lady was in the habit of implying that she
had been fostered in various _anciens regimes_, and that the parentage
of anything so outlandish and radical as her son and daughter was quite
out of her line, and a freak of Fate at the suggestion of her husband.

Intermittent emanations from Superiority-in-the-Bush were small
drawbacks to what might perhaps prove the last unalloyed interview of
these two lovers before their six months' separation--that terrible
Self-Denying Ordinance--to which they had assented with a true prevision
of how very unwelcome it would be when the time came. It was impossible
to go back on their consent now. Gwen might have hoisted a standard of
revolt against her mother. But she could not look her father in the face
and cry off from the fulfilment of a condition-precedent of his consent
to the perfect freedom of association of which she and Adrian had
availed themselves to the uttermost, always under the plea that the
terms of the contract were going to be honourably observed. As for
Adrian, he was even more strongly bound. That appeal from the Countess
that his father had repeated and confirmed was made direct to his
honour; and while he could say unanswerably:--"What would you have me
do?" nothing in the world could justify his rebelling against so
reasonable a condition as that their sentiments should continue
reciprocal after six months of separation.

His own mind was made up. For his views about suicide, however much he
spoke of them with levity, were perfectly serious. If he lost Gwen, he
would be virtually non-existent already. The end would have come, and
the thing left to put an end to would no longer be a Life. It would
only be a sensibility to pain, with an ample supply of it. A bare bodkin
would do the business, but did not recommend itself. The right
proportion of Prussic Acid had much to say on its own behalf. It was
cheap, clean, certain, and the taste of ratafia was far from unpleasant.
But he had a lingering favourable impression of the Warroo medicine-man,
whose faith in the efficacy and painlessness of his nostrum was evident,
however much was uncertain in his version of its _provenance_.

As to any misgivings about awakening in another world, if any occurred
to Adrian he had but one answer--he had _been dead_, and had found death
unattended with any sort of inconvenience. Resuscitation had certainly
been painful, but he did not propose to leave any possibility of it,
this t