r dress was no longer the Nile green; it was made of brown
cloth, and on the front was a row of glistening black buttons.

At times Eleanore would make some remark to him, and he would reply. At
times the remarks between the two spun out into a verbal skirmish.
Eleanore teased, and he was gruff; or he mocked, and Eleanore delivered
a curtain lecture. Gertrude would sit with an expression of helpless
amazement on her face, and look at the window. She purposely remained
unoccupied; she purposely postponed her household duties. The thought
of leaving the two alone in the room was unbearable.

What Daniel did and said, how he walked or sat or stood, how he put his
hands in his pockets and smacked his lips, all this and more aroused a
sense of fear and shame in her. She regarded his candour as impudent
presumption; she looked upon his capriciousness as malevolent
irrationality; his indifferent manners and his disposition to slander
she felt certain were of a piece with the scorn of the devil.

On one occasion he dropped a caustic remark about the bigots who contend
that God is a moralising censor. Having this phase of ethics under
discussion, he also paid his respects to those people who look upon
every worm-eaten pastor as an archangel. Gertrude got up with a jerk,
and stared at him. He stood his ground; he merely shrugged his
shoulders. Gertrude whispered: "Men without faith are worse than
contagious diseases."

Daniel laughed. Then he became serious, and asked her what she
understood by faith. He wanted to know whether she felt that faith was a
matter of lip service. She replied, with bowed head, that she could not
discuss sacred matters with a man who had renounced all religion. Daniel
told her that her remark was slanderous. He wanted to know whether she
had ever taken the pains to find out precisely how he stood in matters
of religion, and if not, was this the reason she passed such final
judgment on him with such suddenness and conviction. He asked her point
blank whether she was quite certain that her so-called faith was better
than his so-called unfaith. Not content with this, he asked where she
got her authority, her courage, her feeling of security; whether she
felt she had evidence to prove that she had carefully examined his soul;
and whether she had at any time interviewed God.

He laughed again, whistled, and left.

Gertrude remained motionless for a while, her eyes fixed on the floor.
Eleanore supported