te's pleadings.

She did not wish merely to be one in the procession of his sweethearts;
it was necessary to convince herself first that this love was going to
last forever. It was her first slip and she wanted it to be the last.
Ay, her former spotless reputation! . . . What would people say! . . .
The two returned to their adolescent period, loving each other as they
had never loved before, with the confident and childish passion of
fifteen-year-olds.

Julio had leaped from childhood to libertinism, taking his initiation
into life at a single bound. She had desired marriage in order to
acquire the respect and liberty of a married woman, but feeling towards
her husband only a vague gratitude. "We end where others begin," she had
said to Desnoyers.

Their passion took the form of an intense, reciprocal and vulgar love.
They felt a romantic sentimentality in clasping hands or exchanging
kisses on a garden bench in the twilight. He was treasuring a ringlet
of Marguerite's--although he doubted its genuineness, with a vague
suspicion that it might be one of the latest wisps of fashion. She
would cuddle down with her head on his shoulder, as though imploring
his protection, although always in the open air. If Julio ever attempted
greater intimacy in a carriage, madame would repel him most vigorously.
A contradictory duality appeared to inspire her actions. Every morning,
on awaking, she would decide to yield, but then when near him, her
middle-class respectability, jealous of its reputation, kept her
faithful to her mother's teachings.

One day she agreed to visit his studio with the interest that the
haunts of the loved one always inspires. "Promise that you will not take
advantage of me." He readily promised, swearing that everything should
be as Marguerite wished. . . . But from that day they were no longer
seen in the gardens, nor wandering around persecuted by the winter
winds. They preferred the studio, and Argensola had to rearrange his
existence, seeking the stove of another artist friend, in order to
continue his reading.

This state of things lasted two months. They never knew what secret
force suddenly disturbed their tranquility. Perhaps one of her friends,
guessing at the truth, had told the husband anonymously. Perhaps it was
she herself unconsciously, with her inexpressible happiness, her tardy
returns home when dinner was already served, and the sudden aversion
which she showed toward the engineer in th