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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8570.txt b/8570.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c844cb --- /dev/null +++ b/8570.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11405 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philistines, by Arlo Bates + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Philistines + +Author: Arlo Bates + +Posting Date: October 20, 2012 [EBook #8570] +Release Date: July, 2005 +First Posted: July 24, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PHILISTINES *** + + + + +Produced by Eric Eldred, Charlie Kirschner, Charles Franks, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + + + +THE PHILISTINES + +BY + +ARLO BATES + + + + + + + + The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together. + _All's Well that Ends Well_; iv.--3 + + + + +DEDICATION. + + + To my three friends who, by generously acting as amanuenses, + have made it possible that the book should be finished, I take + pleasure in gratefully dedicating + + + + + "This is no square temple to the gate of which thou canst + arrive precipitately; this is no mosque to which thou canst come + with tumult but without knowledge." + _Persian Religious Hymn_. + + + + + CONTENTS. +CHAPTER + + I. IN PLACE AND IN ACCOUNT NOTHING + II. SOME SPEECH OF MARRIAGE + III. IN WAY OF TASTE + IV. NOW HE IS FOR THE NUMBERS + V. 'TWAS WONDROUS PITIFUL + VI. THE INLY TOUCH OF LOVE + VII. THIS DEED UNSHAPES ME + VIII. A NECESSARY EVIL + IX. THIS IS NOT A BOON + X. THE BITTER PAST + XI. THE GREAT ASSAY OF ART + XII. WHOM THE FATES HAVE MARKED + XIII. THIS "WOULD" CHANGES + XIV. THE SHOT OF ACCIDENT + XV. LIKE COVERED FIRE + XVI. WEIGHING DELIGHT AND DOLE + XVII. THE HEAVY MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT + XVIII. HE SPEAKS THE MERE CONTRARY + XIX. HOW CHANCES MOCK + XX. VOLUBLE AND SHARP DISCOURSE + XXI. A MINT OF PHRASES IN HIS BRAIN + XXII. HIS PURE HEART'S TRUTH + XXIII. AS FALSE AS STAIRS OF SAND + XXIV. THERE BEGINS CONFUSION + XXV. AFTER SUCH A PAGAN CUT + XXVI. O, WICKED WIT AND GIFT + XXVII. UPON A CHURCH BENCH + XXVIII. BEDECKING ORNAMENTS OF PRAISE + XXIX. CRUEL PROOF OF THIS MAN'S STRENGTH + XXX. THE WORLD IS STILL DECEIVED + XXXI. PARTED OUR FELLOWSHIP + XXXII. HEART-BURNING HEAT OF DUTY + XXXIII. A BOND OF AIR + XXXIV. WHAT TIME SHE CHANTED + XXXV. HEARTSICK WITH THOUGHT + XXXVI. FAREWELL AT ONCE, FOR ONCE, FOR ALL AND EVER + XXXVII. A SYMPATHY OF WOE + + + + +THE PHILISTINES + + +I + + + IN PLACE AND IN ACCOUNT NOTHING. + I Henry IV.; v.--I. + +When Arthur Fenton, the most outspoken of all that band of protesting +spirits who had been so well known in artistic Boston as the Pagans, +married Edith Caldwell, there had been in his mind a purpose, secret +but well defined, to turn to his own account his wife's connection with +the Philistine art patrons of the town. Miss Caldwell was a niece of +Peter Calvin, a wealthy and well-meaning man against whom but two grave +charges could be made,--that he supposed the growth of art in this +country to depend largely upon his patronage, and that he could never +be persuaded not to take himself seriously. Mr. Calvin was regarded by +Philistine circles in Boston as a sort of re-incarnation of Apollo, +clothed upon with modern enlightenment, and properly arrayed in +respectable raiment. Had it been pointed out that to make this theory +probable it was necessary to conceive of the god as having undergone +mentally much the same metamorphosis as that which had transformed his +flowing vestments into trousers, his admirers would have received the +remark as highly complimentary to Mr. Peter Calvin. To assume identity +between their idol and Apollo would be immensely flattering to the son +of Latona. + +Fenton understood perfectly the weight and extent of Calvin's +influence, yet, in determining to profit by it, he did not in the least +deceive himself as to the nature of his own course. + +"Honesty," he afterward confessed to his friend Helen Greyson, who +scorned him for the admission, "is doubtless a charming thing for +digestive purposes, but it is a luxury too expensive for me. The gods +in this country bid for shams, and shams I purpose giving them." + +So well did he carry out his intention, that in a few years he came to +be the fashionable portrait-painter of the town; the artist to whom +people went who rated the worth of a picture by the amount they were +required to pay for it, and the reputation of the painter in +conventional circles; the man to whom a Boston society woman inevitably +turned when she wished the likeness of her charms preserved on canvas, +and when no foreigner was for the moment in vogue and on hand. + +The steps by which Fenton attained to this proud eminence were obvious +enough. In the first place, he persuaded Mr. Calvin to sit to him. Mr. +Calvin always sat to the portrait painters whom he endorsed. This was a +sort of official recognition, and the results, as seen in the +needlessly numerous likenesses of the gentleman which adorned his +Beacon Hill mansion, would have afforded a cynic some amusement, and +not a little food for reflection. Once launched under distinguished +patronage, Fenton was clever enough to make his way. He really was able +to paint well when he chose, a fact which was, on the whole, of less +importance in his artistic career than were the adroitness of his +address, and his ready and persuasive sympathy. The qualifications of a +fashionable doctor, a fashionable clergyman, and a fashionable +portrait-painter are much the same; it is only in the man-milliner that +skill is demanded in addition to the art of pleasing. + +As usually happens in such a case, Fenton's old friends avoided him, or +found themselves left in the distance by his rapid strides toward fame +and fortune. Then such of them as still came in contact with him made +his acquaintance in a new character, and learned to accept him as a +wholly different man from the one they had supposed themselves to know +in the days when he was never weary of pouring forth tirades against +the Philistinism he had now embraced. They admired the skill with which +he painted stuffs and gowns, but among themselves they agreed that the +old-time vigor and sincerity were painfully lacking in his work; and if +they grumbled sometimes at the prices he got, it is only just to +believe that it was seldom with any real willingness to pay, in the +sacrifice of convictions and ideals, the equivalent which he had given +for his popularity. + +Fenton was one morning painting, in his luxuriously appointed studio, +the portrait of a man who was in the prime of life, and over whom +vulgar prosperity had, in forming him, left everywhere her finger marks +plainly to be seen. He was tall and robust, with light eyes and blonde +whiskers, and a general air of insisting upon his immense superiority +to all the world. That he secretly felt some doubts of the perfection +of his social knowledge, there were indications in his manner, but on +the whole the complacency of a portly bank account overcame all +misgivings of this sort. His character might have been easily inferred +from the manner in which he now set his broad shoulders expansively +back in the armchair in which he was posing, and regarded the artist +with a patronizing air of condescending to be wonderfully entertained +by his conversation. + +"You are the frankest fellow I ever saw," he said, smiling broadly. + +"Oh, frank," Fenton responded; "I am too frank. It will be the ruin of +me sooner or later. It all comes of being born with a habit of being +too honest with myself." + +"Honesty with yourself is generally held up as a cardinal virtue." + +"Nonsense. A man is a fool who is too frank with himself; he is always +sure to end by being too frank with everybody else, just from mere +habit." + +Mr. Irons smiled more broadly still. He by no means followed all +Fenton's vagaries of thought, but they tickled his mental cuticle +agreeably. The artist had the name of being a clever talker, and with +such a listener this was more than half the battle. The men who can +distinguish the real quality of talk are few and far to seek; most +people receive what is said as wit and wisdom, or the reverse, simply +because they are assured it is the one or the other; and Alfred Irons +was of the majority in this. + +Fenton painted in silence a moment, inwardly possessed of a desire to +caricature, or even to paint in all its ugliness, the vulgar mouth upon +which he was working. The desire, however, was not sufficiently strong +to restrain him from the judicious flattery of cleverly softening and +refining the coarse lips, and he was conscious of a faint amusement at +the incongruity between his thought and his action. + +"And there is the added disadvantage," he continued the conversation as +he glanced up and saw that his sitter's face was quickly, in the +silence, falling into a heavy repose, "that frankness begets frankness. +My sitters are always telling me things which I do not want to know, +just because I am so beastly outspoken and sympathetic." + +"You must have an excellent chance to get pointers," responded the +sitter, his pale eyes kindling with animation. "You've painted two or +three men this winter that could have put you up to a good thing." + +"That isn't the sort of line chat takes in a studio," Fenton returned, +with a slight shrug. "It isn't business that men talk in a studio. That +would be too incongruous." + +Irons sneered and laughed, with an air of consequence and superiority. + +"I don't suppose many of you artist fellows would make much of a fist +at business," he observed. + +"Modern business," laughed the other, amused by his own epigram, "is +chiefly the art of transposing one's debts. The thing to learn is how +to pass the burden of your obligations from one man's shoulders to +those of another often enough so that nobody who has them gets tired +out, and drops them with a crash." + +His sitter grinned appreciatively. + +"And they don't tell you how to do this?" + +"Oh, no. The things my sitters tell me about are of a very different +sort. They make to me confidences they want to get rid of; things you'd +rather not hear. Heavens! I have all I can do to keep some men from +treating me like a priest and confessing all their sins to me." + +Mr. Irons regarded the artist closely, with a curious narrowing of the +eyes. + +"That must give you a hold over a good many of them," he said. "I shall +be careful what I say." + +Fenton laughed, with a delightful sense of superiority. It amused him +that his sitter should be betraying his nature at the very moment when +he fancied himself particularly on his guard. + +"You certainly have no crimes on your conscience that interfere with +your digestion," was his reply; "but in any case, you may make yourself +easy; I am not a blackmailer by profession." + +"Oh, I didn't mean that," Mr. Irons answered, easily; "only of course +you are a man who has his living to make. Every painter has to depend +on his wits, and when you come in contact with men of another class +professionally it would be natural enough to suppose you would take +advantage of it." + +The "lady's finger" in Fenton's cheek stood out white amid the sudden +red, and his eyes flashed. + +"Of course a sitter," he said in an even voice, which had somehow lost +all its smooth sweetness, "is in a manner my guest, and the fact that +his class was not up to mine, or that he wasn't a gentleman even, +wouldn't excuse my taking advantage of him." + +The other flushed in his turn. He felt the keenness of the retort, but +he was not dexterous enough to parry it, and he took refuge in coarse +bullying. + +"Come, now, Fenton," he cried with a short, explosive laugh, "you talk +like a gentleman." + +But the artist, knowing himself to have the better of the other, and +not unmindful, moreover, of the fact that to offend Alfred Irons might +mean a serious loss to his own pocket, declined to take offence. + +"Of course," he answered lightly, and with the air of one who +appreciates an intended jest so subtile that only cleverness would have +comprehended it, "that is one of the advantages I have always found in +being one. I think I needn't keep you tied down to that chair any +longer to-day. Come here and see how you think we are getting on." + +And the sitter forgot quickly that he had been on the very verge of a +quarrel. + + + + +II + + SOME SPEECH OF MARRIAGE. + Measure for Measure; v.--I. + +When dinner was announced that night, Mrs. Arthur Fenton had not +appeared, but presently she came into the room with that guilty and +anxious look which marks the consciousness of social misdemeanors. She +was dressed in a gown of warm primrose plush, softened by draperies of +silver-gray net. It was a costume which her husband had designed for +her, and which set off beautifully her brown hair and creamy white skin. + +"I hope I have not kept you waiting long," she said, "but I wanted to +dress for Mrs. Frostwinch's before dinner, and I was late about getting +home." + +There was a certain wistfulness in her manner which betrayed her +anxiety lest he should be vexed at the trifling delay. Arthur Fenton +was too well bred to be often openly unkind to anybody, but none the +less was his wife afraid of his displeasure. He was one of those men +who have the power of making their disapproval felt from the simple +fact that they feel it so strongly themselves. The most oppressive of +domestic tyrants are by no means those who vent their ill-nature in +open words. The man who strenuously insists to himself upon his will, +and cherishes in silence his dislike of whatever is contrary to it, is +oftener a harder man to live with than one who is violently outspoken. +Fenton was hardly conscious of the absolute despotism with which he +ruled his home, but his wife was too susceptible to his moods not to +feel keenly the unspoken protest with which he met any infringement +upon his wishes or his pleasure. Tonight he was in good humor, and his +sense of beauty was touched by the loveliness of her appearance. + +"Oh, it is no matter," he answered lightly. "How stunning you look. +That topaz," he continued, walking toward her, and laying his finger +upon the single jewel she wore fastened at the edge of the square-cut +corsage of her gown, "is exactly right. It is so deep in color that it +gives the one touch you need. It was uncommonly nice of your Uncle +Peter to give it to you." + +"And of you to design a dress to set it off," returned she, smiling +with pleasure. "I am glad you like me in it." + +"You are stunning," her husband repeated, kissing her with a faint +shade of patronage in his manner. "Now come on before the dinner is as +cold as a stone. A cold dinner is like a warmed-over love affair; you +accept it from a sense of duty, but there is no enjoyment in it." + +Mrs. Fenton smiled, more from pleasure at his evident good nature than +from any especial amusement, and they went together into the pretty +dining-room. + +Fenton acknowledged himself fond of the refinements of life, and his +sensitive, sensuous nature lost none of the delights of a +well-appointed home. He lived in a quiet and elegant luxury which would +have been beyond the attainment of most artists, and which indeed not +infrequently taxed his resources to the utmost. + +The table at which the pair sat down was laid with exquisite damask and +china, the dinner admirable and well served. The dishes came in hot, +the maid was deft and comely in appearance, and the master of the +house, who always kept watch, in a sort of involuntary +self-consciousness, of all that went on about him, was pleasantly aware +that the most fastidious of his friends could have found nothing amiss +in the appointment or the service of his table. How much the perfect +arrangement of domestic affairs demanded from his wife, Fenton found it +more easy and comfortable not to inquire, but he at least appreciated +the results of her management. He never came to accept the smallest +trifles of life without emotion. His pleasure or annoyance depended +upon minute details, and things which people in general passed without +notice were to him the most important facts of daily life. The +responsibility for the comfort of so highly organized a creature, Edith +had found to be anything but a light burden. Only a wife could have +appreciated the pleasure she had in having the most delicate shades in +her domestic management noted and enjoyed; or the discomfort which +arose from the same source. It was delightful to have her husband +pleased by the smallest pains she took for his comfort; to know that +his eye never failed to discover the little refinements of dress or +cookery or household adornment; but wearing was the burden of +understanding, too, that no flaw was too small to escape his sight. +Mrs. Fenton's friends rallied her upon being a slave to her +housekeeping; few of them were astute enough to understand that, kind +as was always his manner toward her, she was instead the slave of her +husband. + +The room in which they were dining was one in which the artist took +especial pleasure. He had panelled it with stamped leather, which he +had picked up somewhere in Spain; while the ceiling was covered with a +novel and artistic arrangement of gilded matting. Among Edith's wedding +gifts had been some exquisite jars of Moorish pottery, and these, with +a few pieces of Algerian armor, were the only ornaments which the +artist had admitted to the room. The simplicity and richness of the +whole made an admirable setting for the dinner table, and as the host +when he entertained was willing to take the trouble of overlooking his +wife's arrangements, the Fentons' dinner parties were among the most +picturesquely effective in Boston. + +"I have two big pieces of news for you," Mrs. Fenton said, when the +soup had been removed. "I have been to call on Mrs. Stewart Hubbard +this afternoon, and Mr. Hubbard is going to have you paint him. Isn't +that good?" + +Her husband looked up in evident pleasure. + +"That isn't so bad," was his reply. "He'll make a stunning picture, and +the Hubbards are precisely the sort of people one likes to have +dealings with. Is he going at it soon?" + +"He is coming to see you to-morrow, Mrs. Hubbard said. The picture is +to be her birthday present. I told her you were so busy I didn't know +when you could begin." + +"I would stretch a point to please Mr. Hubbard. I am almost done with +Irons, vulgar old cad. I wish I dared paint him as bad as he really +looks." + +"But your artistic conscience won't let you?" she queried, smiling. "He +is a dreadful old creature; but he means well." + +"People who mean well are always worse than those who don't mean +anything; but I can make it up with Hubbard. He looks like Rubens' St. +Simeon. I wish he wore the same sort of clothes." + +"You might persuade him to, for the picture. But my second piece of +news is almost as good. Helen is coming home." + +"Helen Greyson?" + +"Helen Greyson. I had a letter from her today, written in Paris. She +had already got so far, and she ought to be here very soon." + +"How long has she been in Rome?" Fenton asked. + +He had suddenly become graver. He had been intimate with Mrs. Greyson, +a sculptor of no mean talent, in the days when he had been a fervid +opponent of people and of principles with whom he had later joined +alliance, and the idea of her return brought up vividly his parting +from her, when she had scornfully upbraided him for his apostasy from +convictions which he had again and again declared to be dearer to him +than life. + +"It is six years," Mrs. Fenton answered. "Caldwell was born the March +after she went, and he will be six in three weeks. Time goes fast. We +are getting to be old people." + +Fenton stared at his plate absently, his thoughts busy with the past. + +"Has Grant Herman been married six years?" he asked, after a moment. + +"Grant Herman? Yes; he was married just before she sailed; but what of +it?" + +Fenton laid down the fork with which he had been poking the bits of +fish about on his plate. He folded his arms on the edge of the table, +and regarded his wife. + +"It is astonishing, Edith," he observed, "how well one may know a woman +and yet be mistaken in her. For six years I have supposed you to be +religiously avoiding any allusion to Helen's love for Grant Herman, and +it seems you never knew it at all." + +It was Mrs. Fenton's turn to look up in surprise. + +"What do you mean?" she asked. + +Her husband laughed lightly, yet not very joyously. + +"Nothing, if you will. Nobody ever told me they were in love with each +other, but I am as sure that Helen made Herman marry Ninitta as if I +had been on hand to see the operation." + +"Made him marry her? Why should he marry her if he didn't want to?" + +"Oh, well, I don't know anything about it. I know Ninitta followed +Herman to America, for she told me so; and I am sure he had no idea of +marrying her when she got here. Anybody can put two and two together, I +suppose, especially if you know what infernally Puritanical notions +Helen had." + +"Puritanical?" + +The artist leaned back in his chair and smiled at his wife in his +superior and tantalizing fashion. + +"She thought she'd outgrown Puritanism," he returned, "but really she +was, in her way, as much of a Puritan as you are. The country is full +of people who don't understand that the essence of Puritanism is a +slavish adherence to what they call principle, and who think because +they have got rid of a certain set of dogmas they are free from their +theologic heritage. There never was greater rubbish than such an idea." + +Mrs. Fenton was silent. She had long ago learned the futility of +attempting any argument in ethics with Arthur, and she received in +silence whatever flings at her beliefs he chose to indulge in. She had +even come hardly to heed words which in the early days of her married +life would have wounded her to the quick. She had readjusted her +conception of her husband's character, and if she still cherished +illusions in regard to him, she no longer believed in the possibility +of changing his opinions by opposing them. + +Her thoughts were now, moreover, occupied with the personal problem +which would in any case have appealed more strongly to the feminine +mind than abstract theories, and she was considering what he had told +her of Mrs. Greyson and Grant Herman, a sculptor for whom she had a +warm admiration, and a no less strong liking. + +However we busy ourselves with high aims, with learning, or art, or +wisdom, or ethics, personal human interests appeal to us more strongly +than anything else. Human emotions respond instinctively and quickly to +any hint of the emotional life of others. Nothing more strikingly shows +the essential unity of the race than the readiness with which all minds +lay aside all concerns and ideas which they are accustomed to consider +higher, to give attention to the trifling details of the intimate +history of their fellows. Quite unconsciously, Edith had gathered up +many facts, insignificant in themselves, concerning the relations of +Mrs. Greyson and Herman, and she now found herself suddenly called upon +to reconsider whatever conclusions they had led her to in the light of +this new development. The sculptor's marriage with an ex-model had +always been a mystery to her, and she now endeavored to decide in her +mind whether it were possible that her husband could be right in +putting the responsibility upon Helen Greyson. The form of his remark +seemed to her to hint that the Italian's claim upon Herman had been of +so grave a nature as to imply serious complications in their former +relations; but she strenuously rejected any suspicion of evil in the +sculptor's conduct. + +"I am sure, Arthur," she said, hesitatingly, "there can have been +nothing wrong between Mr. Herman and Ninitta. I have too much faith in +him." + +"To put faith in man," was his answer, "is only less foolish than to +believe in woman. I didn't, however, mean to imply anything very +dreadful. The facts are enough, without speculating on what is nobody's +business but theirs. I wonder how he and Helen will get on together, +now she is coming home? Mrs. Herman is a jealous little thing, and +could easily be roused up to do mischief." + +"I do not believe Helen had anything to do with their marriage," Edith +said, with conviction. "It was a mistake from the outset." + +"Granted. That is what makes it so probable that Helen did it. Grant +isn't the man to make a fool of himself without outside pressure, and +in the end a sacrifice to principle is always some ridiculous +tomfoolery that can't be come at in any other way. However, we shall +see what we shall see. What time are you going to Mrs. Frostwinch's?" + +"I am going to the Browning Club at Mrs. Gore's first. Will you come?" + +"Thank you, no. I have too much respect for Browning to assist at his +dismemberment. I'll meet you at Mrs. Frostwinch's about ten." + + + + +III + + IN WAY OF TASTE. + Troilus and Cressida; iii.