she looked, prevented her now
from seeing in the city anything except the dreary background of
Oliver's illness and failure. The naive wonder with which she had
watched the gigantic outlines shape themselves out of the white fog, had
faded utterly from her mind. She ached with longing to reach Oliver and
to find him well enough to take the first train back to Dinwiddie.

At the hotel her bag and umbrella were wrested from her by an imperious
uniformed attendant, and in what seemed to her an incredibly short space
of time, she was following him along a velvet lined corridor on the
tenth floor. The swift ascent in the elevator had made her dizzy, and
the physical sensation reminded her that she was weak for food. Then the
attendant rapped imperatively at a door just beyond a shining staircase,
and she forgot herself as completely as it had been her habit to do
since her marriage.

"Come in!" responded a muffled voice on the inside, and as the door
swung open, she saw Oliver, in his dressing-gown, and with an unshaved
face, reading a newspaper beside a table on which stood an untasted cup
of coffee.

"I didn't ring," he began impatiently, and then starting to his feet, he
uttered her name in a voice which held her standing as if she were
suddenly paralyzed on the threshold. "Virginia!"

A sob rose in her throat, and her faltering gaze passed from him to the
hotel attendant, who responded to her unspoken appeal as readily as if
it were a part of his regular business. Pushing her gently inside, he
placed her bag and umbrella on an empty chair, took up the breakfast
tray from the table, and inquired, with a kindness which strangely
humbled her, if she wished to give an order. When she had helplessly
shaken her head, he bowed and went out, closing the door softly upon
their meeting.

"What in thunder, Virginia?" began Oliver, and she realized that he was
angry.

"I heard you were sick--that the play had failed. I was so sorry I
hadn't come with you--" she explained; and then, understanding for the
first time the utter foolishness of what she had done, she put her hands
up to her face and burst into tears.

He had risen from his chair, but he made no movement to come nearer to
her, and when she took down her hands in order to wipe her eyes, she saw
an expression in his face which frightened her by its strangeness. She
had caught him when that guard which every human being--even a
husband--wears, had fallen away, thoug