proved a deception.
Her beauty has not stood the test of climate. Motherhood, that
improves and perfects most women, has personally wrecked her. Her
voice is now commonplace. Her songs are become tiresome. She has grown
fretful, and all her brightness and hopefulness have vanished. I do
not know how to make a living. I may as well admit that my dramatic
views are a failure--that is, they are in advance of the times. I can
do nothing for myself. But if I had not been married, what a jolly
time I might now be having with Elizabeth! London, Paris, Switzerland,
and no care or trouble of any kind. Oh, what a fool I have been! How
terribly I have been deceived!"

He did not take into consideration Denasia's disappointment. He had no
doubt Denasia was telling all her own sorrows to herself and weeping
over them and her miserable little baby. After a while he lit a fresh
cigar and opened the newspapers. For an hour or two he let his
thoughts drift as they led him, and then, as he was folding up one,
the following notice met his vision:

"Wanted, a private secretary. A young man who has had a classical
education preferred. Call upon Mr. Edward Lanhearne, 9 Fifth Avenue."

The name struck Roland. He had heard it before. It had a happy memory,
an air of prosperity about it. Lanhearne! It was a Cornish name! That
circumstance gave him the clew. When he was a boy at Eton, he
remembered a Mr. Lanhearne who stayed with his father. "By Jove!" he
cried, starting to his feet, "he was an American. What a piece of luck
it would be if it should be the same man!" He fixed the address in his
mind and went to it immediately.

The house pleased him. It was a large dwelling fronting on the avenue.
A handsome carriage was just leaving the door, and in the carriage was
a very lovely young woman. The entrance, the reception parlour, the
servant who admitted him, all the apparent accessories of the house
and household indicated wealth and refinement. What a heaven in
comparison with that back room on Second Avenue! For the first time in
many a month Roland had a sense of success in what he was going to do,
and the feeling gave him a portion of the elements necessary to
success.

Mr. Lanhearne received him at once. He was a kindly looking old
gentleman, with fine manners and an intelligent face.

"Mr. Tresham," he said, "I was attracted by your name. I once had a
friend--a very pleasant friend indeed, called Tresham."

"Did he live in London