acks with Miss
Brent seemed to him a satisfactory alternative to the European trip she
had renounced. He felt as relieved as though some one had taken off his
hands the task of amusing a restless child, and he let his wife go
without suspecting that the moment might be a decisive one between them.
But it had not occurred to Bessy that any one could regard six weeks in
the Adirondacks as an adequate substitute for a summer abroad. She felt
that her sacrifice deserved recognition, and personal devotion was the
only form of recognition which could satisfy her. She had expected
Amherst to join her at the camp, but he did not come; and when she went
back to Long Island she did not stop to see him, though Hanaford lay in
her way. At the moment of her return the work at the mills made it
impossible for him to go to Lynbrook; and thus the weeks drifted on
without their meeting.

At last, urged by his mother, he had gone down to Long Island for a
night; but though, on that occasion, he had announced his coming, he
found the house full, and the whole party except Mr. Langhope in the act
of starting off to a dinner in the neighbourhood. He was of course
expected to go too, and Bessy appeared hurt when he declared that he was
too tired and preferred to remain with Mr. Langhope; but she did not
suggest staying at home herself, and drove off in a mood of exuberant
gaiety. Amherst had been too busy all his life to know what intricacies
of perversion a sentimental grievance may develop in an unoccupied mind,
and he saw in Bessy's act only a sign of indifference. The next day she
complained to him of money difficulties, as though surprised that her
income had been suddenly cut down; and when he reminded her that she had
consented of her own will to this temporary reduction, she burst into
tears and accused him of caring only for Westmore.

He went away exasperated by her inconsequence, and bills from Lynbrook
continued to pour in on him. In the first days of their marriage, Bessy
had put him in charge of her exchequer, and she was too indolent--and at
heart perhaps too sensitive--to ask him to renounce the charge. It was
clear to him, therefore, how little she was observing the spirit of
their compact, and his mind was tormented by the anticipation of
financial embarrassments. He wrote her a letter of gentle expostulation,
but in her answer she ignored his remonstrance; and after that silence
fell between them.

The only way to break