--3. + +One of the most curious of modern whims in Boston has been the study of +the poems of Robert Browning. All at once there sprang up on every hand +strange societies called Browning Clubs, and the libraries were +ransacked for Browning's works, and for the books of whoever has had +the conceit or the hardihood to write about the great poet. Lovely +girls at afternoon receptions propounded to each other abstruse +conundrums concerning what they were pleased to regard as obscure +passages, while little coteries gathered, with airs of supernatural +gravity, to read and discuss whatever bore his signature. + +A genuine, serious Boston Browning Club is as deliciously droll as any +form of entertainment ever devised, provided one's sense of the +ludicrous be strong enough to overcome the natural indignation aroused +by seeing genuine poetry, the high gift of the gods, thus abused. The +clubs meet in richly furnished parlors, of which the chief fault is +usually an over-abundance of bric-a-brac. The house of Mrs. Gore, for +instance, where Edith was going this evening, was all that money could +make it; and in passing it may be noted that Boston clubs are seldom of +constitutions sufficiently vigorous to endure unpleasant surroundings. +The fair sex predominates at all these gatherings, and over them hangs +an air of expectant solemnity, as if the celebration of some sacred +mystery were forward. Conversation is carried on in subdued tones; even +the laughter is softened, and when the reader takes his seat, there +falls upon the little company a hush so deep as to render distinctly +audible the frou-frou of silken folds, and the tinkle of jet fringes, +stirred by the swelling of ardent and aspiring bosoms. + +The reading is not infrequently a little dull, especially to the +uninitiated, and there have not been wanting certain sinister +suggestions that now and then, during the monotonous delivery of some +of the longer poems, elderly and corpulent devotees listen only with +the spiritual ear, the physical sense being obscured by an abstraction +not to be distinguished by an ordinary observer from slumber. The +reader, however, is bound to assume that all are listening, and if some +sleep and others consider their worldly concerns or speculate upon the +affairs of their neighbors, it interrupts not at all the steady flow of +the reading. + +Once this is finished, there is an end also of inattention, for the +discussion begins. The central and vital principle of all these clubs +is that a poem by Robert Browning is a sort of prize enigma, of which +the solution is to be reached rather by wild and daring guessing than +by any commonplace process of reasoning. Although to an ordinary and +uninspired intellect it may appear perfectly obvious that a lyric means +simply and clearly what it says, the true Browningite is better +informed. He is deeply aware that if the poet seems to say one thing, +this is proof indisputable that another is intended. To take a work in +straightforward fashion would at once rob the Browning Club of all +excuse for existence, and while parlor chairs are easy, the air warm +and perfumed, and it is the fashion for idle minds to concern +themselves with that rococo humbug Philistines call culture, societies +of this sort must continue. + +Once it is agreed that a poem means something not apparent, it is easy +to make it mean anything and everything, especially if the discussion, +as is usually the case, be interspersed with discursions of which the +chief use is to give some clever person or other a chance to say smart +things. When all else fails, moreover, the club can always fall back +upon allegory. Commentators on the poets have always found much field +for ingenious quibbling and sounding speculation in the line of +allegory. Let a poem be but considered an allegory, and there is no +limit to the changes which may be rung upon it, not even Mrs. +Malaprop's banks of the Nile restraining the creature's headstrong +ranging. Only a failure of the fancy of the interpreter can afford a +check, and as everybody reads fiction nowadays, few people are without +a goodly supply of fancies, either original or acquired. + +Although Fenton had declined to go to Mrs. Gore's with his wife, he had +finished his cigar when the carriage was announced, and decided to +accompany her, after all. The parlors were filling when they arrived, +and Arthur, who knew how to select good company, managed to secure a +seat between Miss Elsie Dimmont, a young and rather gay society girl, +and Mrs. Frederick Staggchase, a descendant of an old Boston family, +who was called one of the cleverest women of her set. + +"Is Mr. Fenwick going to read?" he asked of the latter, glancing about +to see who was present. + +"Yes," Mrs. Staggchase answered, turning toward him with her +distinguished motion of the head and high-bred smile. "Don't you like +him?" + +"I never had the misfortune to hear him. I know he detests me, but then +I fear, that like olives and caviare, I have to be an acquired taste." + +"Acquired tastes," she responded, with that air of being amused by +herself which always entertained Fenton, "are always the strongest." + +"And generally least to a man's credit," he retorted quickly. "What is +he going to inflict upon us?" + +"Really, I don't know. I seldom come to this sort of thing. I don't +think it pays." + +"Oh, nothing pays, of course," was Fenton's reply, "but it is more or +less amusing to see people make fools of themselves." + +The president of the club, at this moment, called the assembly to +order, and announced that Mr. Fenwick had kindly consented--"Readers +always kindly consent," muttered Fenton aside to Mrs. Staggchase--to +read, _Bishop Blougram's Apology_, to which they would now listen. +There was a rustle of people settling back into their chairs; the +reader brushed a lank black lock from his sallow brow, and with a tone +of sepulchral earnestness began: + + "'No more wine? then we'll push back chairs, and talk.'" + +For something over an hour, the monotonous voice of the reader went +dully on. Fenton drew out his tablets and amused himself and Miss +Dimmont by drawing caricatures of the company, ending with a sketch of +a handsome old dowager, who went so soundly to sleep that her jaw fell. +Over this his companion laughed so heartily that Mrs. Staggchase leaned +forward smilingly, and took his tablets away from him; whereat he +produced an envelope from his pocket and was about to begin another +sketch, when suddenly, and apparently somewhat to the surprise of the +reader, the poem came to an end. + +There was a joyful stir. The dowager awoke, and there was a perfunctory +clapping of hands when Mr. Fenwick laid down his volume, and people +were assured that there was no mistake about his being really quite +through. A few murmurs of admiration were heard, and then there was an +awful pause, while the president, as usual, waited in the +never-fulfilled hope that the discussion would start itself without +help on his part. + +"How cleverly you do sketch," Miss Dimmont said, under her breath; "but +it was horrid of you to make me laugh." + +"You are grateful," Fenton returned, in the same tone. "You know I kept +you from being bored to death." + +"I have a cousin, Miss Wainwright," pursued Miss Dimmont, "whose +picture we want you to paint." + +"If she is as good a subject as _her_ cousin," Fenton answered, "I +shall be delighted to do it." + +The president had, meantime, got somewhat ponderously upon his feet, +half a century of good living not having tended to increase his natural +agility, and remarked that the company were, he was sure, extremely +grateful to Mr. Fenwick, for his very intelligent interpretation of the +poem read. + +"Did he interpret it?" Fenton whispered to Mrs. Staggchase. "Why wasn't +I told?" "Hush!" she answered, "I will never let you sit by me again if +you do not behave better." + +"Sitting isn't my _metier_, you know," he retorted. + +The president went on to say that the lines of thought opened by the +poem were so various and so wide that they could scarcely hope to +explore them all in one evening, but that he was sure there must be +many who had thoughts or questions they wished to express, and to start +the discussion he would call upon a gentleman whom he had observed +taking notes during the reading, Mr. Fenton. + +"The old scaramouch!" Fenton muttered, under his breath. "I'll paint +his portrait and send it to _Punch_." + +Then with perfect coolness he got upon his feet and looked about the +parlor. + +"I am so seldom able to come to these meetings," he said, "that I am +not at all familiar with your methods, and I certainly had no idea of +saying anything; I was merely jotting down a few things to think over +at home, and not making notes for a speech, as you would see if you +examined the paper." + +At this point Miss Dimmont gave a cough which had a sound strangely +like a laugh strangled at its birth. + +"The poem is one so subtile," Fenton continued, unmoved; "it is so +clever in its knowledge of human nature, that I always have to take a +certain time after reading it to get myself out of the mood of merely +admiring its technique, before I can think of it critically at all. Of +course the bit about 'an artist whose religion is his art' touches me +keenly, for I have long held to the heresy that art is the highest +thing in the world, and, as a matter of fact, the only thing one can +depend upon. The clever sophistry of Bishop Blougram shows well enough +how one can juggle with theology; and, after all, theology is chiefly +some one man's insistence that everybody else shall make the same +mistakes that he does." + +Fenton felt that he was not taking the right direction in his talk, and +that in his anxiety to extricate himself from a slight awkwardness he +was rapidly getting himself into a worse one. It was one of those odd +whimsicalities which always came as a surprise when committed by a man +who usually displayed so much mental dexterity, that now, instead of +endeavoring to get upon the right track, he simply broke off abruptly +and sat down. + +His words had, however, the effect of calling out instantly a protest +from the Rev. De Lancy Candish. Mr. Candish was the rector of the +Church of the Nativity, the exceedingly ritualistic organization with +which Mrs. Fenton was connected. He was a tall and bony young man, with +abundant auburn hair and freckles, the most ungainly feet and hands, +and eyes of eager enthusiasm, which showed how the result of New +England Puritanism had been to implant in his soul the true martyr +spirit. Fenton was never weary of jeering at Mr. Candish's uncouthness, +his jests serving as an outlet, not only for the irritation physical +ugliness always begot in him, but for his feeling of opposition to his +wife's orthodoxy, in which he regarded the clergyman as upholding her. +The rector's self-sacrificing devotion to truth, moreover, awakened in +the artist a certain inner discomfort. To the keenly sensitive mind +there is no rebuke more galling than the unconscious reproof of a +character which holds steadfastly to ideals which it has basely +forsaken. Arthur said to himself that he hated Candish for his ungainly +person. "He is so out of drawing," he once told his wife, "that I +always have a strong inclination to rub him out and make him over +again." In that inmost chamber of his consciousness where he allowed +himself the luxury of absolute frankness, however, the artist confessed +that his animosity to the young rector had other causes. + +As Fenton sank into his seat, Mrs. Staggchase leaned over to quote from +the poem,-- + + "'For Blougram, he believed, say, half he spoke.'" + +The artist turned upon her a glance of comprehension and amusement, but +before he could reply, the rough, rather loud voice of Mr. Candish +arrested his attention. + +"If the poem teaches anything," Mr. Candish said, speaking according to +his custom, somewhat too warmly, "it seems to me it is the sophistry of +the sort of talk which puts art above religion. The thing that offends +an honest man in Bishop Blougram is the fact that he looks at religion +as if it were an art, and not a vital and eternal necessity,--a living +truth that cannot be trifled with." + +"Ah," Fenton's smooth and beautiful voice rejoined, "that is to +confound art with the artificial, which is an obvious error. Art is a +passion, an utter devotion to an ideal, an absolute lifting of man out +of himself into that essential truth which is the only lasting bond by +which mankind is united." + +Fenton's coolness always had a confusing and irritating effect upon Mr. +Candish, who was too thoroughly honest and earnest to quibble, and far +from possessing the dexterity needed to fence with the artist. He began +confusedly to speak, but with the first word became aware that Mrs. +Fenton had come to the rescue. Edith never saw a contest between her +husband and the clergyman without interfering if she could, and now she +instinctively spoke, without stopping to consider where she was. + +"It is precisely for that reason," she said, "that art seems to me to +fall below religion. Art can make man contented with life only by +keeping his attention fixed upon an ideal, while religion reconciles us +to life as it really is." + +A murmur of assent showed Arthur how much against the feeling of those +around him were the views he was advancing. + +"Oh, well," he said, in a droll _sotto voce_, "if it is coming down to +a family difference we will continue it in private." + +And he abandoned the discussion. + +"It seems to me," pursued Mr. Candish, only half conscious that Mrs. +Fenton had come to his aid, "that Bishop Blougram represents the most +dangerous spirit of the age. His paltering with truth is a form of +casuistry of which we see altogether too much nowadays." + +"Do you think," asked a timid feminine voice, "that Blougram was +_quite_ serious? That he really meant all he said, I mean?" + +The president looked at the speaker with despair in his glance; but she +was adorably pretty and of excellent social position, so that snubbing +was not to be thought of. Moreover, he was thoroughly well trained in +keeping his temper under the severest provocation, so he expressed his +feelings merely by a deprecatory smile. + +"We have the poet's authority," he responded, in a softly patient +voice, "for saying that he believed only half." + +There was a little rustle of leaves, as if people were looking over +their books, in order to find the passage to which he alluded. Then a +young girl in the front row of chairs, a pretty creature, just on the +edge of womanhood, looked up earnestly, her finger at a line on the +page before her. + +"I can't make out what this means," she announced, knitting her girlish +brow,-- + + "'Here, we've got callous to the Virgin's winks + That used to puzzle people wholesomely.'" + +"Of course he can't mean that the Madonna winks; that would be too +irreverent." + +There were little murmurs of satisfaction that the question had been +asked, confusing explanations which evidently puzzled some who had not +thought of being confused before; and then another girl, ignoring the +fact that the first difficulty had not been disposed of, propounded +another. + +"Isn't the phrase rather bold," she asked, "where he speaks of 'blessed +evil?'" + +"Where is that?" some one asked. + +"On page 106, in my edition," was the reply; and a couple of moments +were given to finding the place in the various books. + +"Oh, I see the line," said an old lady, at last. "It's +one--two--three--five lines from the bottom of the page:" + + "'And that's what all the blessed evil's for.'" + +"You don't think," queried the first speaker, appealing personally to +the president, "that Mr. Browning can really have meant that evil is +blessed, do you?" + +The president regarded her with an affectionate and fatherly smile. + +"I think," he said, with an air of settling everything, "that the +explanation of his meaning is to be found in the line which follows,-- + + "'It's use in Time is to environ us.'" + +"Heavens!" whispered Fenton to Mrs. Staggchase; "fancy that incarnate +respectability environed by 'blessed evil!'" + +"For my part," she returned, in the same tone, "I feel as if I were +visiting a lunatic asylum." "Yes, that line does make it beautifully +clear," observed the voice of Miss Catherine Penwick; "and I think +that's so beautiful about the exposed brain, and lidless eyes, and +disemprisoned heart. The image is so exquisite when he speaks of their +withering up at once." + +Fenton made a droll grimace for the benefit of his neighbor, and then +observed with great apparent seriousness,-- + +"The poem is most remarkable for the intimate knowledge it shows of +human nature. Take a line like:" + + 'Men have outgrown the shame of being fools;' + +"We can see such striking instances of its truth all about us." + +"How can you?" exclaimed Elsie Dimmont, under her breath. + +Fenton had not been able wholly to keep out of his tone the mockery +which he intended, and several people looked at him askance. +Fortunately for him, a nice old gentleman who, being rather hard of +hearing, had not caught what was said, now broke in with the inevitable +question, which, sooner or later, was sure to come into every +discussion of the club: + +"Isn't this poem to be most satisfactorily understood when it is +regarded as an allegory?" + +The members, however, did not take kindly to this suggestion in the +present instance. The question passed unnoticed, while a severe-faced +woman inquired, with an air of vast superiority,-- + +"I have understood that Bishop Blougram is intended as a portrait of +Cardinal Wiseman; can any one tell me if Gigadibs is also a portrait?" + +"Oh, Lord!" muttered Fenton, half audibly. "I can't stand any more of +this." + +And at that moment a servant came to tell him that his carriage was +waiting. + + + + +IV + + NOW HE IS FOR THE NUMBERS. + Romeo and Juliet; ii.----4. + +When Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were in the carriage, driving from Mrs. Gore's +to Mrs. Frostwinch's, Arthur broke into a pleasant little laugh, as if +a sudden thought had amused him. + +"Why in the world, Edith," he asked, "couldn't you let that moon-calf +Candish fight his own battle to-night? He would have tied himself all +up in two moments, with a little judicious help I should have been glad +to give him." + +"I knew it," was her answer, "and that is precisely why I wanted to +stop things. What possible amusement it can be to you to get the better +of a man who is so little a match for you in argument, I don't +understand." + +"I never begin," Fenton responded. "Of course if he starts it I have to +defend myself." + +The stopping of the carriage prevented further discussion, and the pair +were soon involved in the crowd of people struggling toward the hostess +across Mrs. Denton Frostwinch's handsome drawing-room. Mrs. Frostwinch +belonged, beyond the possibility of any cavilling doubt, to the most +exclusive circle of fashionable Boston society. Boston society is a +complex and enigmatical thing, full of anomalies, bounded by wavering +and uncertain lines, governed by no fixed standards, whether of wealth, +birth, or culture, but at times apparently leaning a little toward each +of these three great factors of American social standing. + +It is seldom wise to be sure that at any given Boston house whatever, +one will not find a more or less strong dash of democratic flavor in +general company, and there are those who discover in this fact +evidences of an agreeable and lofty republicanism. At Mrs. Frostwinch's +one was less likely than in most houses to encounter socially doubtful +characters, a fact which Arthur Fenton, who was secretly flattered to +be invited here, had once remarked to his wife was an explanation of +the dulness of these entertainments. + +For Mrs. Frostwinch's parties were apt to be anything but lively. One +was morally elevated by being able to look on the comely and high-bred +face of Mrs. Bodewin Ranger, but that fine old lady had a sort of +religious scruple against saying anything in particular in company, a +relic of the days of her girlhood, when cleverness was not the fashion +in her sex and when she had been obliged to suppress herself lest she +outshine the high-minded and courtly but dreadfully dull gentleman she +married. + +One had here the pleasure of shaking one of the white fingers of Mr. +Plant, the most exquisite _gourmet_ in Boston, whose only daughter had +made herself ridiculous by a romantic marriage with a country farmer. +The Stewart Hubbards, who were the finest and fiercest aristocrats in +town, and whose ancestors had been possessed not only of influence but +of wealth ever since early colonial days, were old and dear friends of +Mrs. Frostwinch and always decorated her parlors on gala nights with +their benign presence. Mr. Peter Calvin, the leader of art fashions, +high priest of Boston conservatism, and author of numerous laboriously +worthless books, seldom failed to diffuse the aroma of his patronizing +personality through the handsome parlors of this hospitable mansion +when there was any reasonable chance of his securing an audience to +admire him; and in general terms the company was what the newspapers +call select and distinguished. + +For Mrs. Frostwinch was entitled to a leading place in society upon +whichever of the three great principles it was based. She was descended +from one of the best of American families, while her good-tempered if +somewhat shadowy husband was of lineage quite as unexceptional as her +own. She was possessed of abundant wealth, while in cleverness and +culture she was the peer of any of the brilliant people who frequented +her house. She was moderately pretty, dressed beautifully, was sweet +tempered, and possessed all good gifts and graces except repose and +simplicity. She perhaps worked too hard to keep abreast of the times in +too many currents, and her mental weariness instead of showing itself +by an irritable temper found a less disagreeable outlet in a certain +nervous manner apt to seem artificial to those who did not know her +well. She was a clever, even a brilliant woman, who assembled clever +and brilliant people about her, although as has been intimated, the +result was by no means what might have been expected from such material +and such opportunities. The truth is that there seems to be a fatal +connection between exclusiveness and dulness. The people who assembled +in Mrs. Frostwinch's handsome parlors usually seemed to be +unconsciously laboring under the burden of their own respectability. +They apparently felt that they had fulfilled their whole duty by simply +being there; and while the list of people present at one of Mrs. +Frostwinch's evenings made those who were not there sigh with envy at +thought of the delights they had missed, the reality was far from being +as charming as their fancy. + +"I wish somebody would bring Amanda Welsh Sampson here," murmured +Arthur in his wife's ear, as the Fentons made their way toward their +hostess. "It would be too delicious to see how she'd stir things up, +and how shocked the old tabby dowagers would be." + +But there were some social topics which were too serious to Edith to be +jested upon. + +"Mrs. Sampson!" she returned, with an expression of being really +shocked. "That dreadful creature!" + +The rooms were well filled; the clatter of innumerable tongues speaking +English with that resonant dryness which reminds one of nothing else so +much as of the clack of a negro minstrel's clappers indefinitely +reduplicated, rang in the ears with confusing steadiness. An hour was +spent in fragmentary conversations, which somehow were always +interrupted at the instant the interesting point was reached. The men +bestirred themselves with more or less alacrity, making their way about +the room with a conscientious determination to speak to everybody whom +duty called upon them to address, or more selfishly devoting themselves +to finding out and chatting with the pretty girls. Fenton found time +for the latter method while being far too politic to neglect the +former. He was chatting in a corner with Ethel Mott, when Fred Rangely, +whose successful novel had made him vastly the fashion that winter, +joined them. + +"When wit and beauty get into a corner together," was Rangely's +salutation, "there is sure to be mischief brewing." + +"It isn't at all kind," Miss Mott retorted, "for you to emphasize the +fact that Mr. Fenton has all the wit and I not any." + +"It is as kind," Fenton said, "as his touching upon the plainness of my +personal appearance." + +"Your mutual modesty in appropriating wit and beauty," Rangely +returned, "goes well toward balancing the account." + +"One has to be modest when you appear, Mr. Rangely," Miss Mott +declared, saucily, "simply to keep up the average." + +"Come," Fenton said, "this will serve as an excellent beginning for a +quarrel. I will leave you to carry it on by yourselves. I have got too +old for that sort of amusement." + +Rangely looked after the artist as the latter took himself off to join +Mrs. Staggchase, who was holding court not far away. + +"You may follow if you want to," Ethel said, intercepting the glance. + +Rangely laughed, a trifle uneasily. + +"I don't want to," he replied, "if you will be good natured." + +"Good natured? I like that! I am always good natured. You had better go +than to stay and abuse me. But then, as you have been at Mrs. +Staggchase's all the afternoon, you ought to be pretty well talked out." + +The young man turned toward her with an air of mingled surprise and +impatience. + +"Who said I had been there?" he demanded. + +"It was in the evening papers," she returned, teasingly. "All your +movements are chronicled now you have become a great man." + +"Humph! I am glad you were interested in my whereabouts." + +"But I wasn't in the least." + +"Are you sparring as usual, Miss Mott?" asked Mr. Stewart Hubbard, +joining them. "Good evening, Mr. Rangely." + +"Oh, Mr. Hubbard," Miss Mott said, ignoring the question, "I want to +know who is to make the statue of _America_. It is going to stand +opposite our house, so that it will be the first thing I shall see when +I look out of the window in the morning, and naturally I am interested." + +"Mr. Herman is making a study, and Mr. Irons has been put up to asking +this new woman for a model. What is her name? The one whose _Galatea_ +made a stir last year." + +"Mrs. Greyson," Rangely answered. "I used to know her before she went +to Rome." + +"Is she clever?" demanded Miss Mott, with a sort of girlish +imperiousness which became her very well. "I can't have a statue put up +unless it is very good indeed." + +"She might take Miss Mott as a model," Mr. Hubbard suggested, smiling. + +"For America? Oh, I am too little, and altogether too civilized. I'd do +better for a model of Monaco, thank you." + +"There is always a good deal of chance about you," Rangely said in her +ear, as Mr. Staggchase spoke to Mr. Hubbard and drew his attention away. + +Mr. Staggchase was a thin, wintry man, looking, as Fenton once said, +like the typical Yankee spoiled by civilization. He had always in a +scene of this sort the air of being somewhat out of place, but of +having brought his business with him, so that he was neither idle nor +bored. It was upon business that he now spoke to Hubbard. + +"Did you see Lincoln to-day?" he asked. "He has got an ultimatum from +those parties. They will sell all their rights for $70,000." + +"For $70,000," repeated Mr. Hubbard, thoughtfully. "We can afford to +give that if we are sure about the road; but I don't know that we are. +If Irons gets hold of any hint of what we are doing he can upset the +whole thing." + +"But he won't. There is no fear of that." + +A movement in the crowd brought Edith Fenton at this moment to the side +of Mr. Hubbard. She was radiant to-night in her primrose gown, and the +gentleman, with whom she was always a favorite, turned toward her with +evident pleasure. + +"Isn't it a jam," she said. "I have ceased to have any control over my +movements." + +"That is unkind, when I fancied you allowed yourself to give me the +pleasure of seeing you," returned he with elaborate courtesy. "Let me +take you in to the supper-room." + +"Thank you," Edith replied, taking his arm. "I do not object to an ice, +and I want to ask a favor. Haven't you some copying you can give a +_protegee_ of mine? She's a lovely girl, and she really writes very +nicely. I assure you she needs the work, or I wouldn't bother you." + +They made their way into the hall before he answered. Then he asked, +with some seriousness,-- + +"Are you sure she is absolutely to be trusted?" + +"Trusted? Why, of course. I'd trust her as absolutely as I would +myself." + +"I asked because I do happen to have some copying I want done; but it +is of the most serious importance that it be kept secret. It is the +prospectus of a big business scheme, and if a hint of it got on the air +it would all be ruined." + +Edith looked up into his face and smiled. + +"Her name," she said, "is Melissa Blake, and you will find her--Or, +wait; what time shall I send her to your office to-morrow?" + +Her companion smiled in turn. They had reached the door of the +supper-room, where the clatter of dishes, the popping of champagne +corks, and the rattle of silver were added to the babble of +conversation which filled the whole house. About the tables was going +on a struggle which, however well-bred, was at least sufficiently +vigorous. + +"You take a good deal for granted," he said. "However, it will do no +harm for me to see the young woman. She may come at eleven. What shall +I bring you?" + + + + +V + + 'TWAS WONDROUS PITIFUL. + Othello; i.