planning to marry Percy GryceтБатАФwhat was it she was planning now? + 

The blood had risen strongly under SeldenтАЩs dark skin, but his emotion showed itself only in an added seriousness of manner. + 

тАЬYou have something to tell meтБатАФdo you mean to marry?тАЭ he said abruptly. + 

LilyтАЩs eyes did not falter, but a look of wonder, of puzzled self-interrogation, formed itself slowly in their depths. In the light of his question, she had paused to ask herself if her decision had really been taken when she entered the room. + 

тАЬYou always told me I should have to come to it sooner or later!тАЭ she said with a faint smile. + 

тАЬAnd you have come to it now?тАЭ + 

тАЬI shall have to come to itтБатАФpresently. But there is something else I must come to first.тАЭ She paused again, trying to transmit to her voice the steadiness of her recovered smile. тАЬThere is someone I must say goodbye to. Oh, not youтБатАФwe are sure to see each other againтБатАФbut the Lily Bart you knew. I have kept her with me all this time, but now we are going to part, and I have brought her back to youтБатАФI am going to leave her here. When I go out presently she will not go with me. I shall like to think that she has stayed with youтБатАФand sheтАЩll be no trouble, sheтАЩll take up no room.тАЭ + 

She went toward him, and put out her hand, still smiling. тАЬWill you let her stay with you?тАЭ she asked. + 

He caught her hand, and she felt in his the vibration of feeling that had not yet risen to his lips. тАЬLilyтБатАФcanтАЩt I help you?тАЭ he exclaimed. + 

She looked at him gently. тАЬDo you remember what you said to me once? That you could help me only by loving me? WellтБатАФyou did love me for a moment; and it helped me. It has always helped me. But the moment is goneтБатАФit was I who let it go. And one must go on living. Goodbye.тАЭ + 

She laid her other hand on his, and they looked at each other with a kind of solemnity, as though they stood in the presence of death. Something in truth lay dead between themтБатАФthe love she had killed in him and could no longer call to life. But something lived between them also, and leaped up in her like an imperishable flame: it was the love his love had kindled, the passion of her soul for his. + 

In its light everything else dwindled and fell away from her. She understood now that she could not go forth and leave her old self with him: that self must indeed live on in his presence, but it must still continue to be hers. + 

Selden had retained her hand, and continued to scrutinize her with a strange sense of foreboding. The external aspect of the situation had vanished for him as completely as for her: he felt it only as one of those rare moments which lift the veil from their faces as they pass. + 

тАЬLily,тАЭ he said in a low voice, тАЬyou mustnтАЩt speak in this way. I canтАЩt let you go without knowing what you mean to do. Things may changeтБатАФbut they donтАЩt pass. You can never go out of my life.тАЭ + 

She met his eyes with an illumined look. тАЬNo,тАЭ she said. тАЬI see that now. Let us always be friends. Then I shall feel safe, whatever happens.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhatever happens? What do you mean? What is going to happen?тАЭ + 

She turned away quietly and walked toward the hearth. + 

тАЬNothing at presentтБатАФexcept that I am very cold, and that before I go you must make up the fire for me.тАЭ + 

She knelt on the hearthrug, stretching her hands to the embers. Puzzled by the sudden change in her tone, he mechanically gathered a handful of wood from the basket and tossed it on the fire. As he did so, he noticed how thin her hands looked against the rising light of the flames. He saw too, under the loose lines of her dress, how the curves of her figure had shrunk to angularity; he remembered long afterward how the red play of the flame sharpened the depression of her nostrils, and intensified the blackness of the shadows which struck up from her cheekbones to her eyes. She knelt there for a few moments in silence; a silence which he dared not break. When she rose he fancied that he saw her draw something from her dress and drop it into the fire; but he hardly noticed the gesture at the time. His faculties seemed tranced, and he was still groping for the word to break the spell. + 

She went up to him and laid her hands on his shoulders. тАЬGoodbye,тАЭ she said, and as he bent over her she touched his forehead with her lips. + 

XIII + 

The streetlamps were lit, but the rain had ceased, and there was a momentary revival of light in the upper sky. + 

Lily walked on unconscious of her surroundings. She was still treading the buoyant ether which emanates from the high moments of life. But gradually it shrank away from her and she felt the dull pavement beneath her feet. The sense of weariness returned with accumulated force, and for a moment she felt that she could walk no farther. She had reached the corner of Forty-first Street and Fifth Avenue, and she remembered that in Bryant Park there were seats where she might rest. + 

That melancholy pleasure-ground was almost deserted when she entered it, and she sank down on an empty bench in the glare of an electric streetlamp. The warmth of the fire had passed out of her veins, and she told herself that she must not sit long in the penetrating dampness which struck up from the wet asphalt. But her willpower seemed to have spent itself in a last great effort, and she was lost in the blank reaction which follows on an unwonted expenditure of energy. And besides, what was there to go home to? Nothing but the silence of her cheerless roomтБатАФthat silence of the night which may be more racking to tired nerves than the most discordant noises: that, and the bottle of chloral by her bed. The thought of the chloral was the only spot of light in the dark prospect: she could feel its lulling influence stealing over her already. But she was troubled by the thought that it was losing its powerтБатАФshe dared not go back to it too soon. Of late the sleep it had brought her had been more broken and less profound; there had been nights when she was perpetually floating up through it to consciousness. What if the effect of the drug should gradually fail, as all narcotics were said to fail? She remembered the chemistтАЩs warning against increasing the dose; and she had heard before of the capricious and incalculable action of the drug. Her dread of returning to a sleepless night was so great that she lingered on, hoping that excessive weariness would reinforce the waning power of the chloral. + 

