m so trivial in comparison--I mean the forms
and observances--the formalism of sect and creed.... To me they mean
nothing--these petty laws designed to govern those who are willing to
endure them. So I ignore them," she concluded, smilingly; and touched
her lips to his hand.

"Do you include the marriage law?" he asked, curiously.

"In our case, yes.... I don't think it would do for everybody to ignore
it."

"You think we may, safely?"

"Don't you, Louis?" she asked, flushing. "It leaves you free in your own
world."

"How would it leave you?"

She looked up, smiling adorably at his thought of her:

"Free as I am now, dearest of men--free to be with you when you wish for
me, free to relieve you of myself when you need that relief, free to
come and go and earn my living as independently as you gain yours. It
would leave me absolutely tranquil in body and mind...." She laid her
flushed face against his. "Only my heart would remain fettered. And
that is now inevitable."

He kissed her and drew her closer:

"You are so very, very wrong, dear. The girl who gives herself without
benefit of clergy walks the earth with her lover in heavier chains than
ever were forged at any earthly altar."

She bent her head thoughtfully; they paced the floor for a while in
silence.

Presently she looked up: "You once said that love comes unasked and goes
unbidden. Do vows at an altar help matters? Is divorce more decent
because lawful? Is love more decent when it has been officially and
clerically catalogued?"

"It is safer."

"For whom?"

"For the community."

"Perhaps." She considered as she timed her slow pace to his:

"But, Louis, I can't marry you and I love you! What am I to do? Live out
life without you? Let you live out life without me? When my loving you
would not harm you or me? When I love you dearly--more dearly, more
deeply every minute? When life itself is--is beginning to be nothing in
this world except you? What are we to do?"

And, as he made no answer:

"Dear," she said, hesitating a little, "I am perfectly unconscious of
any guilt in loving you. I am glad I love you. I wish to be part of you
before I die. I wish it more than anything in the world! How can an
unselfish girl who loves you harm you or herself or the world if she
gives herself to you--without asking benefit of clergy and the bureau
of licenses?"

Standing before the fire, her head resting against his shoulder, they
watched the fading