, with the girls whom Trampy beguiled, the love
letters which he received, to catch him in the act, cover him with
ridicule, get the best of him. Oh, if she only could! To be a poor little
victim, how touching! A dear little outraged wife!

"You fool, if I catch you!" she said.

Then another idea passed through her brain. Oh, if it were true! She would
have danced for joy! Trampy's marriage in America.

"Is it true? Is it true? God above, grant that it be true!"

It was possible. Already, a few days before, the Jim Crows who hovered
round her had talked about it, in covert words, in the hope of making
things worse. There must be some truth in it. There was so much news going
from mouth to mouth: Lillian, Edith and Polly were the rage in Chicago....
That poor boy-violinist: at Budapest, the stuffed seat to his trousers had
slipped from its place and allowed the dog's teeth to reach the living
flesh; he had had to spend a week in bed with poultices.... Harrasford was
contemplating a theatrical trust on the Continent, planning a model
music-hall in Paris.... There were Jimmy's successes, his ambitions....
Amid all this news, to which Lily listened, sometimes absent-mindedly,
sometimes with interest, among these adventures dating from
everywhere--names which she greeted like old acquaintances, with a little
nod: "Denver? Yes, I know; a big flat stage. Mexico? I remember!"--among
all those tales, Lily pricked her ears when she heard the name of Ave
Maria coupled with Trampy's. She had a vague recollection of Ave Maria's
flight, after her departure from Mexico; was it with Trampy? Were they
really married then? Oh, if it were only true! God above, grant that it
were true!

Lily, haunted by this idea of a divorce which would set her free, had
rummaged in Trampy's trunk, among his programs and posters. It was full of
letters, photographs of girls in outrageous hats, in tucked-up skirts, in
tights, with inscriptions. All this dated back to before the marriage, a
collection of treasures which he had not had the courage to destroy. She
had hoped to find some proof, some clue; but no, there was nothing serious
in it. Lily did not give up, for all that; on the contrary. After the
visit to Jimmy, which made Trampy so meanly jealous, she lost no
opportunity of inquiring. But Martello himself, the father, never had news
of his daughter. He hadn't heard for ever so long; and it was to no avail
that Lily asked about Ave Maria, the on