Night had now closed in, and the roar of traffic in Forty-second Street was dying out. As complete darkness fell on the square the lingering occupants of the benches rose and dispersed; but now and then a stray figure, hurrying homeward, struck across the path where Lily sat, looming black for a moment in the white circle of electric light. One or two of these passersby slackened their pace to glance curiously at her lonely figure; but she was hardly conscious of their scrutiny. + 

Suddenly, however, she became aware that one of the passing shadows remained stationary between her line of vision and the gleaming asphalt; and raising her eyes she saw a young woman bending over her. + 

тАЬExcuse meтБатАФare you sick?тБатАФWhy, itтАЩs Miss Bart!тАЭ a half-familiar voice exclaimed. + 

Lily looked up. The speaker was a poorly-dressed young woman with a bundle under her arm. Her face had the air of unwholesome refinement which ill-health and overwork may produce, but its common prettiness was redeemed by the strong and generous curve of the lips. + 

тАЬYou donтАЩt remember me,тАЭ she continued, brightening with the pleasure of recognition, тАЬbut IтАЩd know you anywhere, IтАЩve thought of you such a lot. I guess my folks all know your name by heart. I was one of the girls at Miss FarishтАЩs clubтБатАФyou helped me to go to the country that time I had lung-trouble. My nameтАЩs Nettie Struther. It was Nettie Crane thenтБатАФbut I daresay you donтАЩt remember that either.тАЭ + 

Yes: Lily was beginning to remember. The episode of Nettie CraneтАЩs timely rescue from disease had been one of the most satisfying incidents of her connection with GertyтАЩs charitable work. She had furnished the girl with the means to go to a sanatorium in the mountains: it struck her now with a peculiar irony that the money she had used had been Gus TrenorтАЩs. + 

She tried to reply, to assure the speaker that she had not forgotten; but her voice failed in the effort, and she felt herself sinking under a great wave of physical weakness. Nettie Struther, with a startled exclamation, sat down and slipped a shabbily-clad arm behind her back. + 

тАЬWhy, Miss Bart, you are sick. Just lean on me a little till you feel better.тАЭ + 

A faint glow of returning strength seemed to pass into Lily from the pressure of the supporting arm. + 

тАЬIтАЩm only tiredтБатАФit is nothing,тАЭ she found voice to say in a moment; and then, as she met the timid appeal of her companionтАЩs eyes, she added involuntarily: тАЬI have been unhappyтБатАФin great trouble.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou in trouble? IтАЩve always thought of you as being so high up, where everything was just grand. Sometimes, when I felt real mean, and got to wondering why things were so queerly fixed in the world, I used to remember that you were having a lovely time, anyhow, and that seemed to show there was a kind of justice somewhere. But you mustnтАЩt sit here too longтБатАФitтАЩs fearfully damp. DonтАЩt you feel strong enough to walk on a little ways now?тАЭ she broke off. + 

тАЬYesтБатАФyes; I must go home,тАЭ Lily murmured, rising. + 

Her eyes rested wonderingly on the thin shabby figure at her side. She had known Nettie Crane as one of the discouraged victims of overwork and anaemic parentage: one of the superfluous fragments of life destined to be swept prematurely into that social refuse-heap of which Lily had so lately expressed her dread. But Nettie StrutherтАЩs frail envelope was now alive with hope and energy: whatever fate the future reserved for her, she would not be cast into the refuse-heap without a struggle. + 

тАЬI am very glad to have seen you,тАЭ Lily continued, summoning a smile to her unsteady lips. тАЬItтАЩll be my turn to think of you as happyтБатАФand the world will seem a less unjust place to me too.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, but I canтАЩt leave you like thisтБатАФyouтАЩre not fit to go home alone. And I canтАЩt go with you either!тАЭ Nettie Struther wailed with a start of recollection. тАЬYou see, itтАЩs my husbandтАЩs night-shiftтБатАФheтАЩs a motormanтБатАФand the friend I leave the baby with has to step upstairs to get her husbandтАЩs supper at seven. I didnтАЩt tell you I had a baby, did I? SheтАЩll be four months old day after tomorrow, and to look at her you wouldnтАЩt think IтАЩd ever had a sick day. IтАЩd give anything to show you the baby, Miss Bart, and we live right down the street hereтБатАФitтАЩs only three blocks off.тАЭ She lifted her eyes tentatively to LilyтАЩs face, and then added with a burst of courage: тАЬWhy wonтАЩt you get right into the cars and come home with me while I get babyтАЩs supper? ItтАЩs real warm in our kitchen, and you can rest there, and IтАЩll take you home as soon as ever she drops off to sleep.тАЭ + 

