resence of her mother, Eugene did not feel that he was quite so much
the victor as he had imagined, or that the whole problem of his life was
solved. He could not very well ignore, he thought, what Mrs. Dale had to
offer, if she was offering it seriously. She had said to him just before
he came into the presence of Suzanne that unless he accepted these terms
she would go on fighting--that she would telegraph to Colfax and ask him
to come up here. Although Eugene had drawn his money and was ready to
fly if he could, still the thought of Colfax and the desire to keep his
present state of social security and gain all Mrs. Dale had to offer
besides were deterrents. He hesitated. Wasn't there some way to smooth
everything out?

"I don't want you to decide finally," he said, "but what do you think?"

Suzanne was in a simmering, nebulous state, and could not think. Eugene
was here. This was Arcady and the moon was high.

It was beautiful to have him with her again. It was wonderful to feel
his caresses. But he was not flying with her. They were not defying the
world; they were not doing what she fancied they would be doing, rushing
to victory, and that was what she had sent for him for. Mrs. Dale was
going to help Eugene get a divorce, so she said. She was going to help
subsidize Angela, if necessary. Suzanne was going to get married, and
actually settle down after a time. What a curious thought. Why that was
not what she had wanted to do. She had wanted to flout convention in
some way; to do original things as she had planned, as she had dreamed.
It might be disastrous, but she did not think so. Her mother would have
yielded. Why was Eugene compromising? It was curious. Such thoughts as
these formulated in her mind at this time were the most disastrous
things that could happen to their romance. Union should have followed
his presence. Flight should have been a portion of it. As it was she was
in his arms, but she was turning over vague, nebulous thoughts.
Something--a pale mist before an otherwise brilliant moon; a bit of
spindrift; a speck of cloud, no bigger than a man's hand that might
possibly portend something and might not, had come over the situation.
Eugene was as desirable as ever, but he was not flying with her. They
were talking about going back to New York afterwards, but they were not
going together at once. How was that?

"Do you think mama can really damage you with Mr. Colfax?" she asked
curiously at one po