men, equipped for nothing else, with pens as keen if not keener
than hers. That was not the talent with which she had been entrusted--for
which she would have to account. It was her beauty, her power to charm,
to draw after her--to compel by the mere exercise of her will. Hitherto
Beauty had been content to barter itself for mere coin of the realm--for
ease and luxury and pleasure. She only asked to be allowed to spend it
in service. As his wife, she could use it to fine ends. By herself she
was helpless. One must take the world as one finds it. It gives the
unmated woman no opportunity to employ the special gifts with which God
has endowed her--except for evil. As the wife of a rising statesman, she
could be a force for progress. She could become another Madame Roland;
gather round her all that was best of English social life; give back to
it its lost position in the vanguard of thought.

She could strengthen him, give him courage. Without her, he would always
remain the mere fighter, doubtful of himself. The confidence, the
inspiration, necessary for leadership, she alone could bring to him. Each
by themselves was incomplete. Together, they would be the whole. They
would build the city of their dreams.

She seemed to have become a wandering spirit rather than a living being.
She had no sense of time or place. Once she had started, hearing herself
laugh. She was seated at a table, and was talking. And then she had
passed back into forgetfulness. Now, from somewhere, she was gazing
downward. Roofs, domes and towers lay stretched before her, emerging
from a sea of shadows. She held out her arms towards them and the tears
came to her eyes. The poor tired people were calling to her to join with
him to help them. Should she fail them--turn deaf ears to the myriad
because of pity for one useless, feeble life?

She had been fashioned to be his helpmate, as surely as if she had been
made of the same bone. Nature was at one with God. Spirit and body both
yearned for him. It was not position--power for herself that she craved.
The marriage market--if that had been her desire: it had always been open
to her. She had the gold that buys these things. Wealth, ambition: they
had been offered to her--spread out temptingly before her eyes. They
were always within her means, if ever she chose to purchase them. It was
this man alone to whom she had ever felt drawn--this man of the people,
with that suggesti