--3. + +"Dear John, I will give it up any day you say, and go back to +Feltonville and live on the farm; but you know"-- + +Melissa Blake broke off and left her chair to take a seat on the corner +of that on which her betrothed, John Stanton, was sitting, a proceeding +which made it necessary for him to put his arm about her trig waist to +support her. + +"Don't think I don't understand, dear," she said, nestling up to him, +"how hard it is, and what a long drag it has been, but we should +neither of us ever feel quite satisfied to give it up. We can hold on, +can't we, as long as we are together." + +He kissed her fondly, but with a certain air of distraction which +showed how full was his mind of the matter which troubled him. Two +years before, he had come to Boston, and obtained work as a carpenter, +determined to pay the debts left by his dead father, before he would +marry and settle down on the small farm which belonged to his +betrothed, and which, while it might be made to yield a living, could +by no means be looked to for more. For the sake of being near him, +Melissa had given up the school teaching of which she was fond, and +come to the city also, and although she had found the difficulty of +earning the means of support far greater than she had anticipated, she +had still clung to the fortunes of her lover, to whom her steadfastness +and unfailing cheer were of a value such as men realize only when it is +lost. + +"I got a letter to-day," John went on, while Melissa stroked his +fingers fondly, "about the meadows. The time for redeeming them is up +this month, and if I try to do it I can't pay anything on the debts +this winter. The truth is "-- + +Melissa sat up suddenly. + +"John!" she exclaimed. + +"Why, what--what is the matter?" + +She looked at him with wide open eyes, drawing in her under lip beneath +her white teeth, with the air of profound meditation. Then she freed +herself abruptly from his arms and went hastily to the table upon which +were her writing materials. She had been at work copying when her lover +came in, and her papers lay still open, with ink scarcely dry, where +she had stopped to welcome him. She took one sheet up and studied it +eagerly, and then turned toward him with shining eyes, her whole face +aglow. + +"Oh, John!" she exclaimed. + +He regarded her in puzzled silence. Then in an instant the glad light +faded from her eyes, and her lips lost their smile. An expression of +pain and almost of terror replaced the look of joy. There had suddenly +come to Melissa a sense of what she was doing. In the paper she held +was written the plan of the formation of a syndicate to purchase the +very range of meadows along the river in Feltonville of which those +mentioned by John formed a part. At Mrs. Fenton's direction, Melissa +had gone to see Mr. Hubbard, and had by him been employed to copy these +papers for use at a meeting of the proposed stockholders, which was to +take place in a few days. + +"Mrs. Fenton tells me," he had said, "that you are to be trusted. It is +absolutely essential that you do not mention these plans to any living +being. Perfect secrecy is expected from you, and it is only because +Mrs. Fenton is your guarantee that I run the risk of putting them into +your hands." + +"I think you can trust me," she had answered; "even if," she had added, +with the ghost of a smile, "there were anybody that I know who would be +at all likely to be interested." + +And now the temptation had come to her in a way of which she had never +dreamed. She had gone on with her copying, smiling to herself at the +coincidence which put into the hands of a Feltonville girl this plan +for the metamorphosis of the sleepy old village into a bustling +manufacturing town, but she had not considered that this scheme might +have important bearing upon the fortunes of her lover. She knew that +Stanton's father had owned meadows along the river where the new +factories were to lie, and she knew also that when old Mr. Stanton died +these had been sold with a condition of redemption, but until this +moment she had not connected the facts. She did not understand +business, and had been puzzling her brain as she wrote, to understand +what was meant by the statement that a certain company would sell a +"six months' option at seventy thousand dollars" on a water-power for +two thousand dollars. She did understand now, however, that were John +in possession of the secret of the syndicate's plans, he could redeem +his father's meadows with the money he had saved toward the payment of +the debts which had forced the old man into the bankruptcy that broke +his heart, and once he owned these lands lying in the midst of the +desirable tract, John could command his own price for them. She held in +her hand the secret which would free her lover from the heavy burden of +years, and bring quickly the wedding-day for which they had both waited +and longed so patiently. + +The blood bounded so hotly in Melissa's veins as she realized all this, +that she could scarcely breathe; but like a lightning flash a thought +followed which sent the tide surging back to her heart, and left her +cold and faint. She remembered that this knowledge was a trust. That +she had given her word not to betray it. With instant recoil, she +leaped to the thought that advising her lover to redeem these meadows +was not betraying the secret. Like a swift shuttle flew her mind +between argument and defence, between temptation and resistance, +between love and duty. + +"Why, what is it, Milly?" John demanded, starting up and coming to her. +"What in the world makes you act so funny? Are you sick? Why don't you +speak?" + +It is not easy to express the force of the struggle which went on in +poor Milly's mind. It seemed to her at that moment as if all the hopes +of her life were set against her honesty. The material issues in any +conflict between principle and inclination are of less importance than +the desire which they represent. The few thousand dollars involved in +the redemption of the Stanton meadows was little when compared to the +magnificent scheme of which this would be a mere trifling accident, but +the sum represented all the desires of Milly Blake's life, while over +against it stood all her faith, her honesty, and her religion. + +For an instant she wavered, standing as if by some spell suddenly +arrested, with arms half extended. Then she flung down the paper and +threw herself upon her lover's breast with a burst of tears. + +"Why, Milly," he said, soothingly. "Milly, Milly." + +He was unused to feminine vagaries. His betrothed was of the outwardly +quiet order of women, and an outburst like this was incomprehensible to +him. He could only hold the weeping girl in his strong embrace, +soothing her in helpless masculine fashion, awkward, but exactly what +she needed. + +"There, John," she cried at last, giving him a tumultuous hug, and +looking up into his face through her tears, "I always told you you were +engaged to a fool, and this is a new proof of it." + +"But what in the world," Stanton asked, looking down into her eyes with +mingled fondness and bewilderment, "is it all about? What is the +matter?" + +"It is nothing but my foolishness," she answered, leading him back to +the chair from which he had risen. "I was going to show you something +in a paper I am copying, and just in time I remembered that I had +particularly promised not to show it to anybody." + +He regarded her curiously. + +"But why," he asked, with a certain deliberateness which somehow made +her uneasy, "did you want to show it to me." + +"Because--because--" + +She could not equivocate, and her innocent soul had had little training +in the arts of evasion. + +"Because what?" + +Stanton leaned back in his chair, holding her by the shoulders as she +sat upon his knee, and searching her face with his strong brown eyes. +Milly's glance drooped. + +"Don't ask me, John," she responded, putting her hand against his +cheek, wistfully. "Don't you see I couldn't tell you without letting +you know what is in the paper, and that is precisely the thing I +promised not to do." + +There are few men in whom a woman's open refusal to yield a point, no +matter how trifling, does not arouse a tyrannous masculine impulse to +compel obedience. Stanton had really no great curiosity about the +secret, whatever it might be, but he instinctively felt that it was +right to demand the telling because his betrothed refused to speak. His +face grew more grave. The hands upon Milly's shoulders unconsciously +tightened their hold. The girl intuitively felt that a struggle was +coming, although even yet the signs were hardly tangible. She grew a +little paler, putting her hand beneath her lover's bearded chin, and +holding his face up so that she could look straight into his fearless, +honest eyes. + +"Dear John," she said, wistfully, "you know I never have a secret of my +own that I keep from you in all the world." + +"But why," demanded he, "can it do any harm for you to give me some +reason why you ever thought of telling me this; and just at a time, +too, when we were talking of business." + +"Because," she answered, thoughtlessly, "it was about business." + +A new light came into Stanton's face. His lips subtly changed their +expression. + +"It must have been a chance to make some money," he said. + +She grew deadly pale, but she did not answer him. He searched her face +an instant, and then he lifted her in his strong arms, rising from the +chair, and seating her in his place. He took a step forward, and +stretched out his hand to take the paper she had thrown upon the table. +With a cry of terror she sprang up and caught his arm. + +"John!" she exclaimed. "Oh, for pity's sake, don't look at it." + +He turned and regarded her with a more unkind glance than she had ever +seen upon his face. + +"Will you tell me?" he asked. + +"I can't, I can't!" she answered, half sobbing. + +He looked at the paper, and then at his sweetheart. Then with a rough +motion he shook off her fingers from his arm, and without a word went +abruptly from the room. + +Milly looked toward the door which had closed after him as if she could +not believe that he had really gone; then she sank down to the floor, +and, leaning her head upon a chair, she sobbed as if her heart were +broken. + + + + +VI + + THE INLY TOUCH OF LOVE. + Two Gentlemen of Verona; ii.--7. + +Grant Herman looked across the breakfast table at his Italian wife +thoughtfully a moment, considering, as he often did, what was likely to +be the effect of something he was about to say. In six years of married +life he had not learned how to adapt himself to the narrower mind and +more personal views of his wife. He perhaps fell into the error, so +common to strong natures, of being unable to comprehend that by far the +larger part of the principles which influence broad minds do not for +narrow ones exist at all. He continually tried to discover what process +of reasoning led Ninitta to given results, but he was never able to +appreciate the fact that often it was by no chain of logic whatever +that certain conclusions had been arrived at. A mental habit of +catching up opinions at haphazard, of acting simply from emotions, +however transient, instead of from convictions, was wholly outside his +mental experience, and equally unrealized in his comprehension. + +He regarded Ninitta, whose foreign face and beautiful figure looked as +much out of place behind the coffee urn as would the faun of Praxiteles +at an afternoon reception, and a smothered sigh rose to his lips with +the thought how utterly he was at a loss to comprehend her. It happened +in the present case, as it often did, that his failure to understand +arose chiefly from the fact that there was nothing in particular to +understand, and, when he spoke, Ninitta received his remark quite +simply. + +"Mrs. Greyson is at home again," he said. + +"Mrs. Greyson," she echoed, her dark eyes lighting up with genuine +pleasure. "Oh, that is indeed good. Where is she? Have you seen her?" + +There shot through Herman's mind the reflection that since his wife +could not know that he married her out of love not for herself but for +Helen Greyson, it was absurd to have fancied that Ninitta would be +jealously displeased at Helen's return; and the inevitable twinge of +conscience at his wife's trusting ignorance followed. + +"I haven't seen her," he answered; "she only arrived yesterday. Mrs. +Fenton told me when I met her at the Paint and Clay Exhibition last +night." + +Ninitta folded her hands on the edge of the table, with a gesture of +childish pleasure. + +"I wonder what she will say to Nino," she said musingly, her voice +taking a new softness. + +A sudden spasm contracted the sculptor's throat. His whole being was +shaken by the return of the woman to whom all the passionate devotion +of his manhood was given, and he never heard that soft, maternal note +with which his wife spoke of his boy without emotion. + +"She may say that the young rascal ought to be out of his bed in time +for breakfast," he retorted with affected brusqueness. "He has all the +Italian laziness in him." + +He pushed back his chair as he spoke, and rose from the table. He +hesitated a moment, as if some sudden thought absorbed him, then he +went to his wife and kissed her forehead. + +"Good-by," he said. "I sha'n't come up for lunch. Don't coddle the boy +too much." + +"But when," his wife persisted, as he turned away, "shall I see Mrs. +Greyson? I want to show her the _bambino_." + +She always spoke in Italian to her husband and her child, and indeed +her English had never been of the most fluent. + +"The _bambino_" the father repeated, smiling. "He will be a _bambino_ +to you when he is as big as I am, I suppose. I do not know about Mrs. +Greyson, but I will find out, if I can." + +He left the room and went to the chamber where his swarthy boy of five +lay still luxuriously in his crib, although he was fully awake. Nino +gave a soft cry of joy at the sight of his father, and greeted him +rapturously. + +"Papa," he asked in Italian, "does the kitty know how much she hurts +when she scratches? she made a long place on my arm, and it hurt like +fire." + +"Do you know how much you hurt her to make her do it?" his father +returned, smiling fondly. + +"Oh, but she is so soft and so little, of course I don't hurt her," +Nino answered, with boyish logic. "Anyway, she ought not to hurt me. I +don't like to be hurt." + +The foolish, childish words came back to Herman's mind a couple of +hours later, as he waited in the boarding-house parlor for Helen +Greyson. He smiled with bitterness to think how perfectly they +represented his own state of mind. He said to himself that he was tired +of being hurt, and rose at the moment to take in both his hands the +hands of a beautiful woman, to his eyes no older and no less fair than +when he had said good-by to her on his wedding morning, six years +before. He tried to speak, but tears came instead of words; choked and +blinded, he turned away abruptly, struggling to regain his composure. + +The meeting after long years of those who have loved and been +separated, may, for the moment, carry them back to the time of their +parting so completely that all that lies between seems annihilated. The +old emotion reasserts itself so strongly, the past lives again so +vividly, that there seems to have been no break in feeling, and they +stand in relation to one another as if the parting were yet to come. +When they had been together a little, the time which lay between them +would once more become a reality; but at the first touch of their hands +those bitter days of loneliness ceased to exist, and they seemed to +stand together again, as when they were saying good-by six years before. + +With her old time self-control, it was Helen who spoke first, and her +words recalled him from the past and its passion, to the present and +its duty. + +"Tell me how Ninitta is," she said, "and the boy. I do so want to see +that wonderful boy." + +The sculptor commanded his voice by a powerful effort. + +"They are both well," he answered. "The boy is a wonderful little +fellow, although perhaps I am not an unprejudiced judge. Ninitta is +crazy to show him to you. She has pretty nearly effaced herself since +he came, and only lives for his benefit." + +"She is a happy woman," Helen said, assuming that air of cheerfulness +which is one of the first accomplishments that women are forced by life +to learn. "I should know she would be devoted to her children." + +There were a few moments of silence. Both cast down their eyes, and +then each raised them to study whatever changes time might have made in +the years that lay between them. Helen's heart was beating painfully, +but she was determined not to lose her self-control. She knew of old +how completely she could rule the mood of her companion, and she felt +that upon her calmness depended his. She had been schooling herself for +this interview from the moment she began to consider whether she might +return to America, and she was therefore less unprepared than was +Herman for the trying situation in which she now found herself; yet it +required all her strength of mind and of will not to give way to the +tide of love and emotion which surged within her breast. + +Herman fixed his eyes resolutely on an ungainly group in pinkish clay +which represented an American commercial sculptor's idea of Romeo and +Juliet at the moment when the Nurse separates them with a message from +Lady Capulet. With artistic instinct he noted the stupidity of the +composition, the vulgarity of the lines, the cheap ugliness of the +group. In that singular abstraction which comes so frequently in +moments of high emotion, he let his glance wander to the pictures on +the wall, the enormities in embroidery which adorned the chair backs, +the garish hues of the rug lying before the open grate. Then it +occurred to him, with a vague sense of amusement, how great was the +incongruity between such a setting as this vulgar boarding-house +reception-room, and the woman before him. The idea brought to his mind +the contrast between the life to which Helen had come, and the life at +Rome, artistic, rich, and full of possibilities, which she had left. + +The thought of Rome recalled instantly the old days there, almost a +score of years ago, when he had first known Ninitta. So vivid were the +memories which awakened, that he seemed to see again the Roman studio, +the fat old aunt, voluble and sharp eyed, who always accompanied her +niece when the girl posed; and most clearly of all did his inner vision +perceive the fresh, silent maiden whose exquisite figure was at once +the admiration and the despair of all the young artists in Rome. He +remembered how Hoffmeir had discovered the girl drawing water from an +old broken fountain he had gone out to sketch; and the difficulties +that had to be overcome before she could be persuaded to pose. The +Capri maidens are brought up to be averse to posing, and Ninitta had +not long enough breathed the air of Rome to have overcome the +prejudices of her youth. He reflected, with a bitterness rendered vague +by a certain strange impersonality of his mood, how different would +have been his life had Hoffmeir been unable to overcome the girl's +scruples. He wondered whether the fat old aunt, and the greasy, +good-natured little priest with whom she had taken counsel, would have +urged Ninitta to take up the life of a model, could they have foreseen +all the results to which this course was to lead in the end. + +Then, with a sudden stinging consciousness, the thought came of all +that her decision had meant to his life. The old question whether he +had done right in marrying Ninitta forced itself upon him as if it were +some enemy springing up from ambush. He raised his eyes, and his glance +met that of Mrs. Greyson. + +"It is no use, Helen," he broke out, impulsively, "we must talk +frankly. It is idle to suppose that we can go on in an artificial +pretence that we have nothing to say." + +She put up her hand appealingly. + +"Only do not drive me away again," she pleaded. "Don't say things that +I have no right to hear!" + +A dark red stained Herman's cheek, and the tears came into his eyes. + +"No," he returned. "If any one is to be driven away it shall not be +you." + +"But why need we trouble the things that are past," she went on, with +wistful eagerness. "Why cannot we accept it all in silence, and be +friends." + +He looked at her with a passionate, penetrating glance. She felt a wild +and foolish longing to fling herself upon the floor and embrace his +feet; but the old Puritan training, the resistant fibre inherited from +sturdy ancestors, still did not fail her. + +"You have your wife," she hurried on, "your home, your boy. That is +enough. That"-- + +"That is not enough," he interrupted, with an emphasis, which seemed +stern. "Helen, I shall not talk love to you. I am another woman's +husband. I made a ghastly mistake when I married Ninitta, but it is +done. She loves me; she is happy, and I love"--his voice faltered into +a wonderful softness more eloquent than words,--"I love Nino." + +She would not let him go on. She sprang up and ran to him, taking his +hands in hers with a touch that made his blood rush tingling through +his veins. + +"Yes," she cried, "you love Nino! Think of that! Think most of all that +whatever you are, good or bad, you are for your son, for Nino! Come! +There is safety for us in that. We will go and talk with Nino between +us. Then we shall say nothing of which we can be ashamed or regret." + +There came to Herman a vision of his boy clasped in Helen's arms which +made him feel as if suffocating with the excess of his emotion. He rose +blindly, only half conscious of what he was doing; and without giving +time for objections Helen hastened to dress herself for the street, and +in a few moments they were walking together toward the sculptor's house. + +To Herman's surprise, his wife was absent when he reached home. The +maid did not know where she had gone. She often went out in the morning +without saying where she was going, and of course the servant did not +ask. + +"That is odd," Herman said; "but she has probably gone shopping or +something of the sort. It is too bad, she had so set her heart on +showing you the _bambino_, as she calls him, herself." + +But it proved that Nino also was out, having been taken for a walk; and +so Helen, who returned home at once, saw neither of them. + + + + +VII + + THIS DEED UNSHAPES ME. + Measure for Measure; iv.--4. + +Ninitta had not gone shopping. She was posing for Arthur Fenton, at his +studio. Even the presence of her boy could not wholly make up to the +Italian for the loss of all the old interest and excitement of her life +as a model. The boy was with his nurse or at the kindergarten for long +hours during which Ninitta, who had few of the resources with which an +educated woman would have filled her time, mingled longings for her old +life with blissful gloatings over Nino's beauty and cleverness. Her +husband was always kind, but since his marriage delicacy of sentiment +had made him shrink from having his wife pose even for himself, while +naturally no thought of her doing so for another would have been +entertained for a moment. + +Ninitta had been so long in the life, to pose had been so large a part +of her very existence, that she hardly knew how to do without the +old-time flavor. Mrs. Fenton had perceived something of this without at +all appreciating the strength of the feeling of the sculptor's wife, +and she had at one time tried to interest Ninitta in what might perhaps +be called missionary work among the models of Boston, a class of whose +calling Edith held views which her husband was not wholly wrong in +calling absurdly narrow. She was met at once by the difficulty that it +was impossible to make Ninitta see that missionary work was needed +among the models, and the effort resulted in nothing except to convince +Mrs. Fenton that she could do little with the Italian. + +Just how Arthur Fenton had persuaded her to pose without her husband's +knowledge, Ninitta could not have told; and the artist himself would +have assured any investigator, even that speculative spirit which held +the place left vacant by the dismissal of his conscience, that he had +never deliberately tried to entice her. He had talked to her of the +picture he was painting for a national competitive exhibition, it is +true, and dwelt upon the difficulty of procuring a proper model; he had +met her on the street one day and taken her into his studio to see it; +he had regretted that it was impossible to ask her; and of a hundred +apparently blameless and trivial things, the result was that this +morning, while Helen and Herman were walking across the Common to find +her, Ninitta was lying amid a heap of gorgeous stuffs and cushions in +Fenton's studio, while he painted and talked after his fashion. + +It is as impossible to trace the beginnings of any chain of events as +it is to find the mystery of the growth of a seed. Whatever Arthur +Fenton's faults, he certainly believed himself to be one who could not +betray a friend. The ideal which he vaguely called honor, and which +served him as that ultimate ethical standard which in one shape or +another is necessary to every human being, forbade his taking advantage +of any one whose friendship he admitted. His instinct of +self-indulgence had, however, made him so expert a casuist that he was +able to silence all inner misgivings by arguing that the demands of art +were above all other laws. He reasoned that Ninitta's posing could do +no possible harm to Grant Herman, while the success of his _Fatima_ +depended upon it; and since art was his religion, he came at last to +feel as if he were nobly sacrificing his prejudices to his highest +convictions in violating for the sake of art his principle which +forbade his deceiving her husband. + +Least of all, in asking the Italian to pose, had Fenton been actuated +by any intention of tempting her to evil. He needed a model for the +_Fatima_ as he needed his canvas and brushes; and his satisfaction at +having induced Ninitta to serve his purpose was in kind much the same +as his pleasure that his brushes and canvas were exactly what he wanted. + +But it is always difficult to tell to what an action may lead; and most +of all is it hard to foresee the consequences which will follow from +the violation of principle. Perhaps the air of secrecy with which +Ninitta found it necessary to invest her coming, had an intoxicating +effect upon the artist; perhaps it was simply that his persistent +egotism moved him to test his power. Men often feel the keenest +curiosity in regard to the extent of their ability to commit crimes +into which they have yet not the remotest intention of being betrayed; +and especially is this true in their relations to women. Men of a +certain vanity are always eager to discover how great an influence for +evil they could exercise over women, even when they have not the nerve +or the wickedness to exert it. A man must be morally great to be above +finding pleasure in the belief that he could be a Don Juan if he chose; +and moral grandeur was not for Arthur Fenton. + +From whatever cause, the fact was, that as he painted this morning and +reflected, with a complacency of which he was too keen an analyst not +to know he should have been ashamed, how he had secured the model he +desired despite her husband, the speculation came into his mind how far +he could push his influence over Ninitta. At first a mere impersonal +idea, the thought was instantly, by his habit of mental definiteness, +realized so clearly that his cheek flushed, partly, it is to be said to +his credit, with genuine shame. He looked at the beautiful model, and +turned away his eyes. Then, hardly conscious of what he was doing, he +laid down his palette, and took a step forward. + +At that instant the studio bell rang sharply. He started with so +terrible a sense of being discovered in a crime, that his jaw trembled +and his knees almost failed under him. + +Then instantly he recovered his self-possession, although his heart was +beating painfully, and looked up at the clock. + +"Heavens!" he exclaimed. "I had no idea how late it was! It is that +beastly Irons for his last sitting. I'd forgotten all about him." + +Ninitta rose from her position and hurried toward the screen behind +which she dressed. + +"Don't let him in," she said. "He knows me." + +The bell rang again, as they stood looking at each other. + +"I will try to send him off," Arthur said. "Dress as quickly as you +can." + +She retreated behind the screen while he went to the door and unlocked +it. Instantly Irons stepped inside. + +"You must excuse me," the artist said. "I'll be ready for you in +fifteen minutes. I have a model here, and got to painting so busily +that I forgot the time. Come back in a quarter of an hour." + +"Oh, I don't mind," Irons said, advancing into the studio. "I'll look +round until you are ready." + +"But I never admit sitters when I have a model," Fenton protested, +standing before him. "I shall have to ask you to go." + +The other stopped and looked at the artist with suspicion in his eyes. + +"What a fuss you make," he commented coarsely. "No intrigue, I suppose?" + +A hot flush sprang into Fenton's face. He tried to assume a haughty +air, but the consciousness of being entrapped in a misdemeanor had not +left him. The need of getting Mrs. Herman out of the studio unseen +would have been awkward at any time; when to this was added the sense +of guilt and shame which was begotten of the base impulse to which he +had almost yielded, the situation became for him painfully embarrassing. + +"I am not in the habit of carrying on intrigues with my models," he +replied, haughtily. "Or," he added, regaining self-possession, "of +discussing my affairs with others." + +Mr. Irons laughed in a significant way which made Arthur long to kill +him on the spot, and, stepping past Fenton, he walked further into the +studio. + +"Don't put on airs with me," he said. "Your looks give you away. You've +been up to some mischief." + +He paused an instant before the unfinished picture on the easel, then +when the artist coolly took the canvas and placed it with its face to +the wall, he turned with deliberate rudeness and craned his neck so +that he could look behind the screen. A leering smile came over his +coarse features. Without a word he went over to the most distant corner +of the studio, where he apparently became absorbed in studying a sketch +hanging on the wall. + +There was a dead silence of some moments. Fenton was literally +speechless with rage, yet, too, his quick wit was busy devising some +way of escape from the unpleasant predicament in which he found +himself. He did not speak, nor did Mr. Irons turn until Ninitta had +completed her toilet and slipped hastily out. As the door closed after +her, Irons wheeled about and confronted the indignant artist with a +smile of triumphant glee. + +"Sly dog!" he said. + +Fenton advanced a step toward his tormentor with his clenched hand half +raised as if he would strike. