hould find freedom of spirit. Only
through love, he had discovered, could there be resurrection from this
spiritual death of the last two or three years. Only through some
tremendous rush of desire could he overcome the partial paralysis of his
will. His instinct, he knew, was right, but would his resolution last
until he had found Patty?

It was early afternoon, and the faintly tinted shadows, as smooth as
silk, were falling straight across the bright green grass on the
hillside. The Square was almost deserted at this hour, except for the
old men on the benches and the squirrels that were preparing to return
to their nests in the trees. The breath of spring was over all, roving,
fragrant, provocative.

He shrank from going straight to the house; but Patty was not in the
walks, and he realized that if he found her at all it would be within
doors. Perhaps it was better so. After all, he must become accustomed to
the mansion and all that it contained, including Gideon Vetch, if he
really loved Patty! And did he really love her? Oh, was it all to begin
over again after the days and nights when he had threshed it out alone
in desperation of mind? Had he lost not only all that was vital, but all
that was stable, that was positive and affirmative in his life?

He stood for a moment with his eyes on the fresh young leaves which
stirred softly. Then, as if hope and courage had passed into him with
the air of spring, he turned away and walked rapidly to the gate of the
Governor's house. His hand was on the iron fence, and he was about to
enter the yard, when the door opened and Patty came out on the porch
with Julius Gershom. Stepping quickly back under the trees, Stephen
watched the girl descend the steps, pass the fountain, and go swiftly
out of the gate into the broad drive of the Square. She was talking
eagerly to her companion; and, though she had told him that she disliked
the man, she was smiling up at him while she talked. Her face was like a
pink flower under the dark brim of her sailor hat, and in her eyes,
beneath the inquiring eyebrows, there was the expression of charming
archness that he had imagined so vividly. If she saw him, she made no
sign; and for a moment after she had gone by, he stood vaguely wondering
if she had seen him and if she had chosen this way to punish him for his
neglect of the past two or three weeks? But even then, accepting that
charitable interpretation, what explained the objectionable pr