"Really," he thought, "I am getting quite ardent. And under different
circumstances, I could be so in the utmost good faith; for I know she's
as good and true as she is queenly and beautiful. But after all, it is
duty, only, and----"

"In such a house," she went on, "people may live a little closer than
acquaintances, or not quite so close, as the case may be, with their
lives diluted by their many possessions."

"Yes?" said he expectantly.

"Before it comes to that," she burst forth, her eyes wide and her hands
clasped in her lap, "I want to die! I could gather the fagots for the
fire, and cuddle down by it on a heap of straw by the roadside, with
the man I love; and if I knew he loved me, he might beat me, and I
would bear it, and be happy in his strength--far happier than in those
chambers you spoke of a moment ago, with an acquaintance who merely
happened to be called a husband! I would rather walk the streets than
that!"

Now, a lovers' quarrel requires lovers on both sides. Had Amidon
really been one, this crisis would have passed naturally on to
protestation, counter-protestation, tears, kisses, embraces,
reconciliation. But all these things take place through the interplay
of instincts, none of which was awakened in Florian. So he sat
forlorn, and said nothing.

"I am going to let you go home, now," said she, rising. "I gave out
the date of the wedding, as you requested, the day after you went away.
If it were not for that, I should ask you to wait a while--until the
house is finished--or even longer. As it is, you mustn't be surprised
if I say something surprising to you soon."

"I--I assure you----" began Amidon. "Good night, my----"

He had schooled himself for this farewell, and remembering what Madame
le Claire had told him, had decided on a course of action. The two had
walked out into the hall and he had put on his top-coat. Now he went
bravely up to her and stooped to kiss her.

She raised her face to his, and again the feeling that this man was
only a mere acquaintance passed into her being, as she looked into his
eyes. She turned her lips away. But Florian, as the feeling of
strangeness impressed her, lost it himself in the contemplation, brief
but irresistible, of the upturned lips with their momentary invitation
so soon withdrawn. The primal man in him awoke. His arm tightened
about the lissome waist; the divine form in the creamy silk, on which
he had only now almost feare