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded. "Do you call yourself a gentleman?" + +"Oh, come, now," the other responded, with an easy wave of the hand, +"no heroics, if you please. They won't go down with me. She's a +devilish fine woman, and I don't blame you." + +"I tell you," began Fenton, "you"-- + +"Oh, of course, of course. I know all that. But sit down while I say +something to you." + +As if under the constraining influence of a nightmare, Fenton obeyed +when Mr. Irons, having seated himself in an easy chair, waved him into +another with a commanding gesture. The artist felt himself to have lost +his place as the stronger of the two, of which he had hitherto been +proudly conscious, and he sat angrily gnawing his lip while his +tormentor regarded him with smiling malice. + +"Do you remember telling me one day," Irons asked, fixing his narrow +eyes on the other's disturbed face, "that you could make your sitters +tell you things?" + +Fenton stared at his questioner in angry silence, but did not answer. + +"Now, if," continued Irons; "I say if, you observe,--if Stewart Hubbard +should chance to tell you where the new syndicate mean to locate their +mills, it might be a mighty good thing for you." + +Still Fenton said nothing, but his regard became each moment more +wrathful. + +"Of course," the sitter continued, with an assumption of airy lightness +which grated on every nerve of the hearer, "you are not in a position +to turn such knowledge to advantage; but I am, and I am always inclined +to help a bright fellow like you when there is a good chance. So if you +should come to me and say that the mills are to be so and so, I'd do +all I could to make things pleasant for you. I happen to belong to a +syndicate myself that has bought a mill privilege at Wachusett, and it +is important to us to have the new railroad go our way, and we'd like +to know how far the other fellows' plans are dangerous to our +interests, don't you see." + +Still Fenton did not speak. He had grown very pale, and his lips were +set firmly together. His hands clasped the arms of his chair so +strongly that the blood had settled under the middle of the nails. Mr. +Irons looked at him with narrow, piercing eyes. He paused a moment and +then went on. + +"You are perfectly capable of keeping a secret," he said in a hard, +deliberate tone, "so I don't in the least mind telling you what we +should do. Your sitters always tell you things, you know; and you are +to be trusted. The case is here; our syndicate stand in with the +railroad corporation and ask the Railroad Commissioners for a +certificate of exigency, to authorize laying the new branch out through +Wachusett. Now we have information that Staggchase and Stewart Hubbard +and that set, are planning to spring a petition asking for special +legislation locating the road somewhere else. Of course, they'll have +to get it in under a suspension of the rules, but they can work that +easily enough. The Commissioners will have to hold on, then, until the +Legislature finishes with that petition." + +He paused again, with an air which convinced the artist that he was +going on with this elaborate explanation to cover his awkwardness. +Fenton did not speak, and his visitor continued,-- + +"The Commissioners might settle the matter now, but they won't, and +we've got to have the fight, I suppose; so, of course, you can see how +it is for our interest to know just what we are fighting." + +He rose as he spoke, and with an air of deliberation, buttoned his +overcoat, which he had not removed. + +"I don't think you feel like painting this morning," he observed, "and +I'll come in again. I'll leave you to think over what I have said." + +Fenton rose also, regarding him with fierce, level eyes. + +"And suppose," he said, "that I call you a damned scoundrel, and forbid +you ever to set foot in my studio again?" + +The other laughed, with the easy assurance of a bully who feels himself +secure. + +"Oh, you won't," he replied. "If you did,--well, I am on the committee +for the new statue, and have to see Herman now and then you know, and I +should, perhaps, ask him why his wife poses for you. Good morning." + +And with a chuckling laugh, he took himself out. + + + + +VIII + + A NECESSARY EVIL. + Julius Caesar; ii.--2. + +"Oh, I assure you that my temper has been such for a week that my +family have threatened to have me sent to a nervine asylum," Ethel Mott +observed to Fred Rangely, who was calling on her, ostensibly to inquire +after her health, some trifling indisposition having kept her housed +for a few days. "What with my cold and my vexation at losing things I +wanted to go to, I have been positively unendurable." + +"That's your way of looking at it," he responded; "but I hardly fancy +that anybody else found it out. But what has there been to lose, except +the Throgmorton ball?" + +"Well, first there was the concert Saturday night." + +"Do you care so much about the Symphonies, then? I thought you were the +one girl in Boston who doesn't pretend to care for music." + +"Oh, but we have lovely seats this year, and the nicest people all +about us, you know. Thayer Kent and his mother are directly behind us." + +"Where he can lean forward and talk to you," interrupted Rangely, +jealously. + +"Yes," she said, nodding with a gleam of mischievous laughter in her +dark eyes. "And I do have a nice time at the Symphonies. Besides, I +don't in the least object to the music, you know." + +Fred fixed his gaze on a large old-fashioned oil painting on the +opposite wall, a copy from some of the innumerable pastorals which have +been made in imitation of Nicholas Poussin. It was of no particular +value, but it was surrounded by a beautiful carved Venetian frame, and +was one of those things which confer an air of distinction upon a +Boston parlor, because they are plainly the art purchases of a bygone +generation. + +"But you have, of course, had no end of girls running in to see you," +he observed. + +"Yes; but, then, that didn't make up for the Throgmorton ball. You ask +what else there was to lose; I should think that was enough. Why, Janet +Graham says she never had such a lovely time in her life." + +"Is Miss Graham engaged to Fred Gore?" Rangely asked. + +Ethel's gesture of dissent showed how little she would have approved of +such a consummation. + +"No, indeed," she returned. "Fred Gore only wants Janet's money, +anyway; and she can't abide him, any more than I can." + +"Then, you have the correct horror of a marriage for money." + +"I think a girl is a fool to let a man marry her for her money. She'd +much better give him her fortune and keep herself back. Then she'd at +least save something. I don't approve of people's marrying for money +anyway; although, of course," she added, with a twinkle in her eye, "I +think it is wicked to marry without it." + +There shot through Rangely's mind the reflection that Thayer Kent had +not an over-abundance of this world's goods; and to this followed the +less pleasant thought that he was himself in the same predicament. + +"But Jack Gerrish hasn't anything," he said, aloud. + +"But Janet has enough, so she can marry anybody she wants to," was the +reply; "and Jack Gerrish is too perfectly lovely for anything." + +The visitor laughed, but he was evidently not at his ease. He was +always uncomfortably conscious that Ethel had not the slightest +possible scruple against laughing at him, and he was not a little +afraid of her well-known propensity to tease. Ethel regarded him with +secret amusement. A woman is seldom displeased at seeing a man +disconcerted by her presence, even when she pities him and would fain +put him at his ease. It is a tribute to her powers too genuine to be +disputed, and while she may labor to overcome the man's feeling, her +vanity cannot but be gratified that he has it. + +"Did you ever know anything like the way Elsie Dimmont is going on with +Dr. Wilson?" Ethel said, presently, by way of continuing the +conversation. "I can't see what she finds to like in him. He's as +coarse as Fred Gore, only, of course, he's cleverer, and he isn't +dissipated." + +"Wilson isn't a half bad fellow," Rangely replied, rather +patronizingly. "Though, of course, I can understand that you wouldn't +care for that kind of a man." + +"Am I so particular, then?" + +"Yes, I think you are." + +"Thank you for nothing." + +"Oh, I meant to be complimentary, I assure you. Isn't it a compliment +to be thought particular in your tastes?" + +"That depends upon how you are told. Your manner was not at all +calculated to flatter me. It said too plainly that you thought me +captious." + +"But I don't." + +"Of course you wouldn't own it," Ethel retorted, playing with a +tortoise-shell paper-cutter she had picked up from the table by which +she sat; "but your manner was not to be mistaken. It betrayed you in +spite of yourself." + +Rangely knew how foolish he was to be affected by light banter like +this, but for his life he could not have helped it. The fact that Ethel +knew how easily she could tease him lent a tantalizing sparkle to her +eyes. She smiled mockingly as he vainly tried to keep the flush from +rising in his cheeks. + +"You are singularly fond of teasing," he observed, in a manner he +endeavored to make cool and philosophical. + +"Now you are calling me singular as well as captious." + +"The girl who is singular," returned he, in an endeavor to turn the +talk by means of an epigram which only made matters worse for him, "the +girl who is singular runs great risk of never becoming plural." + +Ethel laughed merrily, her glee arising chiefly from a sense of the +chance he was giving her to work up one of those playful mock quarrels +which amused her and so thoroughly teased her admirer. + +"Upon my word, Mr. Rangely," she said, assuming an air of indignant +surprise, "is it your idea of making yourself agreeable to tell an +unfortunate girl that she is destined to be an old maid? I could stand +being one well enough, but to be told that I've got to be is by no +means pleasant." + +He knew she was playing with him, but he could not on that account meet +her on her own ground. He endeavored to protest. + +"You are trying to make me quarrel." + +"Make you quarrel?" she echoed. "I like that! Of course, though, to be +so full of faults that you can't help abusing me is one way of making +you quarrel." + +"How you do twist things around!" exclaimed he, beginning to be +thoroughly vexed. + +She pursed up her lips and regarded him with an expression more +aggravating than words could have been. She had been for several days +deprived of the pleasure of teasing anybody, and her delight in vexing +Rangely made his presence a temptation which she was seldom able to +resist. She was unrestrained by any regard for the young author which +should make her especially concerned how seriously she offended him; +and when she now changed the conversation abruptly, it was with a +forbearing air which was anything but soothing to his nerves. + +"Don't you think," she asked, "that Mr. Berry was absurd in the way he +acted about playing at Mrs. West's?" + +"No, I can't say that I do," the caller retorted savagely. "Mrs. West +gives out that she is going to give the neglected native musicians at +last a chance to be heard, and then she invites them to play their +compositions in her parlor. Westbrooke Berry isn't the man to be +patronized in any such way. Just think of her having the cheek to give +to a man whose work has been brought out in Berlin an invitation which +is equivalent to saying that he can't get a public hearing, but she'll +help him out by asking her guests to listen to him. Heavens! Mrs. West +is a perfectly incredible woman." + +Ethel smiled sweetly. In her secret heart she agreed with him; but it +did not suit her mood to show that she did so. + +"You seem bound to take the opposite view of everything to-day," she +said, in tones as sweet as her smile; "or perhaps it is only that my +temper has been ruined by my cold. I told you it had been bad." + +He rose abruptly. + +"If everything is to put us more at odds," he said, rather stiffly, +"the sooner I withdraw, the better. I am sorry I have fallen under your +displeasure; it is generally my ill luck to annoy you." + +And in a few moments he was going down the street in a frame of mind +not unusual to him after a call upon Miss Mott, from whose house he was +apt to come away so ruffled and irritated that nothing short of a +counteracting feminine influence could restore his self-complacency. + +This office of comforter usually fell to the lot of Mrs. Frederick +Staggchase. Indeed, his fondness for this lady was so marked as to give +rise to some question among his intimates whether he were not more +attached to her than to the avowed object of his affection. + +An hour after he had made his precipitate retreat from Ethel's, he +found himself sitting in the library at Mrs. Staggchase's, with his +hostess comfortably enthroned in a great chair of carved oak on the +opposite side of the fire. The conversation had somehow turned upon +marriage. There is always a certain fascination, a piquant if faint +sense of being upon the borderland of the forbidden, which makes such a +discussion attractive to a man and woman who are playing at making love +when marriage stands between them. + +"But, of course," Rangely had said, "two married people can't live at +peace when one of them is in love with somebody else." + +Mrs. Staggchase clasped with her slender hand the ball at the end of +the carved arm of the chair in which she was sitting, looking absently +at the rings which adorned her fingers. She possessed to perfection the +art of being serious, and the air with which she now spoke was +admirably calculated to imply a deep interest in the subject under +discussion. "I do not understand," she observed, thoughtfully, "why a +man and woman need quarrel because they happen to be married to each +other, when they had rather be married to somebody else. It wouldn't be +considered good business policy to pull against a partner because one +might do better with some other arrangement; and it does seem as if +people might be as sensible about their marriage relations as in their +business." + +Her companion glanced at her, and then quickly resumed his intent +regard of the fire beside which he sat. + +"But people are so unreasonable," he remarked. + +Mrs. Staggchase assented, with a characteristic bend of the head, and a +movement of her flexible neck. She looked up with a smile. + +"I think Fred and I are a model couple," she said. "Fred came into my +room this noon, just as I had finished my morning letters. +'Good-morning,' he said, 'I hope you weren't +frightened.'--'Frightened?' I said, 'what at?'--'Do you mean to say you +didn't know I was out all night?'--'I hadn't an idea of it,' said I. +He'd been playing cards at the club all night, and had just come in. He +says that the next time, he shan't take the trouble to expose himself." + +Rangely laughed in a somewhat perfunctory way. + +"But if that is a model fashion of living, what becomes of the old +notions of kindred souls, and all that sort of thing?" he asked. "I +shouldn't want my wife"-- + +He paused, rather awkwardly, and Mrs. Staggchase took up the sentence +with a smile of amusement, in which there was no trace of annoyance. +She was too well aware how completely she was mistress of the +situation, in dealing with Rangely, to be either vexed or embarrassed +in talking with him. + +"To be as frank with another man as I am with you?" she finished for +him. "Oh, very likely not. You have all the masculine jealousy which is +aroused in an instant by the idea that a woman should be at liberty to +like more than one man. You are half a century behind us. Marriage as +you conceive it is the old-fashioned article, for the use of families +in narrow circumstances intellectually as well as pecuniarily. Love in +a cottage is necessary, because people under those conditions can't +live unless they are extravagantly devoted to each other. Marriage with +us is just what it ought to be, an arrangement of mutual convenience. +Fred and I suit each other perfectly, and are sufficiently fond of each +other; but there are sides of his nature to which I do not answer, and +of mine that he does not touch. He finds somebody who does; I find +somebody on my part. You, for instance." + +Rangely leaned back in his chair, and clasped his plump white fingers, +regarding Mrs. Staggchase with a smile of amusement and admiration. + +"You are so awfully clever," was his response, "that you could really +never be uncommonly fond of anybody. You'd analyze the whole business +too closely." + +She laughed slightly, and went on with what she was saying, without +heeding his interruption. + +"Fred and I make good backgrounds for each other, and, after all, that +is what is required. You answer to my need of companionship in another +direction, and since that side of my nature is unintelligible to my +husband, he is not defrauded, while I should be if I starved my desire +for such friendship, to please an idea like yours, that a wife should +find her all in her husband. Fortunately, Mr. Staggchase is a broader +man than you are." + +"Thank you," Rangely retorted, with a faint tinge of annoyance visible, +despite his air of jocularity. "Arthur Fenton says a broad man is one +who can appreciate his own wife. If Mr. Staggchase does that"-- + +"Come," interrupted Mrs. Staggchase, smiling with the air of one who +has had quite enough of the topic, "don't you think the subject is +getting to be unfortunately personal? I have a favor to ask of you." + +Rangely was too well aware of the uselessness of trying to direct the +conversation to make any attempt to continue the talk, which, moreover, +had taken a turn not at all to his liking. He settled himself in his +chair, in an attitude of easy attention. + +"I am always delighted to do you a favor," he said. "It isn't often I +get a chance." + +The relations between these two were not easy to understand, unless one +accepted the simplest possible theory of their friendship. It was, on +the part of Mrs. Staggchase, only one of a succession of platonic +intimacies with which her married life had been enriched. She found it +necessary to her enjoyment that some man should be her devoted admirer, +always quite outside the bounds of any possible love-making, albeit +often enough she permitted matters to go to the exciting verge of a +flirtation which might merit a name somewhat warmer than friendship. +She was a brilliant and clever woman who allowed herself the luxury of +gratifying her vanity by encouraging the ardent attentions of some man, +which, if they ever became too pressing, she knew how to check, or, if +necessary, to stop altogether. She was fond of talking, and she frankly +avowed her conviction that women were not worth talking to. She liked +an appreciative masculine listener with whom she could converse, now in +a strain of bewildering frankness, now in a purely impersonal and +intellectual vein, and who, however he might at times delude himself by +misconstruing her confidences into expressions of personal regard, was +clever enough to comprehend the little corrective hints by which, when +necessary, she chose to undeceive him. + +Analyzed to its last elements, her feeling, it must be confessed, was +pretty nearly pure selfishness; but she was able, without effort, and +by half-unconscious art, to throw over it the air of being +disinterested friendship. Such a nature is essentially false, but +chiefly in that it gives to a passing mood the appearance of a +permanent sentiment, and, while seeking only self-gratification, seems +actuated by genuine desire to give pleasure to another. + +The attitude of Rangely toward Mrs. Staggchase was, perhaps, no more +unselfish, and was certainly no more noble, but his sentiment was at +least more genuine. He was flattered by her preference, and he was +bewildered by her cleverness. He liked to believe himself capable of +interesting her, and without in the most remote degree desiring or +anticipating an intrigue, he was ready to go as far as she would allow +in his devotion. He was constantly tormented by a vague phantom of +conquest, which danced with will-o'-the-wisp fantasy before him, and +from day to day he endeavored to discover how deeply in love she was +willing he should fall. He was really fond of her, a fact that did not +prevent his entertaining a half-hearted passion for Ethel Mott, the +result of this mixture of emotion being that he was the slave, albeit +with a difference, of either lady with whom he chanced to be. That he +was the plaything of Mrs. Staggchase's fancy he was far from realizing, +although from the nature of things he naturally regarded his fondness +for Miss Mott as the permanent factor in the case. He even felt a +certain compunction for the regret he supposed Mrs. Staggchase would +feel when he should decide formally to transfer his allegiance to her +rival; a misgiving he might have spared himself had he been wise enough +to appreciate the situation in all its bearings. The lady understood +perfectly how matters stood, but Rangely was her junior, and, besides, +no man in such a case ever comprehends that he is being played with. + +"It is in regard to the statue of _America_ that I want you to be +useful," Mrs. Staggchase said, replying to her visitor's proffer of +service with a smile. "Do you know what the chances are in regard to +the choice of a sculptor?" + +"Why, I suppose Grant Herman will have the commission." + +"But I think not." + +"You think not? Who will then?" + +"That is just it. Mr. Hubbard has been backing Mr. Herman; and Mr. +Irons, who never will agree to anything that Mr. Hubbard wants, is +putting up the claims of this new woman, just to be contrary." + +"What new woman? Mrs. Greyson?" + +"Yes. Mrs. Frostwinch told me all about it yesterday. Now there is a +young man that we are interested in"-- + +"Who is 'we'?" interrupted Rangely. + +"Oh, Mrs. Frostwinch, and Mrs. Bodewin Ranger, and a number of us." + +"But whom have you got on the committee?" + +"Mr. Calvin; and don't you see that Mr. Calvin's name in a matter of +art is worth a dozen of the other two." + +"Yes," Rangely assented, rather doubtfully, "in the matter of giving +commissions it certainly is." + +Mrs. Staggchase smiled indulgently, playing with the ring in which +blazed a splendid ruby, and which she was putting on and off her finger. + +"If you think," she said, "that you are going to entrap me into a +discussion of the merits of art and Philistinism, you are mistaken. I +told you long ago that I was a Philistine of the Philistines, +deliberately and avowedly. The true artistic soul which you delight to +call Pagan is only the servant of Philistinism, and I own that I prefer +to stand with the ruling party. As, indeed," she added, with a +mischievous gleam in her eye, "do many who will not confess it." + +Rangely flushed. The thrust too closely resembled reproaches which in +his more sensitive moments he received at the hand of his own inner +consciousness, so to speak, not to make him wince. He felt himself, +besides, becoming involved in a painful position. He had long been the +intimate friend of Grant Herman, and felt that the sculptor had a right +to expect whatever aid he could give him in a matter like this. + +"But who," he asked, "is your _protege?_" + +"His name," Mrs. Staggchase replied, "is Orin Stanton. He is a fellow +of the greatest talent, and he has worked his way"-- + +Rangely put up his hand in a gesture of impatience. + +"I know the fellow," he said. "He made a thing he called _Hop Scotch_, +of which Fenton said the title was far too modest, since he'd not only +scotched the subject but killed it." + +"One never knew Mr. Fenton to waste the chance of saying a good thing +simply for the sake of justice," Mrs. Staggchase observed, with +unabated good humor. "But you are to help us in the _Daily Observer_, +and there is to be no discussion about it. Since you know you are too +good-natured not to oblige me in the end, why should you not do it +gracefully and get the credit of being willing." + +And then, being a wise woman, she disregarded Rangely's muttered +remonstrance and turned the conversation into a new channel. + + + + +IX + + THIS IS NOT A BOON. + Othello; iii.