It was warm in the kitchen, which, when Nettie StrutherтАЩs match had made a flame leap from the gas-jet above the table, revealed itself to Lily as extraordinarily small and almost miraculously clean. A fire shone through the polished flanks of the iron stove, and near it stood a crib in which a baby was sitting upright, with incipient anxiety struggling for expression on a countenance still placid with sleep. + 

Having passionately celebrated her reunion with her offspring, and excused herself in cryptic language for the lateness of her return, Nettie restored the baby to the crib and shyly invited Miss Bart to the rocking-chair near the stove. + 

тАЬWeтАЩve got a parlour too,тАЭ she explained with pardonable pride; тАЬbut I guess itтАЩs warmer in here, and I donтАЩt want to leave you alone while IтАЩm getting babyтАЩs supper.тАЭ + 

On receiving LilyтАЩs assurance that she much preferred the friendly proximity of the kitchen fire, Mrs.┬аStruther proceeded to prepare a bottle of infantile food, which she tenderly applied to the babyтАЩs impatient lips; and while the ensuing degustation went on, she seated herself with a beaming countenance beside her visitor. + 

тАЬYouтАЩre sure you wonтАЩt let me warm up a drop of coffee for you, Miss Bart? ThereтАЩs some of babyтАЩs fresh milk left overтБатАФwell, maybe youтАЩd rather just sit quiet and rest a little while. ItтАЩs too lovely having you here. IтАЩve thought of it so often that I canтАЩt believe itтАЩs really come true. IтАЩve said to George again and again: тАШI just wish Miss Bart could see me nowтБатАФтАЩ and I used to watch for your name in the papers, and weтАЩd talk over what you were doing, and read the descriptions of the dresses you wore. I havenтАЩt seen your name for a long time, though, and I began to be afraid you were sick, and it worried me so that George said IтАЩd get sick myself, fretting about it.тАЭ Her lips broke into a reminiscent smile. тАЬWell, I canтАЩt afford to be sick again, thatтАЩs a fact: the last spell nearly finished me. When you sent me off that time I never thought IтАЩd come back alive, and I didnтАЩt much care if I did. You see I didnтАЩt know about George and the baby then.тАЭ + 

She paused to readjust the bottle to the childтАЩs bubbling mouth. + 

тАЬYou preciousтБатАФdonтАЩt you be in too much of a hurry! Was it mad with mommer for getting its supper so late? Marry AntoтАЩnetteтБатАФthatтАЩs what we call her: after the French queen in that play at the GardenтБатАФI told George the actress reminded me of you, and that made me fancy the nameтБатАКтБатАж I never thought IтАЩd get married, you know, and IтАЩd never have had the heart to go on working just for myself.тАЭ + 

She broke off again, and meeting the encouragement in LilyтАЩs eyes, went on, with a flush rising under her anaemic skin: тАЬYou see I wasnтАЩt only just sick that time you sent me offтБатАФI was dreadfully unhappy too. IтАЩd known a gentleman where I was employedтБатАФI donтАЩt know as you remember I did typewriting in a big importing firmтБатАФandтБатАФwellтБатАФI thought we were to be married: heтАЩd gone steady with me six months and given me his motherтАЩs wedding ring. But I presume he was too stylish for meтБатАФhe travelled for the firm, and had seen a great deal of society. Work girls arenтАЩt looked after the way you are, and they donтАЩt always know how to look after themselves. I didnтАЩtтБатАКтБатАж and it pretty near killed me when he went away and left off writingтБатАКтБатАж It was then I came down sickтБатАФI thought it was the end of everything. I guess it would have been if you hadnтАЩt sent me off. But when I found I was getting well I began to take heart in spite of myself. And then, when I got back home, George came round and asked me to marry him. At first I thought I couldnтАЩt, because weтАЩd been brought up together, and I knew he knew about me. But after a while I began to see that that made it easier. I never could have told another man, and IтАЩd never have married without telling; but if George cared for me enough to have me as I was, I didnтАЩt see why I shouldnтАЩt begin over againтБатАФand I did.тАЭ + 

The strength of the victory shone forth from her as she lifted her irradiated face from the child on her knees. + 

тАЬBut, mercy, I didnтАЩt mean to go on like this about myself, with you sitting there looking so fagged out. Only itтАЩs so lovely having you here, and letting you see just how youтАЩve helped me.тАЭ The baby had sunk back blissfully replete, and Mrs.┬аStruther softly rose to lay the bottle aside. Then she paused before Miss Bart. + 

тАЬI only wish I could help youтБатАФbut I suppose thereтАЩs nothing on earth I could do,тАЭ she murmured wistfully. + 

Lily, instead of answering, rose with a smile and held out her arms; and the mother, understanding the gesture, laid her child in them. + 

The baby, feeling herself detached from her habitual anchorage, made an instinctive motion of resistance; but the soothing influences of digestion prevailed, and Lily felt the soft weight sink trustfully against her breast. The childтАЩs confidence in its safety thrilled her with a sense of warmth and returning life, and she bent over, wondering at the rosy blur of the little face, the empty clearness of the eyes, the vague tendrilly motions of the folding and unfolding fingers. At first the burden in her arms seemed as light as a pink cloud or a heap of down, but as she continued to hold it the weight increased, sinking deeper, and penetrating her with a strange sense of weakness, as though the child entered into her and became a part of herself. + 

