gold chain
and the corals in your ears. That pleases me; that is the way it should
be. But I have no gold chain; I have no corals. If I had them, I
wouldn't wear them; and if I wore them, it would not be right."

"Ah, Gertrude, what are you talking about?" asked Eleanore.

The ringing of the church bells could be heard in the hall. Gertrude
folded her hands in prayer. There was a stern solemnity in her action.
In her kneeling position she looked as though she were petrified.

Eleanore went into the room with a heavy heart.

XI

Through the dividing walls Daniel and Eleanore were irresistibly drawn
to each other. They accompanied each other in their thoughts; each
divined the other's wishes and feelings. If he came home in a bad
humour, if she was anxious and restless, they both needed merely to sit
down by each other to regain their peace.

If Daniel's power of persuasion was great, Eleanore's example was
equally great. A dish would displease Daniel. Eleanore would not only
eat it, but would praise it; and Daniel would then eat it too, and like
it. Gertrude had prepared the food, and Eleanore felt it was her duty to
spare her sister as much humiliation as possible. But Gertrude did not
want to be treated indulgently. She would lay her knife and fork aside,
and say: "Daniel is right. It is not fit to eat." She would get up and
go into the kitchen and make a porridge that would take the place of the
inedible dish. That was the way she acted: she was always resigned,
diligent, and quiet; she made every possible effort to do her duty.
Daniel and Eleanore looked at each other embarrassed; but their
embarrassment was transformed in time into mutual ecstasy: they could
not keep from looking at each other.

There was nothing of the seducer in Daniel's sexual equipment. On the
other hand he was dependent to a very high degree upon his wishes and
desires; and in his passionate obstinacy he not infrequently lacked
consideration. Eleanore however possessed profound calmness, cheerful
certainty, and a goodly measure of indulgence; and she knew exactly how
to make use of these traits. The claims that were made on her patience
and moderation would have harassed a heart steeled in the actualities of
politics and flooded with worldly experiences. She however found a safe
and unerring guide in the instincts of her nature, and was never tired.

The trait in her to which he took most frequent and