--3. + +If the old-time opinion that a woman whose name is a jest with men has +lost her claims to respect, Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson might be supposed +to have little ground for the inner anger she felt at the scantness of +the courtesy with which she was treated by Mr. Irons. That gentleman +was calling upon her in her tiny suite of rooms at the top of one of +those apartment hotels which stand upon the debatable ground between +the select regions of Back Bay and the scorned precincts of the South +End, and he was apparently as much at home as if the sofa upon which he +lounged were in his own dwelling. + +The apartment of Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson gave to the experienced eye +evidences of a pathetic struggle to make scanty resources furnish at +least an appearance of luxury. The walls were adorned with amateur +china painting in the shape of dreadful placques and plates in livid +hues; there was abundance of embroidery that should have been +impossible, in garish tints and uneven stitches; much shift had been +made to produce an imposing appearance by means of cheap Japanese fans +and the inexpensive wares of which the potteries at Kioto, corrupted by +foreign influence, turn out such vast quantities for the foreign +market. Against the wall stood an upright piano--if a piano could be +called upright which habitually destroyed the peace of the entire +neighborhood--and over it was placed a scarf upon which apparently some +boarding-school miss had taken her first lesson in painting wild +flowers. + +The room was small, and so well filled with furniture that there seemed +little space for the long limbs of Alfred Irons, who, however, had +contrived to make himself comfortable by the aid of various cushions +covered with bright-colored sateens. He had lighted a cigar without +thinking it necessary to ask leave, and had even made himself more easy +by putting one leg across a low chair. + +Mrs. Sampson was fully aware that in her struggles with life she had +sometimes provoked laughter, often disapproval, and now and then given +rise to positive scandal, yet she was still accustomed to at least a +fair semblance of respect from the men who came to see her; women, it +is to be noted, being not often seen within her walls, since those who +were willing to come she did not care to receive, and those whom she +invited seldom set her name down on their calling lists. Among +themselves, at the clubs or elsewhere, the men speculated more or less +coarsely and unfeelingly upon the foundations of the numerous scandals +which had from time to time blossomed like brilliant and life-sapping +parasites upon the tree of Mrs. Sampson's reputation. Her name, either +spoken boldly or too broadly hinted at to be misunderstood, adorned +many a racy tale told in smoking-rooms after good dinners, or when the +hours had grown small in more senses than one; and her career was made +to point more than one moral drawn for the benefit of the sisters and +daughters of the men who joked and sneered concerning her. + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson was born of a good old Boston family, to +which she clung with a desperate clutch which her relatives ignored so +far as with dignity they were able. Her father had been a lawyer of +reputation, and his portrait was still displayed prominently in the +daughter's parlor, a circumstance which had given Chauncy Wilson +opportunity for a jest rather clever than elegant concerning Judge +Welsh's well-known fondness in life for watching the progress of +criminal cases. Of her husband, the late Mr. Sampson, there was very +little said, and not much was known beyond the fact that having run +away from school to marry him, Amanda had shared a shady and it was +whispered rather disreputable existence for three years, at the end of +which she was fortunately relieved from the matrimonial net by his +timely decease; an event of which she sometimes spoke to her more +intimate male friends with undisguised satisfaction. + +It might not have been easy to tell how far Mrs. Sampson's subsequent +career was forced upon her by circumstances, and how far it was the +result of her own choice. She always represented herself as the victim +of a hard fate: but her relatives, one of whom was Mr. Staggchase, +declared that Amanda had no capabilities of respectability in her +composition. Mrs. Staggchase, upon whom marriage had conferred the +privilege of expressing her mind with the freedom of one of the family, +while it happily spared her from the responsibility of an actual +relative, declared that everything had been done to keep Mrs. Sampson +within the bounds of propriety, but all in vain. The income from the +estate of the late Judge Welsh was not large, and as Mrs. Sampson's +tastes, especially in dress, were somewhat expensive, it followed that +she was often reduced to devices for increasing her bank account which +were generally adroit and curious, but often not of a character to be +openly boasted of. She had had some business transactions already with +Irons, who was at this moment laying out the plan of work in a fresh +operation where she might make herself useful. + +"Of course," he said, "all the men from Wachusett way are on our side, +and the men from the other part of the county will be against us." + +"What other part of the county?" Mrs. Sampson inquired. + +She had laid down her sewing and was listening intently, with a look of +keen intelligence, the tips of her long and rather large fingers +pressed closely together. She hated Irons devoutly, but his scheme +meant financial profit to her, and various bills were troublesomely +overdue. + +"That's what we have to discover. When we find out, I'll let you know. +The other syndicate have been deucedly close-mouthed about their plans, +but of course they can't keep dark a great while longer; and in any +case I am on the track of the information." + +"And what," Mrs. Sampson asked, with an air of innocence too obviously +artificial, "am I expected to do?" + +Irons glanced at her with a wink, taking in her plain, vivacious face +with its sparkling eyes, her fine figure, and stylish, if somewhat too +pronounced, presence. + +"The old game," he said. "Show a tender and sisterly interest in a few +of the country members. There are one or two men from the western part +of the state that we want to capture at once before the thing is +started. Do you know anybody in that region?" + +"My father, Judge Welsh," she answered with an amusing touch amid her +frankness of the air with which she always mentioned her ancestors in +society, "had numerous connections there." + +"Ah, that is good," the visitor responded, with evident satisfaction. + +He knocked the ashes from his cigar into a tiny bronze which Mrs. +Sampson had put within his reach when he showed signs of throwing them +upon the carpet, and then plunged into a discussion of the members of +the State Legislature with whom it was possible for Mrs. Sampson to +establish an acquaintance, and whom she was likely to be able to +influence. He drew from his pocket a list of men, and with quite as +business-like an air his hostess produced a similar document from her +desk; the pair being soon deep in consultation over the schedules. + +Lobbying in Massachusetts is not by the public recognized as a +well-organized business, and yet any one who desires to secure personal +influence to aid or to hinder legislation is seldom at a loss to find +people well experienced in such work. The lobby to the eyes of the +public, moreover, consists entirely of men, if one excepts the group of +foolish intriguers in favor of the vagaries of proposed law-making by +which it is supposed the distinctions of sex may be abolished. There +are in the city, however, women who by no means lack experience in +manipulating the votes of country members, and who are but too willing +to sell their services to whoever can make it to their pecuniary +interest to favor a bill. + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson was extremely adroit and careful in +concealing her connection with the law-making of the State. She was in +evidence in most public places; at the theatres, the concert halls, the +County Club races, and at every fashionable entertainment to which her +cleverness could procure her admission, her conspicuous figure, made +more prominent by a certain indefinable loudness of style, a marked +dash of manner, and gowns in a taste rather daring than refined, was +too conspicuous to be overlooked. Yet it is doubtful if she had ever +been up the steps leading to the gilded-domed capitol in her life. She +went about much; and the unchaperoned life which in virtue of her +widowhood and her love of freedom she chose to lead, the width of the +circle over which her acquaintance extended, allowed her to carry on +her work unobserved; so that while a great variety of stories of one +sort of queerness or another were told of Mrs. Sampson, this particular +side of her career was almost unknown. + +"There is Mr. Greenfield," Mrs. Sampson observed, tapping her teeth +with her pencil. "His wife was a cousin of my husband. I don't know +them at all, but I could easily ask him to come and see me. It would be +only proper to offer him the hospitality of the town, you know." + +"Good!" cried Mr. Irons, slapping his open palm down on his knee. +"Greenfield's the hardest nut we've got to crack in the whole business. +He's the sort of man you can't talk to on a square business basis. +You've got to mince things damned fine with him, and he's chairman of +the Railroad Committee, you know. He'd have a tremendous amount of +influence, anyway." + +"He's a little tin god at Fentonville, I've heard," Mrs. Sampson +responded, laughing in the mechanical way which was her habit. "When +he's at home they say the sun doesn't rise there till he's given his +permission." + +Irons in his excitement took his leg down from its supporting chair and +sat up straight, dropping his list of members to the floor and clasping +his knees with his heavy hands. + +"Now look here, old lady," he said, "here's a chance to show your +mettle. If you'll manage Greenfield, I'll run the rest of the hayseed +crowd, and I'll make it something handsomer than you ever had in your +life." + +The woman smiled a smile of greed and cunning. + +"I'll take care of him," she said. "And he shall never know he has been +taken care of either." + +Irons laughed with coarse jocoseness. + +"A man has very little chance that falls into your clutches," he +observed, "but in this particular case you've got a heavy contract on +hand. Greenfield's got his price, of course, like everybody else, but +I'm hanged if I know what it is. If you offered him tin he'd simply fly +out on the whole thing and nobody could hold him. There isn't any +particular pull in politics on him. This new-fashioned independence has +knocked all that to pieces; and Greenfield is an Independent from the +word go. I don't know what you're to bait your hook with, unless it's +your lovely self." + +Mrs. Sampson began a laugh, and then recovering herself, she frowned. + +"Don't be personal," she said. "I won't stand it." + +She began to feel that the circumstances were such as to make her +important to her caller's schemes, and her air by insensible degrees +became more assured and less subservient. She knew her man, and she was +prepared for his becoming proportionately more respectful. He dusted a +little heap of ashes from the small table beside him and scattered them +with his foot, in a well-meant attempt to cover the traces of his +previous untidiness. She watched him with a covert sneer. + +"Even so difficult a problem as that," she said, with a slight toss of +the head, a bit of antique coquetry which impressed him with a new +sense of her thorough self-possession, and imposed itself upon his +untrained mind as the air of a true woman of the world; "I fancy I can +solve. Leave him to me. I'll find out what can be done with him." + +"If he can be got hold of," Irons remarked, reflectively, "he will +carry the whole thing through. They'd believe him up at Feltonville if +he told them it was right to walk backward and vote to give their +incomes to the temperance cranks." + +He rose to go as he spoke, unconsciously assuming with the overcoat he +put on that air of stiffness and immaculate propriety which he wore +always in public. He seldom allowed himself the undignified freedom +which marked his intercourse with Mrs. Sampson, and he liked the rest +he found in being for a time his vulgar, ill-bred self with no +restraints of artificial manner. + +"Well, good afternoon," he said, extending his large hand, into which +she laid hers with a certain faint air of condescension. "I've got to +go to a meeting of the committee on the new statue. They've got a new +fellow they are trying to push in, a young unlicked cub that Peter +Calvin's running. I'll let you know anything that's for our advantage." + +When he was gone, Mrs. Sampson produced a brush and a dustpan from +behind the books on a whatnot and carefully collected the scattered +ashes of his cigar. + +"Vulgar old brute!" she muttered. "To think of my having to clean up +after him; his mother was my grandmother's laundress." + +Then she smiled contemptuously, and added by way of self-consolation,-- + +"But it will all count in the bill, Al Irons." + + + + +X + + THE BITTER PAST. + All's Well That Ends Well; v.--3. + +"Do you see much of Mrs. Herman?" Helen Greyson asked of Edith Fenton, +as they sat at luncheon together in the latter's pretty dining-room. + +"Why, no," was the somewhat hesitating answer. "I really see very +little of her. The fact is we have so little common ground to meet on. +--You know Arthur says I am dreadfully narrow, and I am sometimes +afraid he is right. I have tried to know her, but of course I couldn't +take her into society. She wouldn't enjoy it, and she wouldn't feel at +home, even if she'd go with me." + +Helen smiled with mingled amusement and wistfulness. + +"No," she responded. "I can't exactly fancy Ninitta in society. She'd +be quite out of her element. My master in Rome, Flammenti, had a way of +saying a thing was like the pope at a dancing-party, and I fancy +Ninitta at an afternoon tea would be hardly less out of place." + +"But she must be very lonely," Edith said, stirring her coffee +meditatively. "She used to have a few Italians come to see her; people +she met that time she ran away, you remember, and we brought her home, +but they don't come now." + +"Why not?" + +Edith smiled and raised her eyebrows. + +"A question of caste, I believe." + +"Of caste?" echoed Helen. "What do you mean?" + +"When her son was born," Edith responded, "she told them that the +_bambino_ was born a gentleman, and couldn't associate with them." + +Helen laughed lightly; then her face clouded, and she sighed. + +"Poor Ninitta!" she said. "There is something infinitely pitiful in her +devotion and faithfulness to her youthful love." + +Edith's face assumed an expression of mingled perplexity and disquiet. +With eyes downcast she seemed for a moment to be seeking a phrase in +which properly to express some thought which troubled her. Then she +looked up quickly. + +"I don't know that I ought to say it," she remarked, "but I can't help +feeling that Ninitta is not so fond of her husband as she used to be. +Of course I may be mistaken, but either I overestimated her devotion +before they were married, or she cares less for him now." + +An expression of pain contracted Helen's brow. + +"Isn't it possible," she suggested, "that her being more demonstrative +in her love for the boy makes her seem cold toward her husband?" + +"No," returned Edith, shaking her head, "it is more than that. I fancy +sometimes that she unconsciously expected to be somehow transformed +into his equal by marrying him; and that the disappointment of being no +more on a level with him when she became his wife than before, has made +her somehow give him up, as if she concluded that she could never +really belong to his life. Of course I don't mean," she added, "that +Ninitta would reason this out, and very likely I am all wrong, anyway, +but certainly something of this kind has happened." + +"Poor Ninitta," repeated Helen, "fate hasn't been kind to her." + +"But Mr. Herman?" Edith returned. "What do you say of him? I think his +case is far harder. What a mistake his marriage was. I cannot conceive +how he was ever betrayed into such a _mesalliance_. She cannot be a +companion to him; she does not understand him: she is only a child who +has to be borne with, and who tries his patience and his endurance." + +Edith had forgotten her husband's suggestion that her companion was +responsible for Grant Herman's marriage; but Helen, who for six years +had been questioning with herself whether she had done well in urging +the sculptor to marry his model, heard this outburst with beating heart +and flushing cheek. Had Helen allowed Herman to break his early pledge +to Ninitta, and marry his later love, it is probable that all her life +would have been shadowed by a consciousness of guilt. The conscience +bequeathed to her, as Fenton rightly said, by Puritan ancestors, would +ever have reproached her with having come to happiness over the ruins +of another woman's heart and hopes. Having in the supreme hour of +temptation, however, overcome herself and given him up, it was not +perhaps strange that Helen unconsciously fell somewhat into the +attitude of assuming that this sacrifice gave her not only the right to +sit in judgment upon Ninitta, but also that of having done somewhat +more than might justly have been demanded of her. She had often found +herself wondering whether she had been wise; whether her devotion to an +ideal had not been overstrained; and if she ought not to have +considered rather the happiness of the man she loved than devotion to +an abstract principle. + +It was also undoubtedly true, although Helen had not herself reflected +upon this phase of the matter, that her half a dozen years' residence +in Europe had softened and broadened her views. In the present age of +the world there is no method possible by which one can resist the whole +tendency of modern thought and prevent himself from moving forward with +it, unless it be active and violent controversy. No man can be a +fanatic without opposition, either real or vividly fancied, upon which +to stay his resolution, and it is equally difficult to maintain a stand +at any given point of faith unless one has steadily to fight with vigor +for the right to possess it. + +It is probable that to-day Helen might have found it more difficult +than six years before to urge Herman to marry Ninitta, since besides +the self-sacrifice then involved would now be a doubtfulness of +purpose. She sat silent some moments, reflecting deeply, while her +hostess watched her with a loving admiration which was growing very +strongly upon her. + +"But what is to be done now," Helen asked slowly. "You would not have +him cast her off?" + +"Oh, no," returned Edith, in genuine consternation. "Now, it is six +years too late." + +"I am afraid I do not wholly agree with your point of view," answered +Mrs. Greyson, roused by the doubt in her own mind to a need to combat +the assumption that the marriage was a mistake. "I certainly do not +feel that the mere ceremony is the great point. See!" she continued, +becoming more animated, and half involuntarily saying aloud what she +had so often said in her own mind; "a man makes a woman love him. As +time goes on, he outgrows her. It is no fault of hers. Why should the +fact that he has or has not come into the marriage relations affect her +claims on him? Isn't he in honor bound to marry her?" + +"But suppose," Edith returned, "that he has not only outgrown her but +made some other woman love him too?" + +It was merely a chance shot of argument, but it smote Helen so that she +trembled as she sat. + +"Is not that woman to be considered?" Edith continued. "Is the good of +the man to count for nothing? Mr. Herman is sacrificed to an old +mistake. Perhaps it is right that he should pay the price of his error; +and that in the end it will be overruled for his good, we may hope. But +it is hard to have patience now with the state of things." + +Helen tapped her teaspoon nervously against her cup. + +"But what can be done?" + +"Nothing," Mrs. Fenton said, without the slightest hesitation. "You and +I may think these things, but it would be a crime for Mr. Herman to +think them." + +"It might be cowardice to yield to them," responded Helen; "but how +crime? And how can one help the thoughts from turning whithersoever +they will?" + +Edith pushed back her plate, leaned forward with folded arms resting +upon the edge of the table. She flushed a little, as she did sometimes +when she felt it her duty to say something to her husband which it was +hard to utter. + +"I do not think you and I agree in this," she said, in a voice which +her earnestness made somewhat lower than before. "Marriage is to me a +sacrament, and this very fact gives it a nature different from ordinary +promises. We promise to love until death do us part. To me that is as +imperative as any vow I can make to God and man." + +"But love," Helen urged, with a somewhat perplexed air, "is not a thing +to be coerced." + +"It must be," Edith returned, inflexibly. "Even if my husband ceased to +love me, that does not absolve me. I must fulfil my promise and my +duty." + +"But," Helen responded, doubtfully and slowly, "it seems to me a +sacrilege to live with a man after one has ceased to love him." + +"But I would love him," Edith broke in almost fiercely. "That is just +the point. One must refuse to cease to love him." + +"But if he ceased to love her?" + +A flush came into Edith's clear cheek, and her eyes shone. Half +unconsciously to herself, she was fighting with the doubts which would +now and then rise in her own mind of her husband's affection. + +"Then," she said, in a low voice, "one must still be worthy of his +love; one must do one's duty. Besides," she added, looking up with a +gleam of hope, "when one has made a solemn vow, as a wife vows to love +her husband until death part them, I firmly believe that strength to +keep that vow will not be withheld." + +Helen was silent a moment. She by no means agreed to the position Edith +took. She had no belief in those promises in virtue of which the +sacraments of the church took on a peculiar sanctity; she did not at +all trust to any special help bestowed by higher powers. She did not, +however, care to argue upon these points, and she said more lightly,-- + +"You task womanhood pretty heavily." + +"A little woman who is a _protegee_ of mine," Edith returned, in the +same manner, "said rather quaintly the other day, that women were made +so there should be somebody to be patient with men. She's having +trouble with her lover, I suspect, and takes it hardly." + +"But," Helen persisted more gravely, "it seems to me that you set +before the unloved wife a task to which humanity is absolutely unequal." + +"You remember St. Theresa and her two sous," Edith replied, her eyes +shining with deep inner feeling; "how she said, 'St. Theresa and two +sous are nothing, but St. Theresa and two sous and God are everything.' +I can't argue, but for myself, I could not live if I should give up my +ideal of duty." + +As often it had happened before, Helen found herself so deeply moved by +the fervor and the genuineness of Edith's faith, that she felt it +impossible to go on with an argument which could convince only at the +expense of weakening this rare trust. She brought the conversation back +to its starting point. + +"But about Ninitta," she said. "I saw her yesterday, and she acted as +if she had something on her mind. She somehow seemed to be trying to +tell me something. I told her that the _bambino_, as she calls Nino, +must keep her occupied most of the time, and she said the nurse stole +him away half of the day; she has the peasant instinct to take entire +charge of her own child." + +"If that is a peasant instinct," Edith rejoined laughing, "I am afraid +I am a peasant." + +"Oh, but you are reasonable about it, and know that it is better for +the boy to have change and so on. She acts as if she felt it to be a +conspiracy between the nurse and her husband to steal the child's +affections from her. Really, I felt as if she was coming to love Nino +so fiercely that she had fits of almost hating her husband." + +The ringing of the door bell and the entrance of the servant with a +card interrupted the conversation, and Helen had only time to say,-- + +"Of course on general principles you know I do not agree with you. +Indeed, I should find it hard to justify what I consider the most +meritorious acts of my life if I did. But I do want to say that, given +your creed, your view of marriage seems to me the noble--indeed, the +only one." + +As Helen walked home in the gray afternoon, sombre with a winter mist, +she thought over the conversation and measured her life by its +principles. + +"If one accepts Edith's standard," she reflected, "it is impossible not +to accept her conclusions. She is a St. Theresa, with her strict +adherence to forms and her loyalty to her convictions. But surely one's +own self has some claims. My first duty to whatever the highest power +is,--the All, perhaps,--must be to do the best I can with myself. It +could not be my duty to go on living with Will"-- + +She stopped, with a faint shudder, raising her eyes and looking about +upon the wet and dreary landscape with an almost furtive glance, as if +she were oppressed by the fear that the eyes of the husband with whom +she had found it impossible to live, and who for six years had been +under the sod, dead by his own hand, might be watching her unawares. It +was one of those moments when a bygone emotion is so vividly revived, +as if some long hidden landscape were revealed by a sudden lightning +flash. The years had brought her immunity from the poignancy of the +pain of old sorrows, but for one brief and bitter instant she cowed +with the old fear, she trembled with the old-time agony. + +Then she smiled at the unreasonableness of her feeling, and dropping +her eyes, walked on with slightly quickened steps. + +"It cannot be a woman's duty to go on living with a man who is dragging +her down, or even who prevents her from realizing her best; and yet, +there is the influence. That is a trick of my old Puritan training, of +course, but after all it is right to consider. One must count influence +as a factor if one believes in civilization, and I do believe in +civilization; certainly, I would not go back to barbarism. But is a +woman to be tied down--oh! how a woman is always tied down! Limitation +--limitation--limitation; that is the whole story of a woman's life; +and the harder she struggles to get away from her bonds the more she +proves to herself by the pain of the wrist cut by the fetters how +impossible it is to break them. Women contrive to deceive men sometimes +into believing that they have overcome the limitations of their sex; +and they even deceive themselves; but they never deceive each other. A +woman may believe that she herself has accomplished the impossible, but +she knows no one of her sisters has." + +She smiled sadly and yet humorously, pausing a moment on the curbstone +before crossing the wet and icy street. Then as she went on and a +coachman pulled up his horses almost upon their haunches to let her +pass, she took up the thread of her reflections once more,-- + +"Yet surely women must not rebel against civilization. Civilization is +after all quite as largely as anything else a determined ignoring and +combatting on the part of mankind of the cruel disadvantages under +which nature has put women. No; we must look at it in the large; we +must hold to the conventional even, rather than fight against +civilization, however wrong and illogical and heartless civilization +may be. It is the best we have and we go to the wall without it." + +She had reached her boarding-house and fitted her latch-key into the +lock. As she opened the door she looked back into the gathering dusk of +the misty afternoon, and her thought was almost as if it were a last +word flung to some presence to be left behind and shut out, a +personality with whom she had argued, and who had logically defeated +but not convinced her. + +"And yet," she said inwardly, with a sudden swelling of defiance and +conviction, "not for all the universe could I have done it. I could not +go on living with Will,--though," she added, a sudden compunction +seizing her, "I was fond of him in a way, poor fellow." + +And the door closed. + + + + +XI + + THE GREAT ASSAY OF ART. + Macbeth; iv.