room revived so many hours of
conflict, of hope, that it caused her a sick faintness. In frenzy of
detestation she cursed the man who had so disturbed and sullied the
swift, pure stream of her life.

* * *

Arromanches, in Normandy--? On Sunday she sought the name on a map, but
it was not marked, being doubtless too insignificant. Improbable that
he had gone to such a place alone; he was enjoying himself with
friends, careless what became of her. Having allowed all this time to
go by he would never seek her again. He found that her will was the
equal of his own, and, as he could not rule her, she was numbered among
the women who had afforded him interesting experiences, to be thought
of seriously no more.

During the next week she threw herself with energy upon her work,
stifling the repugnance with which at first it affected her, and
seeming at length to recover the old enthusiasm. This was the only way
of salvation. Idleness and absence of purpose would soon degrade her in
a sense she had never dreamt of. She made a plan of daily occupation,
which by leaving not a vacant moment from early morning to late at
night, should give her the sleep of utter weariness. New studies were
begun in the hour or two before breakfast. She even restricted her
diet, and ate only just enough to support life, rejecting wine and
everything that was most agreeable to her palate.

She desired to speak privately with Mildred Vesper, and opportunity
might have been made, but, as part of her scheme of self-subdual, this
conversation was postponed until the second week. It took place one
evening when work was over.

'I have been wanting to ask you,' Rhoda began, 'whether you have any
news of Mrs. Widdowson.'

'I wrote to her not long ago, and she answered from a new address. She
said she had left her husband and would never go back to him.'

Rhoda nodded gravely.

'Then what I had heard was true. You haven't seen her?'

'She asked me not to come. She is living with her sister.'

'Did she give you any reason for the separation from her husband?'

'None,' answered Mildred. 'But she said it was no secret; that every
one knew. That's why I haven't spoken to you about it--as I should have
done otherwise after our last conversation.'

'The fact is no secret,' said Rhoda coldly. 'But why will she offer no
explanation?'

Mildred shook her head, signifying inability to make any satisfactory
reply, and there the dialogue ended; for Rhoda