She looked up, and saw NettieтАЩs eyes resting on her with tenderness and exultation. + 

тАЬWouldnтАЩt it be too lovely for anything if she could grow up to be just like you? Of course I know she never couldтБатАФbut mothers are always dreaming the craziest things for their children.тАЭ + 

Lily clasped the child close for a moment and laid her back in her motherтАЩs arms. + 

тАЬOh, she must not do thatтБатАФI should be afraid to come and see her too often!тАЭ she said with a smile; and then, resisting Mrs.┬аStrutherтАЩs anxious offer of companionship, and reiterating the promise that of course she would come back soon, and make GeorgeтАЩs acquaintance, and see the baby in her bath, she passed out of the kitchen and went alone down the tenement stairs. + 

As she reached the street she realized that she felt stronger and happier: the little episode had done her good. It was the first time she had ever come across the results of her spasmodic benevolence, and the surprised sense of human fellowship took the mortal chill from her heart. + 

It was not till she entered her own door that she felt the reaction of a deeper loneliness. It was long after seven oтАЩclock, and the light and odours proceeding from the basement made it manifest that the boardinghouse dinner had begun. She hastened up to her room, lit the gas, and began to dress. She did not mean to pamper herself any longer, to go without food because her surroundings made it unpalatable. Since it was her fate to live in a boardinghouse, she must learn to fall in with the conditions of the life. Nevertheless she was glad that, when she descended to the heat and glare of the dining-room, the repast was nearly over. + 

In her own room again, she was seized with a sudden fever of activity. For weeks past she had been too listless and indifferent to set her possessions in order, but now she began to examine systematically the contents of her drawers and cupboard. She had a few handsome dresses leftтБатАФsurvivals of her last phase of splendour, on the Sabrina and in LondonтБатАФbut when she had been obliged to part with her maid she had given the woman a generous share of her cast-off apparel. The remaining dresses, though they had lost their freshness, still kept the long unerring lines, the sweep and amplitude of the great artistтАЩs stroke, and as she spread them out on the bed the scenes in which they had been worn rose vividly before her. An association lurked in every fold: each fall of lace and gleam of embroidery was like a letter in the record of her past. She was startled to find how the atmosphere of her old life enveloped her. But, after all, it was the life she had been made for: every dawning tendency in her had been carefully directed toward it, all her interests and activities had been taught to centre around it. She was like some rare flower grown for exhibition, a flower from which every bud had been nipped except the crowning blossom of her beauty. + 

Last of all, she drew forth from the bottom of her trunk a heap of white drapery which fell shapelessly across her arm. It was the Reynolds dress she had worn in the Bry tableaux. It had been impossible for her to give it away, but she had never seen it since that night, and the long flexible folds, as she shook them out, gave forth an odour of violets which came to her like a breath from the flower-edged fountain where she had stood with Lawrence Selden and disowned her fate. She put back the dresses one by one, laying away with each some gleam of light, some note of laughter, some stray waft from the rosy shores of pleasure. She was still in a state of highly-wrought impressionability, and every hint of the past sent a lingering tremor along her nerves. + 

She had just closed her trunk on the white folds of the Reynolds dress when she heard a tap at her door, and the red fist of the Irish maidservant thrust in a belated letter. Carrying it to the light, Lily read with surprise the address stamped on the upper corner of the envelope. It was a business communication from the office of her auntтАЩs executors, and she wondered what unexpected development had caused them to break silence before the appointed time. + 

She opened the envelope and a cheque fluttered to the floor. As she stooped to pick it up the blood rushed to her face. The cheque represented the full amount of Mrs.┬аPenistonтАЩs legacy, and the letter accompanying it explained that the executors, having adjusted the business of the estate with less delay than they had expected, had decided to anticipate the date fixed for the payment of the bequests. + 

Lily sat down beside the desk at the foot of her bed, and spreading out the cheque, read over and over the тАЬten thousand dollarsтАЭ written across it in a steely business hand. Ten months earlier the amount it stood for had represented the depths of penury; but her standard of values had changed in the interval, and now visions of wealth lurked in every flourish of the pen. As she continued to gaze at it, she felt the glitter of the visions mounting to her brain, and after a while she lifted the lid of the desk and slipped the magic formula out of sight. It was easier to think without those five figures dancing before her eyes; and she had a great deal of thinking to do before she slept. + 

She opened her chequebook, and plunged into such anxious calculations as had prolonged her vigil at Bellomont on the night when she had decided to marry Percy Gryce. Poverty simplifies bookkeeping, and her financial situation was easier to ascertain than it had been then; but she had not yet learned the control of money, and during her transient phase of luxury at the Emporium she had slipped back into habits of extravagance which still impaired her slender balance. A careful examination of her chequebook, and of the unpaid bills in her desk, showed that, when the latter had been settled, she would have barely enough to live on for the next three or four months; and even after that, if she were to continue her present way of living, without earning any additional money, all incidental expenses must be reduced to the vanishing point. She hid her eyes with a shudder, beholding herself at the entrance of that ever-narrowing perspective down which she had seen Miss SilvertonтАЩs dowdy figure take its despondent way. + 