--3. + +The inner history of the effigies which in Boston do duty as statues +would be most interesting reading, amusing or depressing as one felt +obliged to take it. To know what causes led to the production and then +to the erection of these monstrosities could hardly fail to be +instructive, although the knowledge might be rather dreary. + +The subject has been too much discussed to make it easy to touch it, +but all this examination has by no means resulted in general +enlightenment, as was sufficiently evident at the meeting of the +committee in charge of the new statue of _America_ about to be erected +in a properly select Back Bay location. The committee consisted of +Stewart Hubbard, Alfred Irons, and Peter Calvin, three names which were +seldom long absent from the columns of the leading Boston daily +newspapers. Mr. Irons had been strongly objected to by both his +associates, neither of whom felt quite disposed to assume even such +equality as might seem to follow from joint membership of the +committee. That gentleman had, however, sufficient influence at City +Hall to secure appointment, a whim which had seized him to pose as a +patron of art being his obvious motive; and neither Mr. Hubbard nor Mr. +Calvin was prepared to go quite to the length of declining to serve +with the obnoxious parvenu. + +Stewart Hubbard was a most admirable example of the best type of an +American gentleman. Arthur Fenton once described him as "a genuine old +Beacon street, purple window-glass swell;" a description expressive, if +not especially elegant. Tall and well-built, with the patrician written +in every line of his handsome face, his finely shaped head covered with +short hair, snowy white although he had hardly passed middle age, his +clear dark eyes straightforward and frank in their glances, he was a +striking and pleasing figure in any company. He had graduated, like his +ancestors for three or four generations, at Harvard; and if he knew +less about art than his place on the committee made desirable, he at +least had a pretty fair idea of what authorities could be trusted. + +Peter Calvin's place in Boston art matters has already been spoken of. +He took himself very seriously, moving through life with a sunny-faced +self-complacency so inoffensive and sincere as to be positively +delightful. He was too good-natured and in all respects of character +too little virile to meet Irons with anything but kindness, but as he +was a trifle less sure of his social standing than Hubbard, he was +naturally more annoyed at the choice of the third member of the +committee. He made not a few protests to his friends, and gently +represented himself as a martyr to his devotion to the cause of art +from having accepted the place he held. + +When one considered, however, the way in which committees upon art +matters are made up at City Hall, it becomes evident that the wonder +was not that the present body was no better, but that it should be so +good. The truth was that the choice of Hubbard and Calvin had been +considered a great concession to the unreasonable prejudices of the +self-appointed arbitrators of art affairs in town. A short time before, +a committee consisting of a butcher, a furniture dealer and a North End +ward politician, had been sent to New York on a matter connected with a +public monument, and their action had been so egregiously absurd as to +bring down upon their heads and upon the heads of those who appointed +them such a torrent of ridicule that even the tough hide of City Hall +could not withstand it. It was felt that the public was more alive on +art matters than had been suspected; and when a South Boston +liquor-dealer manifested a singular but unmistakable desire to be +appointed on the _America_ committee, he had been promptly suppressed +with the information that this was to be "a regular bang-up, silver-top +committee," and was forced to soothe his disappointed ambition with +such consolation as lay in the promise that next time he should be +counted in. + +When the committee had been named, a hint was dropped in one or two +newspaper offices that the powers which work darkly at City Hall +expected due credit for the self-sacrifice involved in putting on two +men at least from whom no reward was to be expected. The journals +improved the opportunity, and praised highly the choice of all three of +the members. When this called out a protest from the artists, because +no artist had been appointed, City Hall had no words adequate to the +expression of its disgust. + +"That's what comes of trying to satisfy them fellows," one City Father +observed, in an indignant and unstilted speech to his colleagues. "They +want the earth, and nothing else will satisfy them. What if they ain't +got no artist on the committee; everybody knows that Peter Calvin's a +man who's published a lot of books about art, and it stands to reason +he's a bigger gun than a feller that just paints." + +The committee paid no attention to the discussion concerning their +fitness, of which indeed they did not know a great deal, but came +together in a matter-of-fact way, precisely as they would have +assembled to transact any other business. + +"I don't know what you think," Mr. Irons observed, as the three +gentlemen settled themselves in the easy-chairs of Mr. Hubbard's +private office and lighted their cigars, "but it seems to me we had +better try to come to some reasonably definite idea of what we want +this monument to be before we go any farther. It will be time enough to +talk about who's to get the order when we've made up our minds what the +order is to be." + +Both the words and the manner rasped the nerves of Mr. Calvin almost +beyond endurance. He was accustomed to phrasing his views with +elegance, and although in truth his ideas in the matter on hand were +not widely different from those of Mr. Irons, the latter had stated the +proposition with a boldness which made it impossible for him to agree +with it. By birth, by instinct, and by lifelong training a faithful +servant of the god Dagon, he yet seldom professed his allegiance +frankly. He sheltered his slavish adherence to conventions under a +decent show of following convictions; so that the pure and +straightforward Philistinism which Mr. Irons professed from simple lack +of a knowledge of the secrets of what might perhaps be called the +priestly cult of Philistia, appeared to Peter Calvin shockingly crude +and offensive. + +"Perhaps," he said, with a smile which was hardly less sweet than +usual, so well trained were the muscles of his face in producing it, +"it can hardly be said that we can decide. The artist after all cannot +be expected to accept too many limitations if he is to produce a work +of art. His genius must have full play." + +Secretly, Irons had a most profound respect for the other's art +knowledge, and he was too anxious to appear well in his capacity as a +member of the statue committee to be willing to run any risks by +attempting to controvert any aesthetic proposition laid down by Mr. +Calvin. He was by no means fond of the man, however, and to his dislike +his envy of Calvin's reputation, socially and aesthetically, added +venom. He hastened now, with quite unnecessary vigor, to defend himself +from the mildly implied attack. + +"I suppose we have got to give an order--or a commission, if the word +suits you better--of some sort; and whatever it is to be it needs to be +defined." + +His manner was so evidently belligerent that Mr. Hubbard hastened to +interpose. + +"That is pretty well defined for us, isn't it?" he said. "We were +directed to give a commission for a single figure representing America, +to be executed in bronze and not to exceed a fixed sum in cost. That +does not leave much latitude, so far as I can see, beyond the right of +selecting or rejecting models shown us. For my own part, I may as well +say at once, I am in favor of giving Mr. Herman whatever terms he wants +to make a model, and trusting everything to him. Of course we should +still have the right to veto the arrangement if the figure he made +should not prove satisfactory." + +Mr. Hubbard spoke with a certain elegant deliberation and precision +which Irons supposed himself to regard as affected, while secretly he +thoroughly envied it. + +"Oh, we all know what Herman would do," Irons retorted. "He'd make one +of those things that nobody could understand, and then say it was +artistic. We want something to please folks." + +Irons was more concerned about his popularity than even in regard to +the reputation as an art patron he was laboriously striving to build +up. He was an inordinately vain man, but he was an exceedingly shrewd +one. His self-esteem was gratified by seeing his name among those of +men influential in art matters; he bought pictures largely for the +pleasure of being talked of as a man who patronized the proper +painters, and he was looked upon as likely at no distant day to become +president of a club which Fenton dubbed the Discourager of Art; but he +realized that for a man who still had some political aspirations there +was a substantial value in popular favor not to be found in any +reputation for culture, however delightful the latter might be. He +distinctly intended to please the public by his action in regard to the +statue, a resolution which was rendered the more firm by the fact that +he vastly over-estimated the interest which the public was likely to +take in the matter. He trimmed the ashes from his cigar as he spoke, +with an air which was intended to convey the idea that he would stand +no nonsense. + +"Won't Mr. Herman enter a competitive trial?" Calvin asked. "We might +ask two or three others and then select the best model." + +"He won't go into a competition. He says it's beneath an artist's +dignity." + +"Damned nonsense!" blustered Irons, sitting up in his chair in +excitement over such an extraordinary proposition. "Don't we all go +into competitions whenever we send in sealed proposals? Beneath his +dignity! Great Scott! The cockiness of artists is enough to take away a +man's breath." + +Mr. Hubbard, who was a lawyer chiefly occupied, as far as business +went, in managing his own large property and certain trust funds, and +Mr. Calvin, who had never in his life soiled his aristocratic hands +with any business whatever, smiled in the mutual consciousness that +"sealed proposals" were as much outside their experience as +competitions were foreign to that of Grant Herman. The thought, passing +and trivial as it was, moved their sympathy a little toward the +sculptor's view of the matter, although since secretly Mr. Calvin was +determined that the commission should be given to Orin Stanton, the +fact made little difference. + +"You evidently don't want to undergo the general condemnation that has +fallen on whoever has had a share in the Boston statues thus far," Mr. +Calvin observed, glancing at Irons with a genial smile. "If you are +going to set yourself to hit the popular taste and keep yourself clear +of the claws of the critics at the same time, I fear you've a heavy +task laid out." + +"The critics always pitch into everything," Irons responded with a +growl. "It's the taste of the people I want to please. I believe in art +as a popular educator, and people can't be educated by things they +won't look at." + +"Oh, as to that," Stewart Hubbard rejoined, with a twinkle in his eye, +"conventionality is after all the consensus of the taste of mankind." + +Peter Calvin was at a loss to tell whether his friend was in earnest or +was only quizzing Irons, so he contented himself with an appreciative +look, and a smile of dazzling warmth. Irons, on the other hand, looked +toward the speaker with suspicion. + +"I haven't much sympathy with a good deal of the stuff artists talk," +he continued, following his own train of thought. "It doesn't square +very well with common sense and ain't much more than pure gassing, I +think. The truth is, genius is mostly moonshine. The man I call a +genius is the one that makes things work practically." + +"In other words," said Calvin, spurred to emulate Hubbard's epigram, +and involuntarily glancing toward the latter for approval, "you think a +genius is a man who is able to harness Pegasus to the plough, and make +him work without kicking things to pieces." + +"That's about it," Irons assented; "and I think Herman is too +toploftical and full of cranky theories. They say Mrs. Greyson has hit +the nail exactly on the head in that statue she showed in Paris last +year. That pleased the critics and the public both, and that's exactly +what we are after. I think we ought to ask her to make a design." + +Mr. Calvin saw and seized the opportunity easily to introduce his own +especial candidate. + +"If each of you have a sculptor," he said, lightly, "I can hardly do +less than to have one, too. There's an exceedingly clever fellow just +home from Rome, that I want to see given a chance. He's done some very +promising work, and I look upon him as the coming man." + +The two men regarded him with some interest, as one who has introduced +a new element into a game. Mr. Hubbard leaned back in his chair, and +sent a puff of cigar smoke floating upward, before he answered. + +"I can't enter my man for the triangular contest," said he. "He won't +go into a competition unless he's paid for making the design. He says, +in so many words, that he doesn't want the commission to make the +statue unless he can do it in his own way. He will be unhindered, or he +will let the whole thing alone." + +"For my part," Mr. Irons responded, settling himself in his chair, with +a certain air of determination, "I don't take a great deal of stock in +this letting an artist have his own way. He might put up a naked woman, +or any rubbish he happened to think of. The amount of the matter is +that it isn't such a devilish smart thing to make a figure as they try +to make out. Any man can do it that has learned the trade, and I +haven't any great amount of patience with the fuss these fellows make +over their statues." + +Neither of his companions felt inclined to enter into a general +discussion of the principles underlying art work, and, although neither +agreed with this broad statement, there was no direct response offered. +Calvin and Hubbard looked at each other, and the latter asked,-- + +"Have you any notion what Mrs. Greyson would do?" + +"No, I have never talked with her." + +"Very likely she'd give us another figure like those that are stuck all +over Boston, like pins in a pincushion," Hubbard objected. "Some +carpet-knight, with a face spread over with a grin as inane as that of +Henry Clay on a cigar-box cover." + +Irons laughed contemptuously, and rose, throwing away his cigar stub. + +"Well, I must go," he announced. "We don't seem to be getting ahead +very fast. I'll try and find out if she'll go into a competition, and +you two had better do the same with your folks. Then we shall at least +have something to go upon. The _Daily Observer_ has already begun to +ask why something isn't done, and I'd like to get the thing finished +up, myself." + +The two others rose also, and it was thereby manifest that this +unproductive sitting of the committee was at an end. + + + + +XII + + WHOM THE FATES HAVE MARKED. + Comedy of Errors; i.--1. + +Never was a man more utterly wretched than was Arthur Fenton, after the +luckless day when Mr. Irons had lighted upon the presence of Mrs. +Herman at the studio. He raged against himself, against chance, most of +all against the unmannerly and coarse-minded fellow who had forced +himself into the studio, and then persisted in imagining evil which had +never existed. He experienced all the acute anguish of finding himself +in the toils, and of the added sting from wounded vanity, since he felt +that he had been wanting in adroitness and presence of mind. It is to +be doubted if he did not suffer more than would have been the case had +the injurious suspicions of Irons been correct. To a vain man, it is +often harder to be entrapped through stupidity or awkwardness than +through crime. + +Fenton realized well enough how impossible it was now to correct the +evil that had been done. He might have explained away the fact that +Ninitta had been his model, but his own bearing under the accusation +had produced an impression not to be eradicated. The wavering before +his eyes, for a single instant, of the will-o'-the-wisp fire of sudden +temptation had blinded him, so that he had been guilty of a cursed +piece of folly, which had put him at once in the power of Irons. He +knew enough of the latter to be pretty sure that he was capable of +keeping his threat to enlighten Herman concerning his wife's visit to +the studio, and disgrace in the eyes of Herman meant more than Arthur +dared to think. Sensitive to the last fibre of his being, the artist +grew faint with exquisite pain at the thought of what he must endure +from a scandal spread among his friends. An accusation without +foundation would have been almost more than he could bear, but one +supported by such circumstantial evidence as lay behind the story Irons +would tell if he set himself to make trouble,--the bare idea drove +Fenton wild. + +Fenton had always prided himself upon his superiority to public +opinion, but without public respect he could not but be supremely +miserable. It is true that he valued his own good opinion above that of +the world. It was his theory that the ultimate appeal in matters of +conduct was always to the man's inner consciousness, and in this +highest court only the man himself could be present, all the world +being shut out. It followed that a person's own opinion of his acts was +of infinitely more weight than that of any or all other people +whosoever. + +"All standards are arbitrary," he was accustomed to say, "and all terms +are relative. Every man must make his own ethical code, and nobody but +the man himself can tell how far he lives up to it. Why should I care +whether people who do not even know what my rules of conduct are, +consider my course correct or not? Very likely the things they condemn +are the things it has cost me most struggle and self-denial to achieve. +We have outgrown old ethical systems, because the world has become +enlightened enough to perceive that every mind must make its own code; +to realize that what a man is must be his religion." + +This course of reasoning was one shared by many of Fenton's friends, +and indeed by a goodly company of nineteenth century thinkers. Fenton +was in reality only going with the majority of liberalists in regarding +sincerity to personal conviction as the highest of ethical laws; and he +was generally pretty logical in choosing the approval of his inward +knowledge to that of the world outside. Yet his vanity was keenly +sensitive to disapprobation, and when the censure of the world +coincided with the condemnation of his own reason he suffered. To +self-contempt was added a baffled sense of having been discovered; and +as his imagination now ran forward to picture the effects of Irons's +disclosure, the suffering he endured was really pitiful. + +"Nobody will understand," he said to himself one day, half in bitter +self-contempt and half in self-defence, "that I couldn't help doing as +I did; no cruelty surpasses that of holding weak and sensitive natures +accountable for shortcomings they are born incapable of avoiding." + +And having accomplished an epigram at his own expense, he felt as if he +had to some degree atoned for his fault, just as a flagellant looks +upon his self-scourging as expiatory. + +How to act in the position in which he had been placed by Irons's +insulting proposal was a question which he found more difficult to +answer than according to his theories, it should have been. When a man +becomes his own highest law he is constantly exposed to the danger of +finding his theories of conduct utterly confounded by a change in +self-interest; and Fenton began to have a most painful sense of being +ethically wholly at sea. He had not yielded to temptation, however. He +had given Stewart Hubbard a couple of sittings, and so great had been +his fear lest he should inadvertently gather from his sitter some hint +of the knowledge he had been urged to obtain, that he had half +unconsciously been reserved and silent. The picture was going badly, +and the sitter wondered what had come over the witty and vivacious +artist. + +Besides these vexations the artist had, moreover, other causes for +uneasiness at this time. His financial affairs were by no means in +satisfactory condition. He had been filling a good many orders and +getting excellent prices for his work, yet somehow he had been all the +year running behindhand. He lived beyond his means, priding himself +upon being the one Boston artist who had been born, bred, and educated +a gentleman, as he chose to put it to himself, and who was able to live +as a man of the world should. His summer had been passed at Newport, a +place which Edith by no means liked, and where her ideas of propriety +and religion were constantly offended, especially in regard to the +sanctity of marriage. He entertained sumptuously, spent money freely at +the clubs, and, in a word, tried to be no less a man of fashion than an +artist. + +The result was beginning to be disastrous. Living pretty closely up to +his income, a few losses and a speculation or two which turned out +unlucky, were sufficient to embarrass him seriously. It was the old +trite and dreary story of extravagance and its inevitable consequence; +and as Fenton had no talent for finance, his struggles rather made +matters worse than bettered them, as the efforts of a fly to escape +from the web, even although they may damage the net, are apt to end +also in binding the victim more securely. + +The truth was that the painter, like many another man endowed with +imaginative gifts, had little practical knowledge of affairs beyond a +talent for spending money; and it is amazing how stupid a clever man +can contrive to be when he is taken out of his sphere. For such men +there is no safety save in keeping out of debt, and once the balance +was on the wrong side of his account, Fenton, self-poised as he was, +lost his head. It troubled and worried him to be in debt even when he +could see his way clear to paying everything, and now that matters +began to get too complicated to be settled by plain and obvious +arithmetic, he was miserable. + +In the midst of these unhappy complications, he was one morning working +upon the portrait of Miss Damaris Wainwright, whose cousin and aunts, +the Dimmonts, had induced her to have it painted, although she was in +deep mourning. He was interested in the lovely, melancholy girl, and he +felt that he was doing some of the best work of his life in her +portrait. He sometimes was proud of his skill, and at others he was +unreasonably vexed that this picture should be so much better than that +of Mr. Hubbard promised to be. + +He had been talking this morning half-absently, and merely for the sake +of keeping his sitter interested. He had not noticed that her whole +being was keyed up to a pitch of intense feeling, and he had almost +unconsciously accomplished the really difficult task of putting his +sitter at her ease and making her ready to talk. + +Suddenly, after a brief silence, she said,--"You provoke confidences." + +Some note in her voice and the closeness of connection between her +words and the thought in his own mind that he certainly must be able to +do what Irons asked, arrested Fenton's attention. + +"Yes," he returned, his air of sincerely meaning what he said being by +no means wholly unreal; "that is because I am unworthy of them." + +Miss Wainwright smiled. The self-detraction seemed delicate, and the +unexpectedness of the reply amused her. + +"That is perhaps a modest thing to say, Mr. Fenton," she responded, +"but the truth must be--if you'll pardon my saying anything so +personal--that you are very sympathetic." + +The artist moved backward a step from his easel, regarding his work +with that half-shutting of the eyes and turning of the head which seems +to be an essential of professional inspection. + +"Even so," persisted he, "a sympathetic person is one whose emotions +are fickle enough to give place to whatever others any sudden accident +brings up; and if one's feelings are so transient, how can he be worthy +of confidence?" + +"I can't argue with you," Damaris replied, smiling and shaking her +head, "but all the same I don't agree with what you say." + +"Oh, I hoped you wouldn't when I said it," Fenton threw back lightly. + +He went on with his work, outwardly tranquil, as if he had no thought +beyond the perfect shading of the cheek he was painting; but his mind +was in a tumult. He thought how easy it is to deceive; how constantly, +indeed, we do deceive whether we will or no; how foolish it is to rule +our lives by standards which rest so largely on mere seeming; how--Bah! +Why should he pretend to himself? He was not really concerned with +generalities or great moral principles. He was trying to decide whether +he should worm a secret out of Hubbard to throw as a sop to that vile +cursed cad, Irons, to keep his foul mouth shut about Ninitta. Heavens! +What a tangle he had got into simply because he wanted a decent model +for his picture! The abominable prudery and hypocrisy of the time lay +behind the whole matter. But this would never do. He must work now; not +think of these exciting things. It was hardly a brief moment before to +his last words he added aloud,-- + +"Did what you said mean that I was to be favored with a confidence?" + +A painful, deep problem was weighing upon her heart, wearing away her +reason and her life alike. She had almost been ready to ask advice of +the artist, although she by no means knew him well enough to render so +intimate a conversation other than strange. + +"Not necessarily," was her reply to Fenton's question. + +She found it after all impossible to utter anything definite upon the +subject which lay so near her heart. She even felt a dim wonder whether +she had really ever seriously contemplated speaking of it, even never +so remotely. + +"I was thinking," she continued, "of the point the conversation had +reached this morning when I left my friend at the door downstairs." + +"It was some great moral problem, I think you said," Fenton responded, +trying to recall accurately what she had told him earlier in the +sitting of a talk she had had with a friend on her way to the studio. +"The object of life, or something of that sort. Well, the object of +life is to endure life, I suppose, just as the object of time is to +kill time." + +"We had got so far in our talk as to decide," Miss Wainwright went on, +too much absorbed in recalling the interview she was relating to notice +the painter's words, "he decided, that is, not I--that the only thing +to do is to enjoy the present and to let the future go; but I object +that one cannot help dreading what might come." + +She spoke, of course, solely with reference to her own inner +experiences, but Fenton, with the egotism which is universal to +humanity, received the words in their application to his own case. If +he could but determine what would come, he might decide how to act in +this hard present. Yet, whatever that future might be, he must at any +cost extricate himself from this coil which pressed so cruelly upon him. + +"Even so he would be right," he answered her words. "Happiness in this +world consists, at best, in a choice of evils, and at least one may +make of the present a sauce _piquante_ to cover the flavor of the dread +of the future." + +"You take a more desperate view of the matter than my friend," Miss +Wainwright said, sighing bitterly. "His only fear is that I shall lose +everything by not making sure of whatever present happiness is +possible." + +Fenton glanced at her curiously, aware no less from her tone and manner +than from her words that the conversation was touching her as well as +himself through some keen personal experience. A feeling of sharp and +irritating remorse stung him from the thought that he, whose whole +sensuous nature strove for selfish joyousness in life, was discussing +this question from his own standpoint, while the pale, lovely girl +before him was regarding the whole problem from the high plane of duty. +Instinctively he set himself to justify his position against hers; to +demonstrate that his Pagan, selfish philosophy was the true guide. + +"Oh," he cried out with sudden vehemence, waving his palette with a +gesture of supreme impatience, "I do take a desperate view! Life is +desperate, and the most absurd