methods and refinements. And the
English opposition; I'm afraid you'll come into that."

Ludowika did not again appear that evening, and Howat sat informally
before a blazing hearth with his mother, Gilbert Penny and Caroline.
Myrtle had retired with a headache. Howat felt pleasantly settled,
almost middle-aged; he smoked a pipe with the deliberate gestures of his
father. He wondered at the loss of his old restlessness, his revolt from
just such placid scenes as the present. Never, he had thought, would he
be caught, bound, with invidious affections, desires. Howat, a black
Penny! He had been subjugated by a force stronger than his rebellious
spirit. Suddenly, recalling Ludowika's doubt, he wondered if he would be
a subject to it always. All the elements of his captivity lay so
entirely outside of him, beyond his power to measure or comprehend, that
a feeling of helplessness came over him. He again had the sense of being
swept twisting in an irresistible flood. But his confusion was dominated
by one great assurance--nothing should deprive him of Ludowika. An
intoxicating memory invaded him, touched every nerve with delight and a
tyrannical hunger. His fibre seemed to crumble, his knees turn to dust.
Years ago he had been poisoned by berries, and limpness almost like this
had gone softly, treacherously, through him.

VIII

They entered into a period of secret contentment and understanding.
Ludowika displayed a grave interest in the details of the house and iron
at Myrtle Forge; he explained the processes that resulted in the wrought
blooms despatched by tons in the lumbering, mule-drawn wagons. They
explored the farm, where she listened approvingly to the changes he
proposed making, kitchen gardens to be planted, the hedges of roses and
gravelled paths to be laid--for her. She suggested an Italian walk,
latticed above, with a stone seat, and was indicating a corner that
might be transformed into a semblance of an angle of Versailles, when,
suddenly, she stopped, and clasped his wrist.

"No! No!" she exclaimed, with surprising energy. "We'll have no France,
no court, here, but only America; only you and myself, with no past, no
memories, but just the future." How that was to be realized neither of
them considered; they avoided all practical issues, difficulties. They
never mentioned Felix Winscombe's name. However, a long communication
came from him for his wife. She read it thoughtfully, in the drawing
room,