It was no longer, however, from the vision of material poverty that she turned with the greatest shrinking. She had a sense of deeper impoverishmentтБатАФof an inner destitution compared to which outward conditions dwindled into insignificance. It was indeed miserable to be poorтБатАФto look forward to a shabby, anxious middle-age, leading by dreary degrees of economy and self-denial to gradual absorption in the dingy communal existence of the boardinghouse. But there was something more miserable stillтБатАФit was the clutch of solitude at her heart, the sense of being swept like a stray uprooted growth down the heedless current of the years. That was the feeling which possessed her nowтБатАФthe feeling of being something rootless and ephemeral, mere spindrift of the whirling surface of existence, without anything to which the poor little tentacles of self could cling before the awful flood submerged them. And as she looked back she saw that there had never been a time when she had had any real relation to life. Her parents too had been rootless, blown hither and thither on every wind of fashion, without any personal existence to shelter them from its shifting gusts. She herself had grown up without any one spot of earth being dearer to her than another: there was no centre of early pieties, of grave endearing traditions, to which her heart could revert and from which it could draw strength for itself and tenderness for others. In whatever form a slowly-accumulated past lives in the bloodтБатАФwhether in the concrete image of the old house stored with visual memories, or in the conception of the house not built with hands, but made up of inherited passions and loyaltiesтБатАФit has the same power of broadening and deepening the individual existence, of attaching it by mysterious links of kinship to all the mighty sum of human striving. + 

Such a vision of the solidarity of life had never before come to Lily. She had had a premonition of it in the blind motions of her mating-instinct; but they had been checked by the disintegrating influences of the life about her. All the men and women she knew were like atoms whirling away from each other in some wild centrifugal dance: her first glimpse of the continuity of life had come to her that evening in Nettie StrutherтАЩs kitchen. + 

The poor little working-girl who had found strength to gather up the fragments of her life, and build herself a shelter with them, seemed to Lily to have reached the central truth of existence. It was a meagre enough life, on the grim edge of poverty, with scant margin for possibilities of sickness or mischance, but it had the frail audacious permanence of a birdтАЩs nest built on the edge of a cliffтБатАФa mere wisp of leaves and straw, yet so put together that the lives entrusted to it may hang safely over the abyss. + 

YesтБатАФbut it had taken two to build the nest; the manтАЩs faith as well as the womanтАЩs courage. Lily remembered NettieтАЩs words: тАЬI knew he knew about me.тАЭ Her husbandтАЩs faith in her had made her renewal possibleтБатАФit is so easy for a woman to become what the man she loves believes her to be! WellтБатАФSelden had twice been ready to stake his faith on Lily Bart; but the third trial had been too severe for his endurance. The very quality of his love had made it the more impossible to recall to life. If it had been a simple instinct of the blood, the power of her beauty might have revived it. But the fact that it struck deeper, that it was inextricably wound up with inherited habits of thought and feeling, made it as impossible to restore to growth as a deep-rooted plant torn from its bed. Selden had given her of his best; but he was as incapable as herself of an uncritical return to former states of feeling. + 

There remained to her, as she had told him, the uplifting memory of his faith in her; but she had not reached the age when a woman can live on her memories. As she held Nettie StrutherтАЩs child in her arms the frozen currents of youth had loosed themselves and run warm in her veins: the old life-hunger possessed her, and all her being clamoured for its share of personal happiness. YesтБатАФit was happiness she still wanted, and the glimpse she had caught of it made everything else of no account. One by one she had detached herself from the baser possibilities, and she saw that nothing now remained to her but the emptiness of renunciation. + 

It was growing late, and an immense weariness once more possessed her. It was not the stealing sense of sleep, but a vivid wakeful fatigue, a wan lucidity of mind against which all the possibilities of the future were shadowed forth gigantically. She was appalled by the intense cleanness of the vision; she seemed to have broken through the merciful veil which intervenes between intention and action, and to see exactly what she would do in all the long days to come. There was the cheque in her desk, for instanceтБатАФshe meant to use it in paying her debt to Trenor; but she foresaw that when the morning came she would put off doing so, would slip into gradual tolerance of the debt. The thought terrified herтБатАФshe dreaded to fall from the height of her last moment with Lawrence Selden. But how could she trust herself to keep her footing? She knew the strength of the opposing impulsesтАФshe could feel the countless hands of habit dragging her back into some fresh compromise with fate. She felt an intense longing to prolong, to perpetuate, the momentary exaltation of her spirit. If only life could end nowтБатАФend on this tragic yet sweet vision of lost possibilities, which gave her a sense of kinship with all the loving and foregoing in the world! + 

She reached out suddenly and, drawing the cheque from her writing-desk, enclosed it in an envelope which she addressed to her bank. She then wrote out a cheque for Trenor, and placing it, without an accompanying word, in an envelope inscribed with his name, laid the two letters side by side on her desk. After that she continued to sit at the table, sorting her papers and writing, till the intense silence of the house reminded her of the lateness of the hour. In the street the noise of wheels had ceased, and the rumble of the тАЬelevatedтАЭ came only at long intervals through the deep unnatural hush. In the mysterious nocturnal separation from all outward signs of life, she felt herself more strangely confronted with her fate. The sensation made her brain reel, and she tried to shut out consciousness by pressing her hands against her eyes. But the terrible silence and emptiness seemed to symbolize her futureтБатАФshe felt as though the house, the street, the world were all empty, and she alone left sentient in a lifeless universe. + 