of all the multitudinous ways of making +it worse is to waste the present in dreading the future. I've no +patience with the notion that seems to be so many people's creed, that +we can do nothing nobler than to be as miserable as possible. It is a +dreadful remainder of that awful malady of Puritanism. Besides, where +is the logic of supposing we shall be better prepared for any +misfortune that may come if we can only contrive to dread it enough +beforehand. Good heavens! We all need whatever strength we can get from +happiness whenever it comes, as much as a plant needs the sunshine +while it lasts. You wouldn't prepare a delicate plant for cloudy days +by keeping it in the shadow; and I think one is simply an idiot who +keeps in the shade to accustom himself to-day after to-morrow's storm." + +His excitement increased as he went on. He was arguing against the +coward sense that he had deserved the troubles which had come upon him. +He was saying in as plain language as the conditions of the +conversation would allow, that he had been right in gratifying his +desires; in living as he wished without too closely considering the +consequences which were likely to follow. He spoke with a bitter +earnestness born of the intense strain under which he was laboring; and +he did not consider how his words might or might not affect his hearer. +The thought came into his mind how he had deliberately sacrificed his +convictions in marrying Edith Caldwell and going over to Philistinism; +and he reflected that this decision had shaped his life. Already his +course was determined; it was idle to ignore the fact. + +Why should he hesitate from squeamish scruples to do what Irons asked +when to meet the consequences of the latter's anger would not only be +supremely disagreeable but contrary to his whole theory of life? + +It was one of Fenton's peculiarities that he never knowingly shrank +from telling himself the truth about his thoughts and actions with the +most brutal frankness. Indeed, it might not be too much to say that +this self-honesty was a sort of fetish to which he made expiatory +sacrifices in the shape of the most cruelly disagreeable admissions +before his inner consciousness. He constantly settled his moral +accounts by setting down on the credit side "Self-contempt to balance," +a method of mental bookkeeping by no means rare, albeit seldom carried +on in connection with such clear powers of moral discrimination as +Fenton possessed when he chose to exercise them. + +"If you chance on ill-luck," he ran on, arguing aloud with himself +concerning the possible consequences of betraying Mr. Hubbard's trust, +"you'll be glad you were happy while it was possible; and if the fates +make you the one person in a million, by letting you get through life +decently, you surely can't think it would be better to spend it moping +until you are incapable of enjoying anything." + +The form of his speech was still that of one talking simply from the +point of view of his hearer. It did not for a moment occur to Damaris +Wainwright that in all he had said there had been anything but a +perfectly disinterested discussion of the principles involved in her +own questions and in her own perplexities. Yet, as a matter of fact, +his words were but the surface indications of the conflict going on in +his own mind. He was arguing down his disinclination to accept the +obvious and dishonorable means of escaping from an unpleasant position; +he was fighting against the better instincts of his nature, and trying +to convince himself that the easy course was the one to be chosen, the +one logically following from the conclusions forced upon him by his +study of life. + +"But duty!" she interposed, rather timidly, as he paused. + +She was confused by his persistent ignoring of all the standards by +which she was accustomed to judge, and she threw out the question as +one in desperation brings forward a last argument, half foreseeing that +it will be useless. + +"Duty!" he echoed, fiercely. "Life is an outrage, and what duty can +take precedence of righting it as far as we can. That old fool of a +Ruskin--I beg your pardon, Miss Wainwright, if you're fond of him--did +manage to say a sensible thing when he told a boarding-school full of +girls that their first duty was to want to dance. To allow that there +is any duty above making the best of life is a species of moral +suicide." + +She looked at him with an expression of profoundest feeling. She was +too little used to arguments of this sort to discern that the whole +matter was involved in the definition one gave to the phrase "The best +of life," and that to assume that this meant mere selfish or sensuous +enjoyment, was to beg the whole question. She was carried away by the +dramatic fashion in which he ended, dashing down his palette and +throwing himself into a chair. + +"There!" he exclaimed, with an air of whimsical impatience. "Now I've +got so excited that I can't paint! That's what comes of having +convictions." The struggle was over. He brushed all doubts and +questions aside. There was but one thing to do, and, disagreeable as it +might be, he must accept the situation. The mention of the word "duty" +reminded him that he had long ago settled in his own mind the folly of +being bound down by superstitions masquerading under grand names as +ethical principles. The duty of self-preservation was above all others. +He must defend himself, no matter if he did violate the principles by +which fools allowed their lives to be narrowed and hampered. He would +set himself to work upon Hubbard to-morrow, and get this unpleasant +thing over. + +His sitter came down from the dais upon which she had been sitting, and +held out her hand. + +"You have decided my life for me," she said, in a low voice, "and I +thank you." + +Those who knew her perplexities had argued with her in vain; and this +stranger, talking to his own inner self, had said the final word which +had moved her to a conclusion they had not been able to force upon her. + +He looked up with a smile, as he pressed her hand, but he said nothing; +refraining from adding, as he might have done truthfully,-- + +"And I have decided my own." + + + + +XIII + + THIS "WOULD" CHANGES. + Hamlet; iv.--7. + +Melissa Blake was growing paler in these days, worn with the ache of a +hurt love. Since the night on which he had parted from her in anger, +John had been to see her only on brief errands which he could not well +avoid, and while he had made no allusion to the difference which +separated them, it was evident that he still brooded over his fancied +grievance. + +This phase of John's character, its least amiable characteristic, which +marred it amid many excellent qualities, was not wholly unknown to +Melissa. She was by far the more clear-headed of the two, and she +understood her lover with much greater acuteness than he was able to +bring to the task of comprehending her. It was from intelligent +perception and not merely from the feminine instinct for making +excuses, that she said to herself that John was worn out with the +strain of burdens long and uncomplainingly borne; and she was, it might +be added, near enough to the primitive savagery of the rustic New +Englanders of the last generation, to find it perfectly a matter of +course that a man should make of his womenfolk a sort of scapegoat upon +whom to visit his wrath against the sins alike of fate and of his +fellows. + +She waited for John to relent from his unjust anger, but she did not +protest, and when he chose once more to be gracious unto his handmaiden +he would be met only with faithful affection and with no reproaches. +From the abstract standpoint, nothing could be farther astray than the +fulness and freedom of Milly's forgivenesses; practically, this +illogical feminine weakness made life easier and happier, not alone for +everybody about her, but for herself as well. Doubtless such a yielding +disposition tempted her lover to injustices he would never have +ventured with a more spirited woman, but after all her forgiveness was +so divine as almost to turn the transgression into a virtue for causing +it. + +When the account of Milly's life was made up, there must be put into +the record long, wordless stretches of uncomplaining and prayerful +patience, hidden from the eyes of all mankind. The capabilities of +women of this sort for quiet suffering are as infinitely pathetic as +they are measureless; and, although she was silent, the dark rings +under her eyes and the lagging step told how her sorrow was wearing +upon her. She went on faithfully with her work; she held still to the +faith that somehow help was sure to come; and as only such women can +be, she was patient with the patience of a god. + +Milly was surprised one afternoon by a visit from Orin Stanton, the +half brother of John. The sculptor had never before come to see her, +and, although Milly was little given to censoriousness, she could not +avoid the too-obvious reflection that, in one known to be so +consistently self-seeking as was Orin, the probability was that some +selfish motive lay behind the call. Orin had never been especially fond +of Milly, and since his return from Europe, where he had been +maintained by the liberality of an old lady, who, in a summer visit to +Feltonville, had been attracted by his talent for modelling in clay, he +had avoided as far as possible all intercourse with his townspeople. +The old lady, who took much innocent pleasure in imagining herself the +patroness of a future Phidias, died suddenly one day, leaving the will +by which provision was made for young Stanton's future unhappily +without signature; a fact which ever after furnished him with definite +grounds upon which to found his accusations against society and fate. + +It was largely in virtue of this interesting and pathetic story that +Mrs. Frostwinch and Mrs. Bodewin Ranger had taken it upon themselves to +better the fortunes of Stanton. Large-hearted ladies in Boston, as +elsewhere in the world, find no difficulty in discovering signs of +genius in a work of art where they deliberately look for it; and being +moved by the sculptor's history,--in which, to say sooth, there was +nothing remarkable, and, save the disappointment in regard to the will, +little that was even striking--his patronesses were not slow in coming +to regard his productions with admiration curiously resembling +momentary veneration. They in a mild way instituted a Stanton cult, as +a minor interest in lives already richly full, and when more weighty +matters did not interfere, Mrs. Frostwinch, in varying degrees of +enthusiasm, could be charming in her praises of the sculptor, whom she +designated as "adorably ursine," and of his work, which in turn, she +termed "irresistibly insistent," whatever that might mean. + +Bearish, Orin Stanton certainly was, whether one did or did not find +the quality adorable. He was heavy in mould, with a face marked by none +of the delicacy one expects in an artist and to which his small eyes +and thick lips lent a sensual cast. Milly had always found his +countenance repulsive, strongly as she strove not to be affected by +mere outward appearances. He wore his hair long, its coarse, reddish +masses showing conspicuously in a crowd, when he got to going about +among such people as hunt lions in Boston. + +Mrs. Bodewin Ranger patronized him from afar, and could not be brought +to invite him to her house. + +"Really, my dear," the beautiful old lady said to her husband; "it +seems to me that people are not wise in asking Mr. Stanton about so +much. It only unsettles him, and he should be left to associate with +persons in his own class." + +"I quite agree with you," her husband replied, as he had replied to +every proposition she had advanced for the half century of their +married life. + +Mrs. Frostwinch was less rigid. It is somewhat the fashion of the more +exclusive of the younger circles of Boston to make a more or less +marked display of a democracy which is far more apparent than real. +Partly from the genuine and affected respect for culture and talent +which is so characteristic of the town, and partly from some remnants +of the foolish superstition that the persons who produce interesting +works of art must themselves be interesting, the social leaders of the +town are, as a rule, not unwilling to receive into a sort of +lay-brotherhood those who are gifted with talent or genius. No fashion +of place or hour, however, can change the essential facts of life; and +it is perhaps quite as much the incompatibility of aim, of purpose in +life, as any instinctive arrogance on either side, that makes any +intimate union impossible. It is inevitable that members of any +exclusive circle shall regard others concerning whose admission there +has been question with some shade of more or less conscious patronage, +and sensitive men of genius are very likely as conscious of "the pale +spectrum of the salt" as was Mrs. Browning's poet Bertram, invited into +company where he did not belong, because it was socially too high and +intellectually and humanely too low. The members of what is awkwardly +called fashionable society are too thoroughly trained in the knowledge +of the principles of birth, wealth, and mutual recognition upon which +their order is founded, to be likely to lose sight of the fact that +artists and authors and actors, not possessing, however great their +cleverness in other directions, these especial qualifications, can only +be received into the charmed ring on sufferance; and nothing could be +more absurd or illogical than to blame them for recognizing this fact. + +Mrs. Frostwinch, at least, was in no danger of forgetting where she +stood in relation to such lions as she invited to her house. She +understood accurately how to be gracious and yet to keep them in their +place. Indeed, she did this instinctively, so thoroughly was she imbued +with the spirit of her class. She did not open her doors to many people +on the score of their talent, and least of all did she encourage lions +of appearance so coarse and uncouth as Orin Stanton. She found the role +of lady patroness amusing, however, and, although she would not have +put the sculptor's name on the lists of guests for a dinner or an +evening reception, she did invite him to a Friday afternoon, when she +knew Stewart Hubbard was likely to be present; and a glowing knowledge +of this honor was in Orin's mind when he went to call on Melissa. + +"I've no doubt you're surprised to see me," Orin said, brusquely, as he +seated himself, still in his overcoat. "The truth is, I don't run round +a great deal, and if I do, it's where it will do me some good." + +Milly smiled to herself. She was not without a sense of humor. + +"Naturally, I don't expect you to waste your time on me," she answered. +"You must be very busy, and I suppose you have lots of engagements." + +"Oh, of course," he returned, with an obvious thrill of +self-satisfaction. "The Boston women are always interested in art, and +I could keep going all the time, if I had a mind to. I'm going to Mrs. +Frostwinch's to-morrow. She wants to introduce me to Mr. Hubbard, one +of the committee on the new statue." + +To Orin's disappointment this fact seemed to make little impression +upon Milly, who was far too ignorant of Boston's social distinctions to +realize that an invitation to one of Mrs. Frostwinch's Fridays was an +honor greatly to be coveted. + +"I am glad if people are interesting themselves in your work, Orin," +she said, with a manner she tried not to make formal. + +She had never been able to like Orin, and since the time when he had +not only utterly refused to share with John the burden of their +father's debts but had scoffed at what he called his brother's "idiocy" +in paying them, Milly had found comfort in having a definite and +legitimate excuse for disliking him. She regarded him as greatly +gifted; in the eyes of Feltonville people, Orin's talents, since they +had received the sanction of substantial patronage, had loomed into +greatness somewhat absurdly disproportionate to their actual value. She +was not insensible of the honor of being connected, as the betrothed of +John, with so distinguished a man as she felt Orin to be; but she +neither liked nor trusted him. + +"Oh, there are some people in Boston who know a good thing when they +see it," the young man responded, intuitively understanding that here +he need not take the trouble to affect any artificial modesty. "It's +about that that I came to talk to you." + +"About--I don't think I understand." + +"I want your help." + +"My help? How can I help you?" + +The sculptor tossed his hat into a chair, and leaned forward, tapping +on one broad, thick palm with the fingers of the other hand. + +"They tell me," he said, "that you know Mrs. Fenton pretty well; Arthur +Fenton's wife,--he's an awful snob, I hate him." + +"Mrs. Fenton has been very kind to me," Milly responded, involuntarily +shrinking a little, and speaking guardedly. + +"Well, put it any way you like. If she's interested in you, that's all +I want," Stanton went on, in his rough way. "You'll have a pull on her +through the church racket, I suppose." + +Melissa looked at him with pain and disgust in her eyes. She always +shrank from Orin's rough coarseness; and she always felt helpless +before him. She made no reply, but played nervously with the pen she +had laid down upon his entrance. He regarded her curiously. + +"You see," he said, with a clumsy attempt at easy familiarity, "Mrs. +Fenton's a niece of Mr. Calvin, who is on the statue committee. Mrs. +Frostwinch says Mr. Calvin's the man who has most influence in the +committee, and it occurred to me that it would be a good thing if you'd +put Mrs. Fenton up to taking my part with Calvin. You see," he +continued, in an offhand manner, "artists don't get any show nowadays +unless they keep their eyes open, and I mean to be wide awake. I'm +ready to do a good turn, too, for anybody that helps me. John told me +the other day that you and he had had a row, and if you can do me a +good turn in this, I may be able to pay you by smoothing John down." + +Milly flushed painfully. Her delicacy was outraged, but, too, her +combative instinct was roused to defend her lover. + +"John and I haven't quarrelled," she said, in a voice a little raised; +"he is worried about the debts and that makes him out of sorts, +sometimes, that is all." + +A look of shrewd cunning came into Orin's narrow eyes. He suspected the +allusion to John's determination to clear his father's memory from +dishonor to be a clever device to win a concession from him. He looked +upon the remark as a statement from Milly of the price of her aid. + +"If I get this commission," he said, watching the effect of his words, +"I shall be in a position to help John pay off those debts, and I shall +tell him he has you to thank for my helping him out in his +foolishness,--for it is foolishness to waste money on dead debts." + +A glad light sprang into Milly's face. She was too childlike to suspect +the thought which led Orin to make this proffer, and the hope of having +John aided at once and of being able to contribute to the bringing +about of this result, made her heart beat joyfully. "You know how glad +I shall be if I can help you," she said quickly. "I will speak to Mrs. +Fenton when I see her to-morrow; though I do not see what good I can do +you," her honesty forced her to add, with sudden self-distrust. + +"Oh, you just put in and do your level best," Orin responded, with the +smile which Mrs. Frostwinch had once called his "deplorably Satanic +grin," "and it is sure to come out all right. There are other wires +being pulled." + + + + +XIV + + THE SHOT OF ACCIDENT. + Othello; iv.--I. + +It was not often that Arthur Fenton permitted himself to be +ill-tempered at home. He had too keen an appreciation of good taste to +allow his dark humors to vent themselves upon the heads of those with +whom he lived. + +"A man is to be excused for being cross abroad," he was wont to +observe, "but only a brute is peevish at home." + +On the morning following his conversation with Damaris Wainwright, +however, he was decidedly out of sorts, and proved but ill company for +his wife at the breakfast table. She ventured some simple remark in +relation to a plan which Mr. Candish had for the re-decoration of the +Church of the Nativity, and her husband retorted with an open sneer. + +"Oh, don't talk about Mr. Candish to me," he said. "He is that obsolete +thing, a clergyman." + +"I supposed," Edith responded good-naturedly, "that a question of +artistic decoration would interest you, even if it was connected with a +church." + +"I hate anything connected with a religion," Fenton observed savagely. +"A religion is simply an artificial scheme of life, to be followed at +the expense of all harmony with nature." + +It was evident to Edith that her husband was nervous and irritable, and +with wifely protective instinct she attributed his condition to +overwork. She did not take up the challenge which he in a manner flung +down. She seldom argued with him now; she cast about in her mind for a +safe topic of conversation, and, by ill-luck, hit upon the one least +calculated to restore Arthur to good humor and a sane temper. + +"Helen was in last evening," she said. "She is troubled about Ninitta; +but I think it is because she isn't used to her ways." + +Fenton started guiltily. + +"What about Ninitta?" he demanded. + +"Helen says she acts strangely, as if she had something on her mind; +and that she complains bitterly that her husband doesn't care for her." + +Arthur shrugged his shoulders. He was on his guard now, and perfectly +self-possessed. + +"No?" he said, inquiringly. "Why should he?" + +"Why should he?" echoed his wife indignantly. Then she recovered +herself, and let the question pass, saying simply: "That would lead us +into one of our old discussions about right and wrong." + +"Those struggles and quibbles between right and wrong," Fenton retorted +contemptuously, "have ceased to amuse me. They were interesting when I +was young enough for them to have novelty, but now I find grand +passions and a strong will more entertaining than that form of +amusement." + +Edith raised her clear eyes to his with a calmness which she had +learned by years of patient struggle. + +"And yet," she answered, "the people whom I have found most true, most +helpful, and even most comfortable, have been those who believed these +questions of right and wrong the most vital things in the universe." + +"Oh, certainly," was the reply. "A superstition is an admirable thing +in its place." + +He rose from the table as he spoke, and stood an instant with his hand +upon the back of his chair, looking at her in apparent indecision. She +saw that he was troubled, and she longed to help him, but she had +learned that his will was definite and unmanageable, and she secretly +feared that her inquiry would be fruitless when she asked,-- + +"What is it that troubles you this morning, Arthur? Has anything gone +wrong?" + +"Things are always wrong," replied he. Then, with seeming irrelevance, +he added: "People are so illogical! They so insist that a man shall +think in the beaten rut. They are angry because I don't like the taste +of life. Good Heavens! Why haven't I the same right to dislike life +that I have to hate sweet champagne? If other people want to live and +to drink Perrier Jouet, I am perfectly willing that they should, but, +for my own part, I don't want one any more than the other." + +What he said sounded to Edith like one of the detached generalities he +was fond of uttering, and if she had learned that beneath his seemingly +irrelevant words always lay a connecting thread of thought, she had +learned also that she could seldom hope to discover what this cord +might be. To understand his words, now, it would have been necessary +for her to be aware of the net spread for him by Irons, the struggle in +his mind as he talked with Miss Wainwright, and the effort he was now +making to bring himself up to the firmness needed for the important +interview with Mr. Hubbard which lay before him. In the sleepless hours +of the night, Fenton had gone over the ground again and again; he had +painted to himself the baseness of the thing he meant to do, and all +his instincts of loyalty, of taste, of good-breeding, rose against it; +but none the less did he cling doggedly to his determination. His +purpose never wavered. His decision had been made, and this summing up +of the cost did not shake him; it only made him miserable by the keen +appreciation it brought him of the bitter humiliation fate--for so he +viewed it--was heaping upon his head. + +The strength and weakness which are often mingled in one character, +like the iron and clay in the image of the prophet's vision, make the +most surprising of the many strange paradoxes of human life. Fenton was +sensuous, selfish, yielding, yet he possessed a tenacity of purpose, a +might of will, which nothing could shake. He looked across the table +now, at his sweet-faced, clear-eyed wife, with a dreadful sense of her +purity, her honor, her remoteness; it cut him to the quick to think +that the breach of trust he had in view would fill her mind with +loathing; yet the possibility of therefore abandoning his purpose did +not occur to him. Indeed, such was his nature, that it might be said +that the possibility of abandoning his deliberately formed intention, +on this or on any other grounds, did not for him exist. + +It was one of the peculiarities which he shared with many sensitive and +sensuous natures, that his first thought in any unpleasant situation +was always a reflection upon the bitterness of existence. He always +thought of the laying down of life as the easiest method of escape from +any disagreeable dilemma. He was infected with the distaste of life, +that disease which is seldom fatal, yet which in time destroys all save +life alone. He thought now how he hated living, and the inevitable +reflection came after, how easy it were to get out of the coil of +humanity. A faint smile of bitterness curled his lips as he recalled a +remark which Helen Greyson had once quoted to him as having been made +of him by her dead husband. "He'll want to kill himself, but he won't. +He's too soft-hearted, and he'd never forget other people and their +opinions." He had acknowledged to himself that this was true, and he +wondered whether Mrs. Greyson appreciated its justice. + +The thought of Helen brought up the old days when he had been so +frankly her friend that he had told her everything that was in his +heart except those things which vanity bade him conceal lest he fall in +her estimation. + +It was so long since he had known a friend on those intimate terms +under which it makes no especial difference what is said, since even in +silence the understanding is perfect, and the pleasure of talking +depends chiefly on the exchange of the signs of complete mutual +comprehension, that the old days appealed to him with wonderful power. +There is an immeasurable and soothing restfulness in such intercourse, +especially to a man like Fenton, in whom exists an inner necessity +always to say something when he talks; and as he recalled them now, +something almost a sob rose in Arthur's throat. Many men suppose +themselves to be cultivating their intellect when they are only, by the +gratification of their tastes, quickening their susceptibilities; and +Fenton's whole self-indulged existence had resulted chiefly in +rendering him more sensitive to the discomforts of a universe in the +making of which other things had been considered besides his pleasure. + +He looked across the breakfast table at his wife. He noted with +appreciation the beautiful line of her cheek outlined against the dark +leather of the wall behind her. He felt a twinge of remorse for coming +so far short of her ideal of him. He knew how resolutely she refused to +see his worst