and more dangerous one.

Roland had other unpleasant experiences to encounter. It seemed
incredible that the handsome, witty, fascinating Mr. Tresham could
possibly be a bore, and yet the authorities in various green-rooms
either said so in plain English or made him aware of the fact through
every other sense but hearing. He felt himself to be politely or
sarcastically quizzed. Stars ignored him; meaner lights gave him a
bare tolerance. A few inquired if his grand relatives had yet forgiven
him. One or two affected to have heard he had an offer from Henry
Irving, or some other histrionic luminary; in fact, he gradually was
made to understand that Roland Tresham was by no means a name to
conjure with.

He did not tell Denasia of these humiliations, and she believed that
his chagrin and ill-temper arose from his continual disappointments.
He could get no chance worthy of his efforts for a trial of his new
Shakespearian interpretations. He felt sure there was a coalition
against him. "Let a man have a little more beauty or talent than the
crowd, and the crowd are determined to ruin him, naturally," he said,
and he believed his own dictum thoroughly. Toward the end of the
season, however, he did obtain a hearing under what were undoubtedly
favourable circumstances; and then the press was his enemy. And he
knew positively that the adverse criticisms were the results of
venality, or ignorance, or want of taste, or of that brutal
conservatism which makes Englishmen suspicious of everything not
endorsed by centuries of use and wont.

It may be easily seen how these personal irritations made an unhappy
atmosphere in which to dwell. And Roland had another disappointment
also which he hardly liked to admit to himself--Denasia was changing
so rapidly. The society into which he himself had brought her forced
the simple, trustful, ignorant girl into observations and calculations
which lifted her unconsciously to a level, perhaps in some respects to
a plane above her husband. She was naturally clever, and she learned
how to dress herself, how to take care of herself, how to look out for
her own interests. Roland had intended to dictate to her, and she
began to smile at his dictations and to take her own way, which she
charmingly declared was the only reasonable way for her to take.

During this interval Roland wrote often to Elizabeth. He wanted some
one to complain to, and Elizabeth was the only person he knew who was
willing t