to go see her and try to give her comfort, which he promised to do. It
seemed a bitter thing to him that both these men seemed to have some
place and position beside Christine--and he none! He looked at her
during the short service, which tortured his heart with pain for her,
but behind her thick veil her face was quite invisible, and her figure
was still and cold as marble. He longed unspeakably to try to comfort
her, but he felt he could not take one step until she gave some sign
that she wanted him. He knew that Dr. Belford had told her that he
wished to speak with her as soon as she could bear it, and now he must
wait--no matter how long--until she signified her wish to have him come.
She had sent him a message of thanks by Dr. Belford, and said she would
see him when she could. With that he had to be content. He felt it
useless to deny the plain fact that grief had crowded every thought of
him out of her heart now.

Every day he sent her flowers--although he felt assured that they all
found their way to the cemetery--and every day he went to Dr. Belford to
find out how she was. The report was always the same--calm,
uncomplaining, hopeless!

He longed to feel that Christine thought of him with some degree of
comfort, but there was absolutely no foundation for such a hope. He had
always felt a certain impatient scorn of the unfortunate, and to him
totally uninteresting baby, whom Christine had loved with such idolatry,
but now he found himself formulating a passionate wish that he could get
back the child's life for her at the sacrifice of his own. He almost
felt that he could consent to it.

X.

About two weeks after the death of the baby Dr. Belford called upon
Noel. It was absolutely necessary, he said, to do something to rouse
Christine from her state of hopeless lethargy. He had accordingly laid
his plans to do this. He had discovered, through Eliza, that all the
money furnished for the support of the establishment for some time past
had come from Christine, and that Dallas even applied to his wife for
money for tobacco and car-fares, pretending he went out looking for
work.

"As far as I can understand," said Dr. Belford, "the creature has no
strong vices--he is too bloodless and inane for them. Even when he had
money it doesn't appear that he gambled, and I don't believe he drinks.
He is simply wanting in principle, feeling and everything. Eliza says
he has scarcely spoken to his wife, or she t