But this was the verge of deliriumтБатАКтБатАж she had never hung so near the dizzy brink of the unreal. Sleep was what she wantedтБатАФshe remembered that she had not closed her eyes for two nights. The little bottle was at her bedside, waiting to lay its spell upon her. She rose and undressed hastily, hungering now for the touch of her pillow. She felt so profoundly tired that she thought she must fall asleep at once; but as soon as she had lain down every nerve started once more into separate wakefulness. It was as though a great blaze of electric light had been turned on in her head, and her poor little anguished self shrank and cowered in it, without knowing where to take refuge. + 

She had not imagined that such a multiplication of wakefulness was possible: her whole past was reenacting itself at a hundred different points of consciousness. Where was the drug that could still this legion of insurgent nerves? The sense of exhaustion would have been sweet compared to this shrill beat of activities; but weariness had dropped from her as though some cruel stimulant had been forced into her veins. + 

She could bear itтБатАФyes, she could bear it; but what strength would be left her the next day? Perspective had disappearedтБатАФthe next day pressed close upon her, and on its heels came the days that were to followтБатАФthey swarmed about her like a shrieking mob. She must shut them out for a few hours; she must take a brief bath of oblivion. She put out her hand, and measured the soothing drops into a glass; but as she did so, she knew they would be powerless against the supernatural lucidity of her brain. She had long since raised the dose to its highest limit, but tonight she felt she must increase it. She knew she took a slight risk in doing soтБатАФshe remembered the chemistтАЩs warning. If sleep came at all, it might be a sleep without waking. But after all that was but one chance in a hundred: the action of the drug was incalculable, and the addition of a few drops to the regular dose would probably do no more than procure for her the rest she so desperately needed.тБатАКтБатАж + 

She did not, in truth, consider the question very closelyтБатАФthe physical craving for sleep was her only sustained sensation. Her mind shrank from the glare of thought as instinctively as eyes contract in a blaze of lightтБатАФdarkness, darkness was what she must have at any cost. She raised herself in bed and swallowed the contents of the glass; then she blew out her candle and lay down. + 

She lay very still, waiting with a sensuous pleasure for the first effects of the soporific. She knew in advance what form they would takeтБатАФthe gradual cessation of the inner throb, the soft approach of passiveness, as though an invisible hand made magic passes over her in the darkness. The very slowness and hesitancy of the effect increased its fascination: it was delicious to lean over and look down into the dim abysses of unconsciousness. Tonight the drug seemed to work more slowly than usual: each passionate pulse had to be stilled in turn, and it was long before she felt them dropping into abeyance, like sentinels falling asleep at their posts. But gradually the sense of complete subjugation came over her, and she wondered languidly what had made her feel so uneasy and excited. She saw now that there was nothing to be excited aboutтБатАФshe had returned to her normal view of life. Tomorrow would not be so difficult after all: she felt sure that she would have the strength to meet it. She did not quite remember what it was that she had been afraid to meet, but the uncertainty no longer troubled her. She had been unhappy, and now she was happyтБатАФshe had felt herself alone, and now the sense of loneliness had vanished. + 

She stirred once, and turned on her side, and as she did so, she suddenly understood why she did not feel herself alone. It was oddтБатАФbut Nettie StrutherтАЩs child was lying on her arm: she felt the pressure of its little head against her shoulder. She did not know how it had come there, but she felt no great surprise at the fact, only a gentle penetrating thrill of warmth and pleasure. She settled herself into an easier position, hollowing her arm to pillow the round downy head, and holding her breath lest a sound should disturb the sleeping child. + 

As she lay there she said to herself that there was something she must tell Selden, some word she had found that should make life clear between them. She tried to repeat the word, which lingered vague and luminous on the far edge of thoughtтБатАФshe was afraid of not remembering it when she woke; and if she could only remember it and say it to him, she felt that everything would be well. + 

Slowly the thought of the word faded, and sleep began to enfold her. She struggled faintly against it, feeling that she ought to keep awake on account of the baby; but even this feeling was gradually lost in an indistinct sense of drowsy peace, through which, of a sudden, a dark flash of loneliness and terror tore its way. + 

She started up again, cold and trembling with the shock: for a moment she seemed to have lost her hold of the child. But noтБатАФshe was mistakenтБатАФthe tender pressure of its body was still close to hers: the recovered warmth flowed through her once more, she yielded to it, sank into it, and slept. + 

XIV + 

The next morning rose mild and bright, with a promise of summer in the air. The sunlight slanted joyously down LilyтАЩs street, mellowed the blistered house-front, gilded the paintless railings of the doorstep, and struck prismatic glories from the panes of her darkened window. + 

When such a day coincides with the inner mood there is intoxication in its breath; and Selden, hastening along the street through the squalor of its morning confidences, felt himself thrilling with a youthful sense of adventure. He had cut loose from the familiar shores of habit, and launched himself on uncharted seas of emotion; all the old tests and measures were left behind, and his course was to be shaped by new stars. + 

