ed about that, either.
But all his arrogance, his folly, his idleness and futility were built
upon her fortune, which really did not belong to her after all. A cruel
desire to see him crumble entered her heart, and she knew that she
should tell him the truth if he attacked her as she expected.

But this one time Archie refrained from expressing himself. Even in his
flustered state he recognized a peculiar danger signal in the stare of
his passive wife. With a gesture of disgust he lounged out of the hall
in the direction of his library. Adelle watched him go. Should she
follow him in there and deal her blow? She heard the door of the large
drawing-room open and close behind him. She knew that he would keep on
drinking by himself until he felt properly sleepy. She did not follow
him. Instead, she went upstairs to the rooms occupied by her child and
his nurse, as she did every night before going to bed. The little fellow
was lying at full length on his small bed. His hands were clenched; his
arms stretched out above his head; his face had an expression of effort,
as if in his dreams he were putting forth all his tiny might to
accomplish something. He looked very handsome. Except for that weak
curve to the pleasure-loving lips, he resembled neither Archie nor
Adelle. Nature seemingly had been dissatisfied with them both, and in
drawing new life from them had chosen to return along the line of their
ancestry to select a more promising mould than either of the parents.
The fact that this could be so--that the child from her womb might be
more than herself or Archie--thrilled Adelle. "Boy" as she called him
was mystery and religion to her. He was to become the unfulfilled dream
of her life. This one perfect thing had been given her out of the
accidents of her disordered life, and she must make the utmost of it.

She covered him up where in his dream he had kicked himself free from
the blanket. She bent and kissed him on the forehead gently not to
awaken him. He rolled over, settled himself into an easier position, and
the tension of his small face relaxed. Instead of the frown of effort a
beautiful smile broke over his face, as if at the touch of his mother's
lips the character of his dreams had changed to something highly
pleasurable. Adelle's eyes filled with unaccustomed tears, and she
lingered there a few moments. Nothing was too much to do for him, to
bear for him, no sacrifice that she might make for his future! It was