Madame de Treymes

exaltation, Durham had said to himself:

to infer that he was really, shamelessly "smitten" with the lady he thus proposed to thrust upon her hospitality. But, to his surprise, Mrs. Boykin hardly gave herself t

o be taken-well, that day I noticed that Madame de Treymes was quite empressée when we went up to her stall. Oh, I didn't buy anything: I merely waited while the girls chose some lampshades. They thought it would be interesting to take home something painted by a real Marquise, and of course I didn't tell them that those women never make the things th

ut, like his wife, he continued in a state of pleasantly a

uests, or from a desire not to have it appear that Madame de Treymes' hosts attached any special importanc

feats, of gastronomic combinations, which would have commanded her deep respect had she seen them on any other table, and which she naturally relied on to produce the same effect on her guest. Whether or not the desired result was achieved, Madame de Treymes' manner did not specifically declare

e"-it was then only that the lady showed, not indeed anything so simple and unprepared as embarrassment, but a faint play of wonder, an under-flicker o

vour the other carefully-selected guests-the fashionable art-critic, the old Legitimist general, the beauty from the English Embassy, the whole impressive marshalling of Mrs. Boykin's social resources-and when the men returned to the drawing-room, Durham found her still fanning in his sisters the flame of an easily kindled enthusiasm. Since she could hardly have been held by the intrinsic interest of their converse, the sight gave him another swift intuition of the working of those hidden forces wit

e exclaimed, making room for him on a sofa judiciou

my cousin?" he enquire

n giving you t

d shall be still more so when I

You will not like wh

he rejoined,

ontemplation of her painted fan. "You app

your help if I had no

ident that with my help

ve come here to take th

through her lashes. "And all thi

may see with them what ha

paused, and then brought out with lingering emph

self brought up against an insurmountable barrier; but, almost at once, his fear was miti

family, do you include

him. "I thought you understood t

ture of acceptance. "I have only to thank you,

," she commanded him kindly; and as he leaned against the back of his chair, without appearing to hear her reque

nd movement abruptly admitted him. Perhaps no Anglo-Saxon fully understands the fluency in self-revelation which centuries of the confessi

ed-"is there any way in whi

is nothing I would not do for you. I have still a great deal of influence with my mother, and what my mother commands we all do. I could

I can do," he said in a low tone, forgetting his own

f the heart. And my folly has been incredible-and unrewarded." She paused, and as Durham waited in a silence which she guessed to be compassionate,

s in deprecation and entreaty. "Alas, what must you think of me? How can I explain my humiliating myself before a stranger? Only by telling you the whole truth-the fact that I am not alone in

chair back with a

does not move

rk windings of the situation. He seemed suddenly to know Madame de Treymes as if

s silence was no longer completely sympathetic, that her touch called forth no answering vi

honour. But here-! You who have seen the consequences of our disastrous marriages-you who may yet be the victim of our cruel and abominable system; have you no pity for one who has suffered in the same way, and without the possibility of release?" She paused, laying her hand on his arm with a smile of deprecating

she could be counted on to fulfil her side of the bargain. The fact that he could so trust her seemed only to make her more terrible to him-more supernaturally dauntless and baleful. For what was it that she exacted of him? She had said she must have money to pay her debts; but he knew t

cessity of weighing the arguments for and against it. All the traditional forces of his blood were in

tness of his movement caused Madame d

answered with a bow: "Only because o

so genuine and profound that he could al

fan; and as she moved past him to rejoin the group in the farther room, she added in an