That course, for the moment, led merely to Miss BartтАЩs boardinghouse; but its shabby doorstep had suddenly become the threshold of the untried. As he approached he looked up at the triple row of windows, wondering boyishly which one of them was hers. It was nine oтАЩclock, and the house, being tenanted by workers, already showed an awakened front to the street. He remembered afterward having noticed that only one blind was down. He noticed too that there was a pot of pansies on one of the window sills, and at once concluded that the window must be hers: it was inevitable that he should connect her with the one touch of beauty in the dingy scene. + 

Nine oтАЩclock was an early hour for a visit, but Selden had passed beyond all such conventional observances. He only knew that he must see Lily Bart at onceтБатАФhe had found the word he meant to say to her, and it could not wait another moment to be said. It was strange that it had not come to his lips soonerтБатАФthat he had let her pass from him the evening before without being able to speak it. But what did that matter, now that a new day had come? It was not a word for twilight, but for the morning. + 

Selden ran eagerly up the steps and pulled the bell; and even in his state of self-absorption it came as a sharp surprise to him that the door should open so promptly. It was still more of a surprise to see, as he entered, that it had been opened by Gerty FarishтБатАФand that behind her, in an agitated blur, several other figures ominously loomed. + 

тАЬLawrence!тАЭ Gerty cried in a strange voice, тАЬhow could you get here so quickly?тАЭтБатАФand the trembling hand she laid on him seemed instantly to close about his heart. + 

He noticed the other faces, vague with fear and conjectureтБатАФhe saw the landladyтАЩs imposing bulk sway professionally toward him; but he shrank back, putting up his hand, while his eyes mechanically mounted the steep black walnut stairs, up which he was immediately aware that his cousin was about to lead him. + 

A voice in the background said that the doctor might be back at any minuteтБатАФand that nothing, upstairs, was to be disturbed. Someone else exclaimed: тАЬIt was the greatest mercyтБатАФтАЭ then Selden felt that Gerty had taken him gently by the hand, and that they were to be suffered to go up alone. + 

In silence they mounted the three flights, and walked along the passage to a closed door. Gerty opened the door, and Selden went in after her. Though the blind was down, the irresistible sunlight poured a tempered golden flood into the room, and in its light Selden saw a narrow bed along the wall, and on the bed, with motionless hands and calm unrecognizing face, the semblance of Lily Bart. + 

That it was her real self, every pulse in him ardently denied. Her real self had lain warm on his heart but a few hours earlierтБатАФwhat had he to do with this estranged and tranquil face which, for the first time, neither paled nor brightened at his coming? + 

Gerty, strangely tranquil too, with the conscious self-control of one who has ministered to much pain, stood by the bed, speaking gently, as if transmitting a final message. + 

тАЬThe doctor found a bottle of chloralтБатАФshe had been sleeping badly for a long time, and she must have taken an overdose by mistake.тБатАКтБатАж There is no doubt of thatтБатАФno doubtтБатАФthere will be no questionтБатАФhe has been very kind. I told him that you and I would like to be left alone with herтБатАФto go over her things before anyone else comes. I know it is what she would have wished.тАЭ + 

Selden was hardly conscious of what she said. He stood looking down on the sleeping face which seemed to lie like a delicate impalpable mask over the living lineaments he had known. He felt that the real Lily was still there, close to him, yet invisible and inaccessible; and the tenuity of the barrier between them mocked him with a sense of helplessness. There had never been more than a little impalpable barrier between themтБатАФand yet he had suffered it to keep them apart! And now, though it seemed slighter and frailer than ever, it had suddenly hardened to adamant, and he might beat his life out against it in vain. + 

He had dropped on his knees beside the bed, but a touch from Gerty aroused him. He stood up, and as their eyes met he was struck by the extraordinary light in his cousinтАЩs face. + 

тАЬYou understand what the doctor has gone for? He has promised that there shall be no troubleтБатАФbut of course the formalities must be gone through. And I asked him to give us time to look through her things firstтБатАФтАЭ + 

He nodded, and she glanced about the small bare room. тАЬIt wonтАЩt take long,тАЭ she concluded. + 

тАЬNoтБатАФit wonтАЩt take long,тАЭ he agreed. + 

She held his hand in hers a moment longer, and then, with a last look at the bed, moved silently toward the door. On the threshold she paused to add: тАЬYou will find me downstairs if you want me.тАЭ + 

Selden roused himself to detain her. тАЬBut why are you going? She would have wishedтБатАФтАЭ + 

Gerty shook her head with a smile. тАЬNo: this is what she would have wishedтБатАФтАЭ and as she spoke a light broke through SeldenтАЩs stony misery, and he saw deep into the hidden things of love. + 

The door closed on Gerty, and he stood alone with the motionless sleeper on the bed. His impulse was to return to her side, to fall on his knees, and rest his throbbing head against the peaceful cheek on the pillow. They had never been at peace together, they two; and now he felt himself drawn downward into the strange mysterious depths of her tranquillity. + 

But he remembered GertyтАЩs warning wordsтБатАФhe knew that, though time had ceased in this room, its feet were hastening relentlessly toward the door. Gerty had given him this supreme half-hour, and he must use it as she willed. + 

