ent, and
afterwards asked himself whether or no he could be so sure, after all,
of the estrangement between the husband and wife. He guessed it to be
possible that on this occasion Jadwin had suddenly decided to give
himself a holiday, and that Laura had been quick to take advantage of
it. Was it true, then, that Jadwin had but to speak the word to have
Laura forget all else? Was it true that the mere nod of his head was
enough to call her back to him? Corthell was puzzled. He would not
admit this to be true. She was, he was persuaded, a woman of more
spirit, of more pride than this would seem to indicate. Corthell ended
by believing that Jadwin had, in some way, coerced her; though he
fancied that for the few days immediately following the excursion Laura
had never been gayer, more alert, more radiant.

But the days went on, and it was easy to see that his business kept
Jadwin more and more from his wife. Often now, Corthell knew, he passed
the night down town, and upon those occasions when he managed to get
home after the day's work, he was exhausted, worn out, and went to bed
almost immediately after dinner. More than ever now the artist and Mrs.
Jadwin were thrown together.

On a certain Sunday evening, the first really hot day of the year,
Laura and Page went over to spend an hour with the Cresslers, and--as
they were all wont to do in the old days before Laura's marriage--the
party "sat out on the front stoop." For a wonder, Jadwin was able to be
present. Laura had prevailed upon him to give her this evening and the
evening of the following Wednesday--on which latter occasion she had
planned that they were to take a long drive in the park in the buggy,
just the two of them, as it had been in the days of their courtship.

Corthell came to the Cresslers quite as a matter of course. He had
dined with the Jadwins at the great North Avenue house and afterwards
the three, preferring to walk, had come down to the Cresslers on foot.

But evidently the artist was to see but little of Laura Jadwin that
evening. She contrived to keep by her husband continually. She even
managed to get him away from the others, and the two, leaving the rest
upon the steps, sat in the parlour of the Cresslers' house, talking.

By and by Laura, full of her projects, exclaimed:

"Where shall we go? I thought, perhaps, we would not have dinner at
home, but you could come back to the house just a little--a little
bit--early, and you could dr