in part, he began to
realize that she was no common girl, no toy of the passing hour.

There is a time in some men's lives when they unconsciously begin
to view feminine youth and beauty not so much in relation to the ideal
of happiness, but rather with regard to the social conventions by
which they are environed.

"Must it be?" they ask themselves, in speculating concerning the
possibility of taking a maiden to wife, "that I shall be compelled to
swallow the whole social code, make a covenant with society, sign a
pledge of abstinence, and give to another a life interest in all my
affairs, when I know too well that I am but taking to my arms a
variable creature like myself, whose wishes are apt to become
insistent and burdensome in proportion to the decrease of her beauty
and interest?" These are the men, who, unwilling to risk the manifold
contingencies of an authorized connection, are led to consider the
advantages of a less-binding union, a temporary companionship. They
seek to seize the happiness of life without paying the cost of their
indulgence. Later on, they think, the more definite and conventional
relationship may be established without reproach or the necessity of
radical readjustment.

Lester Kane was past the youthful love period, and he knew it. The
innocence and unsophistication of younger ideals had gone. He wanted
the comfort of feminine companionship, but he was more and more
disinclined to give up his personal liberty in order to obtain it. He
would not wear the social shackles if it were possible to satisfy the
needs of his heart and nature and still remain free and unfettered. Of
course he must find the right woman, and in Jennie he believed that he
had discovered her. She appealed to him on every side; he had never
known anybody quite like her. Marriage was not only impossible but
unnecessary. He had only to say "Come" and she must obey; it was her
destiny.

Lester thought the matter over calmly, dispassionately. He strolled
out to the shabby street where she lived; he looked at the humble roof
that sheltered her. Her poverty, her narrow and straitened environment
touched his heart. Ought he not to treat her generously, fairly,
honorably? Then the remembrance of her marvelous beauty swept over him
and changed his mood. No, he must possess her if he
could--to-day, quickly, as soon as possible. It was in that frame
of mind that he returned to Mrs. Bracebridge's home from his visit to
Lorrie St