He turned and looked about him, sternly compelling himself to regain his consciousness of outward things. There was very little furniture in the room. The shabby chest of drawers was spread with a lace cover, and set out with a few gold-topped boxes and bottles, a rose-coloured pincushion, a glass tray strewn with tortoiseshell hairpinsтБатАФhe shrank from the poignant intimacy of these trifles, and from the blank surface of the toilet-mirror above them. + 

These were the only traces of luxury, of that clinging to the minute observance of personal seemliness, which showed what her other renunciations must have cost. There was no other token of her personality about the room, unless it showed itself in the scrupulous neatness of the scant articles of furniture: a washing-stand, two chairs, a small writing-desk, and the little table near the bed. On this table stood the empty bottle and glass, and from these also he averted his eyes. + 

The desk was closed, but on its slanting lid lay two letters which he took up. One bore the address of a bank, and as it was stamped and sealed, Selden, after a momentтАЩs hesitation, laid it aside. On the other letter he read Gus TrenorтАЩs name; and the flap of the envelope was still ungummed. + 

Temptation leapt on him like the stab of a knife. He staggered under it, steadying himself against the desk. Why had she been writing to TrenorтБатАФwriting, presumably, just after their parting of the previous evening? The thought unhallowed the memory of that last hour, made a mock of the word he had come to speak, and defiled even the reconciling silence upon which it fell. He felt himself flung back on all the ugly uncertainties from which he thought he had cast loose forever. After all, what did he know of her life? Only as much as she had chosen to show him, and measured by the worldтАЩs estimate, how little that was! By what rightтБатАФthe letter in his hand seemed to askтБатАФby what right was it he who now passed into her confidence through the gate which death had left unbarred? His heart cried out that it was by right of their last hour together, the hour when she herself had placed the key in his hand. YesтБатАФbut what if the letter to Trenor had been written afterward? + 

He put it from him with sudden loathing, and setting his lips, addressed himself resolutely to what remained of his task. After all, that task would be easier to perform, now that his personal stake in it was annulled. + 

He raised the lid of the desk, and saw within it a chequebook and a few packets of bills and letters, arranged with the orderly precision which characterized all her personal habits. He looked through the letters first, because it was the most difficult part of the work. They proved to be few and unimportant, but among them he found, with a strange commotion of the heart, the note he had written her the day after the BrysтАЩ entertainment. + 

тАЬWhen may I come to you?тАЭтБатАФhis words overwhelmed him with a realization of the cowardice which had driven him from her at the very moment of attainment. YesтБатАФhe had always feared his fate, and he was too honest to disown his cowardice now; for had not all his old doubts started to life again at the mere sight of TrenorтАЩs name? + 

He laid the note in his card-case, folding it away carefully, as something made precious by the fact that she had held it so; then, growing once more aware of the lapse of time, he continued his examination of the papers. + 

To his surprise, he found that all the bills were receipted; there was not an unpaid account among them. He opened the chequebook, and saw that, the very night before, a cheque of ten thousand dollars from Mrs.┬аPenistonтАЩs executors had been entered in it. The legacy, then, had been paid sooner than Gerty had led him to expect. But, turning another page or two, he discovered with astonishment that, in spite of this recent accession of funds, the balance had already declined to a few dollars. A rapid glance at the stubs of the last cheques, all of which bore the date of the previous day, showed that between four or five hundred dollars of the legacy had been spent in the settlement of bills, while the remaining thousands were comprehended in one cheque, made out, at the same time, to Charles Augustus Trenor. + 

Selden laid the book aside, and sank into the chair beside the desk. He leaned his elbows on it, and hid his face in his hands. The bitter waters of life surged high about him, their sterile taste was on his lips. Did the cheque to Trenor explain the mystery or deepen it? At first his mind refused to actтБатАФhe felt only the taint of such a transaction between a man like Trenor and a girl like Lily Bart. Then, gradually, his troubled vision cleared, old hints and rumours came back to him, and out of the very insinuations he had feared to probe, he constructed an explanation of the mystery. It was true, then, that she had taken money from Trenor; but true also, as the contents of the little desk declared, that the obligation had been intolerable to her, and that at the first opportunity she had freed herself from it, though the act left her face to face with bare unmitigated poverty. + 

That was all he knewтБатАФall he could hope to unravel of the story. The mute lips on the pillow refused him more than thisтБатАФunless indeed they had told him the rest in the kiss they had left upon his forehead. Yes, he could now read into that farewell all that his heart craved to find there; he could even draw from it courage not to accuse himself for having failed to reach the height of his opportunity. + 

He saw that all the conditions of life had conspired to keep them apart; since his very detachment from the external influences which swayed her had increased his spiritual fastidiousness, and made it more difficult for him to live and love uncritically. But at least he had loved herтБатАФhad been willing to stake his future on his faith in herтБатАФand if the moment had been fated to pass from them before they could seize it, he saw now that, for both, it had been saved whole out of the ruin of their lives. + 

It was this moment of love, this fleeting victory over themselves, which had kept them from atrophy and extinction; which, in her, had reached out to him in every struggle against the influence of her surroundings, and in him, had kept alive the faith that now drew him penitent and reconciled to her side. + 

He knelt by the bed and bent over her, draining their last moment to its lees; and in the silence there passed between them the word which made all clear. + 