He had been
eloquent enough, in his free youth, against the conventions of his
class; yet when the moment came to show his contempt for them they
had mysteriously mastered him, deflecting his course like some hidden
hereditary failing. As he looked back it seemed as though even his great
disaster had been conventionalized and sentimentalized by this inherited
attitude: that the thoughts he had thought about it were only those of
generations of Dagonets, and that there had been nothing real and his
own in his life but the foolish passion he had been trying so hard to
think out of existence.

Halfway to the Malibran he changed his direction, and drove to the house
of the lawyer he had consulted at the time of his divorce. The lawyer
had not yet come up town, and Ralph had a half hour of bitter meditation
before the sound of a latch-key brought him to his feet. The visit did
not last long. His host, after an affable greeting, listened without
surprise to what he had to say, and when he had ended reminded him with
somewhat ironic precision that, at the time of the divorce, he had asked
for neither advice nor information--had simply declared that he wanted
to "turn his back on the whole business" (Ralph recognized the phrase as
one of his grandfather's), and, on hearing that in that case he had only
to abstain from action, and was in no need of legal services, had gone
away without farther enquiries.

"You led me to infer you had your reasons--" the slighted counsellor
concluded; and, in reply to Ralph's breathless question, he subjoined,
"Why, you see, the case is closed, and I don't exactly know on what
ground you can re-open it--unless, of course, you can bring evidence
showing that the irregularity of the mother's life is such..."

"She's going to marry again," Ralph threw in.

"Indeed? Well, that in itself can hardly be described as irregular. In
fact, in certain circumstances it might be construed as an advantage to
the child."

"Then I'm powerless?"

"Why--unless there's an ulterior motive--through which pressure might be
brought to bear."

"You mean that the first thing to do is to find out what she's up to?"

"Precisely. Of course, if it should prove to be a genuine case of
maternal feeling, I won't conceal from you that the outlook's bad. At
most, you could probably arrange to see your boy at stated intervals."

To see his boy at stated intervals! Ralph wondered how a sane man could
sit there, looking r