e saved from herself, from all such
ideas now and at once.

And she began to think how she could introduce the idea of travel easily
and nicely. She must lure Suzanne to go without alarming her--without
making her think that she was bringing pressure to bear. But from now on
there must be a new order established. She must talk differently; she
must act differently. Suzanne and all her children must be protected
against themselves and others also. That was the lesson which this
conversation taught her.

CHAPTER XIII

Eugene and Angela had been quarreling between themselves most bitterly;
at other times Angela was attempting to appeal to his sense of justice
and fair play, if not his old-time affection, in the subtlest of ways.
She was completely thrown out of her old methods of calculation, and
having lost those had really no traditions on which to proceed. Eugene
had always heretofore apparently feared her wrath; now he cared nothing
for that. He had been subject, in times past, to a certain extent to
those alluring blandishments which the married will understand well
enough, but these were as ashes. Her charms meant nothing to him. She
had hoped that the thought of a coming child would move him, but no, it
was apparently without avail. Suzanne seemed a monster to her now since
she did not desert him, and Eugene a raving maniac almost, and yet she
could see how human and natural it all was. He was hypnotized,
possessed. He had one thought, Suzanne, Suzanne, and he would fight her
at every turn for that. He told her so. He told her of her letter to
Suzanne, and the fact that he had read and destroyed it. It did not help
her cause at all. She knew that she had decried him. He stood his ground
solidly, awaiting the will of Suzanne, and he saw Suzanne frequently,
telling her that he had won completely, and that the fulfilment of their
desires now depended upon her.

As has been said, Suzanne was not without passion. The longer she
associated with Eugene, the more eager she became for that joyous
fulfilment which his words, his looks, his emotions indicated. In her
foolish, girlish way, she had built up a fancy which was capable of
realization only by the most ruthless and desperate conduct. Her theory
of telling her mother and overcoming her by argument or defiance was
really vain, for it could not be settled so easily, or so quickly.
Because of her mother's appeal to her in this first conversation, she
fancied