t what a pity that already this affection of Angela's was
old to him. It was not as it would be if he had taken Marietta or
Christina. They went to their bed room to retire and then he saw that
all he had was passion. Must he be satisfied with that? Could he be? It
started a chain of thought which, while persistently interrupted or
befogged, was really never broken. Momentary sympathy, desire,
admiration, might obscure it, but always fundamentally it was there. He
had made a mistake. He had put his head in a noose. He had subjected
himself to conditions which he did not sincerely approve of. How was he
going to remedy this--or could it ever be remedied?

CHAPTER III

Whatever were Eugene's secret thoughts, he began his married life with
the outward air of one who takes it seriously enough. Now that he was
married, was actually bound by legal ties, he felt that he might as well
make the best of it. He had once had the notion that it might be
possible to say nothing of his marriage, and keep Angela in the
background, but this notion had been dispelled by the attitude of
MacHugh and Smite, to say nothing of Angela. So he began to consider the
necessity of notifying his friends--Miriam Finch and Norma Whitmore and
possibly Christina Channing, when she should return. These three women
offered the largest difficulty to his mind. He felt the commentary which
their personalities represented. What would they think of him? What of
Angela? Now that she was right here in the city he could see that she
represented a different order of thought. He had opened the campaign by
suggesting that they invite Smite and MacHugh. The thing to do now was
to go further in this matter.

The one thing that troubled him was the thought of breaking the news to
Miriam Finch, for Christina Channing was away, and Norma Whitmore was
not of sufficient importance. He argued now that he should have done
this beforehand, but having neglected that it behoved him to act at
once. He did so, finally, writing to Norma Whitmore and saying, for he
had no long explanation to make--"Yours truly is married. May I bring my
wife up to see you?" Miss Whitmore was truly taken by surprise. She was
sorry at first--very--because Eugene interested her greatly and she was
afraid he would make a mistake in his marriage; but she hastened to make
the best of a bad turn on the part of fate and wrote a note which ran as
follows:

"Dear Eugene and Eugene's Wife:

"Thi