hers. But, as he let them pass, he became
aware that below them, in depths of his mind he had believed
undisturbed, there was present a feeling of strange unhappiness, which
he did not know the cause of: these sharp pictures resembled an attempt
on the part of his mind, to deceive him as to what was really going on
in him. But he did not want to know, and he allowed his thoughts to
take wider flights: recalling the scheme Madeleine had proposed, he
considered it with a clearness of view, which, at the time, had been
impossible. From this, he turned to America itself, and reflected on
the opportunities the country offered. He saw the two of them sweeping
through vast tracts of uncultivated land, in a train that outdid all
real trains in swiftness; saw unknown tropical places, where the yellow
fruit hung low and heavy, and people walked shadeless, sandy roads, in
white hats, under white umbrellas. He saw Madeleine and himself on the
awning-spanned deck of an ocean steamer, anchoring in a harbour where
the sea was the colour of turquoise, touched to sapphire where the
mountains came down to the shore.

"Moping herself to death": the phrase crystallised in his brain with
such suddenness that he said it aloud. Now he knew what it was that was
troubling him. He had not consciously recalled the words, nor had they
even made a very incisive impression on him at the time; but they had
evidently lain dormant, now to return and to strike him, as if no
others had been said. He explained to himself what they meant. It was
this: outside, in the crisp, stinging air, people lived and moved, busy
with many matters, or sported, as he and his companions had done that
evening: inside, she sat alone, mournful, forsaken. He saw her in the
dark sofacorner, with her head on her hands. Day passed and night
passed, but she was always in the same place; and her head was bowed so
low that her white fingers were lost in the waves of her hair. He saw
her thus with the distinctness of a vision, and except in this way
could not see her at all.

He felt it little short of shameful that he should have carelessly
amused himself; and, as always where she was concerned, a deep,
unreasoning sense of his own unworthiness, filled him. He demanded of
himself, with a new energy, what he could do to help her. Fantastic
plans rose as usual in his mind, and as usual were dismissed. For the
one thing he was determined not to do, was to thrust himself on her
uncal