he
thought that neither was Elsa's happiness a relevant consideration. It
would not do, I could not maintain the position. For Elsa was young,
fresh, aspiring to happiness as a plant rears its head to the air. And
our wedding was but a fortnight off.

"Am I repulsive, am I loathsome?"

"What a question, my dear M. Struboff!"

I had that snatch of talk in my head when I fell asleep.

The next day but one found me back at Forstadt. They had begun to
decorate the streets.

CHAPTER XXV.

A SMACK OF REPETITION.

The contrast of outer and inner, of the world's myself and my own
myself, of others as they seem to me and to themselves (of the reality
they may be, through inattention or dulness, as ignorant as I), which is
the most permanent and the dominant impression that life has stamped on
my mind, was never more powerfully brought home to me than in the days
which preceded my marriage to my cousin Elsa. As I have said, they had
begun to decorate the streets; let me summarize all the rest by
repeating that they decorated the streets, and went on decorating them.
The decorative atmosphere enveloped all external objects, and wrapped
even the members of my own family in its spangled cloud. Victoria
blossomed in diamonds, William Adolphus sprouted in plumes; my mother
embodied the stately, Cousin Elizabeth a gorgeous heartiness; the Duke's
eyes wore a bored look, but the remainder of his person was fittingly
resplendent. Bederhof was Bumble in Olympus; beyond these came a sea of
smiles, bows, silks, and uniforms. Really I believe that the whole thing
was done as handsomely as possible, and the proceedings are duly
recorded in a book of red leather, clasped in gold and embellished with
many pictures, which the Municipality of Forstadt presented to Elsa in
remembrance of the auspicious event. It lies now under a glass case,
and, I understand, excites much interest among ladies who come to see my
house.

Elsa was a puzzle no longer; I should have welcomed more complexity of
feeling. The month which had passed since we parted had brought to her
many reflections, no doubt, and as a presumable result of them a fixed
attitude of mind. William Adolphus would have said (and very likely did
say to Victoria) that she had got used to me; but this mode of putting
the matter suffers from my brother-in-law's bluntness. She had not
defied Clotho, but neither had she altogether given herself up to
Clotho. She had compromised wi