became the mistress of Lane Cross; an illicit attachment grew
up between Irma Ottley and a young society idler by the name of Bliss
Bridge; and Gardner Knowles, ardently admiring Stephanie Platow
literally seized upon her one afternoon in her own home, when he went
ostensibly to interview her, and overpersuaded her. She was only
reasonably fond of him, not in love; but, being generous, nebulous,
passionate, emotional, inexperienced, voiceless, and vainly curious,
without any sense of the meums and teums that govern society in such
matters, she allowed this rather brutal thing to happen. She was not a
coward--was too nebulous and yet forceful to be such. Her parents
never knew. And once so launched, another world--that of sex
satisfaction--began to dawn on her.

Were these young people evil? Let the social philosopher answer. One
thing is certain: They did not establish homes and raise children. On
the contrary, they led a gay, butterfly existence for nearly two years;
then came a gift in the lute. Quarrels developed over parts,
respective degrees of ability, and leadership. Ethel Tuckerman fell out
with Lane Cross, because she discovered him making love to Irma Ottley.
Irma and Bliss Bridge released each other, the latter transferring his
affections to Georgia Timberlake. Stephanie Platow, by far the most
individual of them all, developed a strange inconsequence as to her
deeds. It was when she was drawing near the age of twenty that the
affair with Gardner Knowles began. After a time Lane Cross, with his
somewhat earnest attempt at artistic interpretation and his superiority
in the matter of years--he was forty, and young Knowles only
twenty-four--seemed more interesting to Stephanie, and he was quick to
respond. There followed an idle, passionate union with this man, which
seemed important, but was not so at all. And then it was that
Stephanie began dimly to perceive that it was on and on that the
blessings lie, that somewhere there might be some man much more
remarkable than either of these; but this was only a dream. She
thought of Cowperwood at times; but he seemed to her to be too wrapped
up in grim tremendous things, far apart from this romantic world of
amateur dramatics in which she was involved.

Chapter XXV

Airs from the Orient

Cowperwood gained his first real impression of Stephanie at the Garrick
Players, where he went with Aileen once to witness a performance of
"Elektra." He lik