side, and he reflected with philosophy half bitter and +half contemptuous, that no woman ever lived who could wholly outgrow +the feeling that to believe or to disbelieve a thing must in some +occult way affect its truth. At least she had fulfilled all the +unspoken promises, so much more important than vows put into words +could be, with which she had married him. A remorseful feeling came +over his mind, and instantly followed the instinctive self-excuse that +she could never suffer as keenly as he suffered, no matter how greatly +he disappointed her. + +"People are to be envied or pitied," he said aloud, "not for their +circumstances, but for their temperaments." + +Edith looked up inquiringly. He went round to where she was sitting, +smiling to think how far she must be from divining his thought. + +"I stayed at the club too late last night," he said, stooping to kiss +her smooth white forehead in an unenthusiastic, habitual way which +always stung her. "Some of the fellows insisted upon my playing poker, +and I got so excited that I didn't sleep when I did get to bed." + +Edith sighed, but she made no useless remonstrances. + +Walking down to his studio, carefully dressed, faultlessly booted and +gloved, and, as Tom Bently was accustomed to say, "too confoundedly +well groomed for an artist," Fenton tried in vain to determine how he +should manage the important conversation with Mr. Hubbard. He had +racked his brains in the night in vain attempts to solve this problem, +but in the end he was forced to leave everything for chance or +circumstances to decide. + +When Stewart Hubbard sat before him, Fenton was conscious of a tingling +excitement in every vein, but outwardly he was only the more calm. A +close observer might have noticed a nervous quickness in his movements, +and a certain shrillness in his voice, but the sitter gave no heed to +these tokens, which he would have regarded as of no importance had he +seen them. The talk was at first rather rambling, and was not kept up +with much briskness on either side. Fenton, indeed, was so absorbed in +the task which lay before him that he hardly followed the other's +remarks, and he suddenly became aware that he had lost the thread of +conversation altogether, so that he could not possibly imagine what the +connection was when Hubbard observed,-- + +"Yes, it is certainly the hardest thing in the world for one being to +comprehend another." + +Fenton rallied his wits quickly, and retorted with no apparent +hesitation,-- + +"It is so. Probably a cat couldn't possibly understand how a human +mother can properly bring up a child when she has no tail for her +offspring to play with." + +"That wasn't exactly what I meant," the other returned, laughing; "but +what a fellow you are to give an unexpected turn to things." + +"Do you think so?" the artist said. Then, with a painful feeling of +tightness about the throat, and a soberness of tone which he could not +prevent, he added,--"That is a reason why I have always felt that I was +one of those comparatively rare persons whom wealth would adorn, if +somebody would only show me an investment to get rich on." + +"You are one of those still rarer persons who would adorn wealth," Mr. +Hubbard retorted, ignoring the latter part of the artist's remark. +"Only that you are so astonishingly outspoken, that you might cause a +revolution if you had Vanderbilt's millions to add weight to your +words. It doesn't do to be too honest." + +The sigh which left Fenton's lips was almost one of relief, although he +felt that this first attempt to turn the talk into financial channels +had failed. + +"No," he replied. "Civilized honesty consists largely in making the +truth convey a false impression, so that one is saved a lie in words +while telling one in effect." + +"It is strange how we cling to that old idea that as long as the letter +of what we say is true it is no matter if the spirit be false," was Mr. +Hubbard's response. "I thought of it yesterday at the meeting of the +committee on the statue, when we were all sitting there trying to get +the better of each other by telling true falsehoods." + +"How does the statue business come on?" Fenton asked. + +"Not very fast. I am sure I wish I was out of it. America always was a +trouble, and this time is no exception to the rule." + +"I hope," Arthur said, speaking with more seriousness, "that Grant +Herman will be given the commission. He's all and away the best man." + +He had secretly a feeling that he was putting an item on the credit +side of his account with the sculptor in urging his fitness for this +work. + +"It is hard to do anything with Calvin and Irons. I've always been for +Herman, but I don't mind telling you in confidence that I stand alone +on the committee." + +"Isn't there any way of helping things on? Wouldn't a petition from the +artists do some good?" + +"It might. But if you get up one don't let me know. I'd rather be able +to say that I had no knowledge of it if it came before us." + +Fenton smiled and continued his painting. With a thrill half of +triumph, half of rage, he became aware that he was this morning +succeeding admirably in getting just the likeness he wanted in the +sitter's portrait. He had feared lest his excitement should render him +unfit for work, but it had, on the contrary, spurred him up to unusual +effectiveness. The thought came into his mind of the price at which he +was buying this skill, and it was characteristic that the reflection +which followed was that at least, if he caused Hubbard to lose money by +betraying the secret he hoped to get from him, he was, to a degree, +repaying him by painting a portrait which could under no other +circumstances be so good. + +It was no less characteristic of Fenton's mental habits that he looked +upon himself as having committed the crime against his sitter which had +yet to be carried out. In his logic, the legitimate, however distorted, +legacy from Puritan ancestors, the sin lay in the determination; and he +would have held himself almost as guilty had circumstances at this +moment freed him from the disagreeable necessity of going on with his +attempt. Doubtless in this fact lay in part the explanation of the +firmness of his purpose. He would still have suffered in self-respect, +since abandonment of his plan, even if voluntary, would not alter the +fact that he had in intention been guilty. He would have said that +theoretically there was no difference between intention and commission, +and however casuists might reason, he took a curious delight in being +scrupulously exacting with himself in his moral requirements, the fact +that he held himself in his actions practically above such +considerations naturally making this less difficult than it otherwise +would have been. Every man has his private ethical methods, and this +was the way in which Arthur Fenton's mind held itself in regard to that +right of which he often denied the existence. + +"I suppose," he remarked at length, with deliberate intent of +entrapping Hubbard into some inadvertent betrayal of his secret, "that +you business men have no sort of an idea how ignorant a man of my +profession can be in regard to business. I had a note this morning from +a broker whom I've been having help me a little in a sort of infantile +attempt at stock gambling, and he advises me to find a financial +kindergarten and attend it." + +"I dare say he is right," the other returned, smiling. "You had better +beware of stock gambling, if you are not desirous of ending your days +in a poorhouse." + +"But what can one do? It is only the men of large experience and so +much capital that they do not need it who have a chance at safe +investments." + +He felt that he was bungling horribly, but he knew no other way of +getting on in his attempt. He was terrified by the openness of his +tactics. It seemed to him that any man must be able to perceive what he +was driving at, but he desperately assured himself that after all +Hubbard could not possibly have any reason to suspect him of a design +of pumping him. + +"Oh, there are plenty of safe investments," the sitter said, as if the +matter were one of no great moment. Then, looking at his watch, he +added, "I must go in fifteen minutes. I have an engagement." + +Fenton dared not risk another direct trial, but he skirted about the +subject on which his thoughts were fixed. His attempts, however, though +ingenious, were fruitless; and he saw Hubbard step down from the dais +where he posed, with a baffled sense of having failed utterly. + +"The country is really beginning to look quite spring-like," he said, +as he stood by while his sitter put on his overcoat. + +He spoke in utter carelessness, simply to avoid a silence which would +perhaps seem a little awkward; but the shot of accident hit the mark at +which his careful aim had been vain. + +"Yes, it is," the other responded. "I was out of town with Staggchase +yesterday, looking at some meadows we talk of buying for a factory +site, and I was surprised to see how forward things are." + +Yesterday Mrs. Staggchase had casually mentioned to Fred Rangely that +her husband had gone to Feltonville; and at the St. Filipe Club in the +evening, as they were playing poker, Rangely had excused the absence of +Mr. Staggchase, who was to be of the party, by telling this fact. + +After Hubbard was gone, Fenton stood half dizzy with mingled exultation +and shame. He exulted in his victory, but he felt as if he had +committed murder. + +And that evening Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson received a note from Mr. +Irons, in which Feltonville was mentioned. + + + + +XV + + LIKE COVERED FIRE. + Much Ado about Nothing; iii.--2. + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson was playing a somewhat difficult game, and +she was playing it well. She was entertaining Mr. Greenfield, the +Feltonville member, and she had also as a casual guest for the evening, +Mr. Erastus Snaffle, and successfully to work the one off against the +other was a task from which the cleverest of society women might be +excused for shrinking, even had it been presented to her in terms of +her own circle. + +Greenfield was an honest, straightforward countryman; big, and rather +burly, with a clear eye and a curling chestnut beard. He was a man at +once of great force of character, and of singular simplicity. He +exerted a vast influence in his country neighborhood in virtue of the +respect inspired by his invincible integrity, a certain shrewdness +which was the more effective at short range from the fact that it was +really narrow in its spread, and perhaps most of all of his bluff, +demonstrative kindliness. Tom Greenfield's hearty laugh and cordial +handshake had won him more votes than many a more able man has been +able to secure by the most thorough acquaintance with the questions and +interests with which election would make it the duty of a man to be +concerned; but it must be added that no man ever used his influence +more disinterestedly and honestly, or more conscientiously fulfilled +the duties of his position, as he understood them. + +Such a man was peculiarly likely to become the victim of a woman like +Mrs. Sampson. The plea of relationship on which she had sought his +acquaintance disarmed suspicion at the outset. His country manners were +familiar with family ties as a genuine bond, and he had no reason +whatever to suppose that any ulterior motive was possible to this woman +who affected to be so ignorant of politics and public business. + +In the weeks which had elapsed since her interview with Alfred Irons, +Mrs. Sampson had been making the most of the fraction of the season +which remained to her. She had offered excuses which Greenfield's +simple soul found satisfactory why she had not sought her cousin's +acquaintance early in the winter, and the very irksomeness of the +enforced absence from his country home which seized him as spring came +on, made him the more susceptible to the blandishments of the mature +siren who, with cunning art, was meshing her nets about him. + +He had quite fallen into the habit of passing his unoccupied evenings +with the widow, and she in turn had denied herself to some of her +familiar friends on occasions when she had reason to expect him. Had +she known he was likely to come this evening, she would have taken care +to guard against his meeting with Snaffle; but as that gentleman was +first in the field, she had her choice between sending Greenfield away +and seeing them together. Like the clever woman she was, she chose the +latter alternative, and found, too, her account in so doing. + +Erastus Snaffle was more familiarly than favorably known in financial +circles of Boston, as the man who had put afloat more wild-cat stocks +than any other speculator on the street. It might be supposed that his +connection with any scheme would be enough to wreck its prospects, yet +whatever he took hold of floated for a time. There was always a feeling +among his victims that at length he had come to the place where he must +connect himself with a respectable scheme for the sake of +re-establishing his reputation; but this hope was never realized. +Perhaps whatever he touched ceased from that moment to be either +reliable or respectable. However, since Snaffle was possessed of so +inexhaustible a fund of plausibility that he never failed to find +investors who placed confidence in his wildest statements, it after all +made very little difference to him what his reputation or his financial +standing might be. + +By one of those singular compensations in which nature seems now and +then to make a struggle to adjust the average of human characteristics +with something approaching fairness, Snaffle was hardly less gullible +than he was skilful in ensnaring others. He was continually making a +fortune by launching some bogus stock or other, but it seemed always to +be fated that he should lose it again in some equally wild scheme +started by a brother sharper. Perhaps between his professional strokes +he was obliged to practise at raising credulity in himself merely to +keep his hand in; perhaps it was simply that the habit of believing +financial absurdities had become a sort of second nature in him; or yet +again is it possible that he felt obliged to assume credulity in regard +to the falsehoods of his fellow sharpers, as a sort of equivalent for +the faith he so often demanded of them; but, whatever may have been the +reason, it was at least a fact that his money went in much the same way +it came. + +In person, Erastus Snaffle was not especially prepossessing. His face +would have been more attractive had the first edition of his chin been +larger and the succeeding ones smaller, while the days when he could +still boast of a waist were so far in the irrevocable past that the +imagination refused so long a flight as would be required to reach it. +His eyes were small and heavy-lidded, but in them smouldered a dull +gleam of cunning that at times kindled into a pointed flame. His dress +was in keeping with his person, and his manner quite as vulgar as +either. + +He was sitting to-night in one corner of the sofa, his corpulent person +heaped up in an unshapely mass, talking with a fluency that now and +then died away entirely, while he paused to speculate what sort of a +game his hostess might be playing with Mr. Greenfield. + +"The fact is," Mrs. Sampson was saying, as Snaffle recalled his +attention from one of these fits of abstraction, "that I don't know +what I shall do this summer; and I don't like to believe that summer is +so near that I must decide soon." + +"You were at Ashmont last year, weren't you?" Snaffle asked. "Why don't +you go there again." + +Mrs. Sampson shot him a quick glance which Snaffle understood at once +to mean that he was to second her in something she was attempting. He +did not yet get his clew clearly enough to understand just how, but the +look put him on the alert, as the hostess answered,-- + +"Oh, it is all spoiled. The railroad has been put through and all the +summer visitors are giving it up. I'm sure I don't know what will +become of all the poverty-stricken widows that made their living out of +taking boarders. That railroad has been an expensive job for Ashmont in +every way." + +Greenfield smiled, his big, genial smile which had so much warmth in it. + +"That isn't usually the way people look at the effect of a railroad on +a town." + +This time the look which Mrs. Sampson gave Snaffle told him so plainly +what she wanted him to do that he spoke at once, her almost +imperceptible nod showing him that he was on the right track. + +"Oh, a railroad is always the ruin of a small town," he said, "unless +it is its terminus. It sucks all the life out of the villages along the +way. You go along any of the lines in Massachusetts, and you will find +that while the towns have been helped by the road, the small villages +have been knocked into a cocked hat. All the young people have left +them; all the folks in the neighborhood go to some city to do their +trading, and the stuffing is knocked out of things generally." + +Mrs. Sampson looked at Snaffle with a thoroughly gratified expression. + +"I don't know much about the business part of the question, of course," +she said, "but I do know that a railroad takes all the young men out of +a village. A woman I boarded with at Ashmont last year wrote to me the +other day in the greatest distress because her only son had left her. +She said it was all the railroad, and her letter was really pathetic." + +"Oh, that's a woman's way of looking at it," rejoined Greenfield, the +greatest struggle of whose life, as Mrs. Sampson was perfectly well +aware, was to keep at home his only child, a youth just coming to +manhood. "It is easy enough for boys to get away nowadays, and just +having a railroad at the door wouldn't make any great difference." + +"It does, though, make a mighty sight of difference," Snaffle said, +rolling his head and putting his plump white hands together. "Somehow +or other, the having that train scooting by day in and day out +unsettles the young fellows. The whistle stirs them up, and keeps +reminding them how easy it is to go out West or somewhere or other. +I've seen it time and again." + +"Well," Greenfield returned, a shadow over his genial face, "I have a +youngster that's got the Western fever pretty bad without any railroads +coming to Feltonville. But what you say is only one side of the +question. When a railroad comes it always brings business in one way or +another. The increase of transportation facilities is sure to build +things up." + +"Oh, yes, it builds them up," Snaffle chuckled, as if the idea afforded +him infinite amusement, "but how does it work. There are two or three +men in the town who start market gardens and make something out of it. +They sell their produce in the city and they do their trading there; +they hire Irish laborers from outside the village; and how much better +off is the town, except that it can tax them a trifle more if it can +get hold of the valuation of their property." "Which it generally +can't," interpolated Greenfield grimly, with an inward reminder of +certain experiences as assessor. + +"Or somebody starts a factory," Snaffle went on, "and then the town is +made, ain't it? Outside capital is invested, outside operatives brought +in to turn the place upside down and to bring in all the deviltries +that have been invented, and all the town has to show in the long run +is a little advance in real estate over the limited area where they +want to build houses for the mill-hands. There's no end of rot talked +about improving towns by putting up factories, but I can't see it +myself." + +Snaffle sometimes said that he believed in nothing but making money, +and there was never any reason to suppose he held an opinion because he +expressed it. He said what he felt to be politic, and a long and +complicated experience enabled him to defend any view with more or less +plausibility upon a moment's notice. He was clever enough to see that +for some reason the widow wished him to pursue the line of talk he had +taken, and he was ready enough to oblige her. He never took the trouble +to inquire of himself what his opinions were, because that question was +of so secondary importance; he merely exerted himself to make the most +of any points that presented themselves to his mind in favor of the +side it was for his advantage to support. + +"'Pon my word," Greenfield said, with a laugh, "you talk like an old +fogy of the first water. I wouldn't have suspected you of looking at +things that way." + +"Mr. Snaffle is always surprising," Mrs. Sampson said, with her most +dazzling smile, "but he is generally right." + +"Thank you. I can't help at any rate seeing that there are two sides to +this thing, and I am too old a bird to be caught with the common chaff +that people talk." + +Mr. Greenfield settled himself comfortably in his chair and laughed +softly. The discussion was so purely theoretical that he could be +amused without looking upon it seriously. + +"For my part," he remarked, his big hand playing with a paper-knife on +one of the little tables, which, to a practised eye, suggested cards, +"I am of the progressive party, thank you. I believe in opening up the +country and putting railroads where they will do the most good. A few +people get their old prejudices run against, but on the whole it is for +the interest of a town to have a railroad, and it is nonsense to talk +any other way." + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson leaned forward to lay her fingers upon the +speaker's arm. + +"That is just it, Cousin Tom," she said, with a languishing glance. +"You always look at things in so large a way. You never let the matter +of personal interest decide, but think of the public good," + +The flattery was somewhat gross, but men will swallow a good deal in +the way of praise from women. They are generally slow to suspect the +fair sex of sarcasm, and allow themselves the luxury of enjoying the +pleasure of indulging their vanity untroubled by unpleasant doubts +concerning the sincerity of compliments which from masculine lips would +offend them. Greenfield laughed with a perceptible shade of +awkwardness, but he was evidently not ill pleased. + +"Oh, well," he returned, "that is because thus far it has happened that +my personal interests and my convictions have worked together so well. +You might see a difference if they didn't pull in the same line." + +Mrs. Sampson considered a moment, and then rose, bringing out a +decanter of sherry with a supply of glasses and of biscuit from a +convenient closet in the bottom of a secretary. + +"That's business," Snaffle said, joyously. "Sherry ain't much for a man +of my size, but it's better than nothing." + +"It is a hint though," the hostess said, filling his glass. + +"A hint!" he repeated. + +"Yes; a hint that it is getting late, and that I am tired, and you must +go home." + +"Oh, ho!" he laughed uproariously; "now I won't let you in for that +good thing on the Princeton Platinum stock. You'll wish you hadn't +turned me out of the house when you see that stock quoted at fifty per +cent above par." + +"Ah, I know all about Princeton Platinum," she responded, showing her +white teeth rather more than was absolutely demanded by the occasion; +"besides, I've no money to put into anything." + +"What about Princeton Platinum?" Greenfield asked, turning toward the +other a shrewd glance. "I've heard a good deal of talk about it lately, +but I didn't pay much attention to it." + +"Princeton Platinum," the hostess put in before Snaffle could speak, +"is Mr. Snaffle's latest fairy story. It is a dream that people buy +pieces of for good hard samoleons, and"-- + +"Good _what?_" interrupted the country member. + +"Shekels, dollars, for cash under whatever name you choose to give it; +and then some fine morning they all wake up." + +"Well?" demanded Snaffle, to whom the jest seemed not in the least +distasteful. "And what then?" + +"Oh, what is usually left of dreams when one wakes up in the morning?" + +The fat person of the speculator shook with appreciation of the wit of +this sally, which did not seem to Greenfield so funny as from the +laughter of the others he supposed it must really be. The latter rose +when Snaffle did and prepared to say good-night, but Mrs. Sampson +detained him. "I want to speak with you a moment," she said. +"Good-night, Mr. Snaffle. Bear us in mind when Princeton Platinum has +made your fortune, and don't look down on us." + +"No fear," he returned. "When that happens, I shall come to you for +advice how to spend it." + +There was too much covetousness in her voice as she answered jocosely +that she could tell him. The struggle of life made even a jesting +supposition of wealth excite her cupidity. She sighed as she turned +back into the parlor and motioned Greenfield to a seat. Placing herself +in a low, velvet-covered chair, she stretched out her feet before her, +displaying the black silk stocking upon a neat instep as she crossed +them upon a low stool. + +"I am sure I don't know how to say what I want to," she began, knitting +her brows in a perplexity that was only part assumed. "Something has +come to me in the strangest way, and I think I ought to tell you, +although I haven't any interest in it, and it certainly isn't any of my +business." + +Her companion was too blunt to be likely to help her much. He simply +asked, in the most straightforward manner,-- + +"What is it?" + +"It's about public business," she said. "Why!" she added, as if a +sudden light had broken upon her. "I really believe I was going to be a +lobbyist. Fancy me lobbying! What does a lobbyist do?" + +"Nothing that you'd be likely to have any hand in," returned +Greenfield, smiling at the absurdity of the proposition. "What is all +this about?" + +"I suppose I should not have thought of it but for the turn the talk +took to-night," she returned with feminine indirectness. "It was odd, +wasn't it, that we should get to talking of the harm railroads do, when +it was about a railroad that I was going to talk." + +"There's only one railroad scheme on foot this spring that I know +anything about, and that's for a branch of the Massachusetts Outside +Railroad through Wachusett. That isn't in the Legislature either." + +"That's the one. It's going to be in the Legislature. There's going to +be an attempt to change the route." + +"Change the route?" + +"Yes, so it will go through--but will you promise not to tell this to a +living mortal?" + +"Of course." + +"I suppose," she said, regarding her slipper intently, "that I really +ought not to tell you; but I can't help it somehow. Your name is to be +used." + +"My name?" + +"Yes, the men who are planning the thing say that it will be so evident +that you'd want the road to go this new way, that if you vote with the +Wachusett interest they'll swear you are bought." + +"Swear I'm bought? Pooh! Tom Greenfield is too well known for that sort +of talk to hold water." + +"But through your own town"-- + +Mrs. Sampson regarded her companion closely as she slowly pronounced +these words. They roused him like an electric shock. + +"Through Feltonville?" + +She nodded, compressing her lips, but saying nothing. + +"Phew! This is a tough nut to crack. But are you sure that is to be +tried?" + +"Yes; there is a scheme for a few monopolists to buy up mill privileges +and run factories at Feltonville; and they mean to make the road serve +them, instead of its being put where the public need it." + +"So that's what Lincoln's been raking up in Boston," Greenfield said to +himself. "I knew he was up to some deviltry. Wants to sell off those +meadows he's been gathering in on mortgages." + +"Of course you'll want to help your town," Mrs. Sampson said, +regretfully. "The men that voted for you'll expect you to do it; but +it's helping on a sly scheme at the expense of the state. I'm sorry +you've got to be on that side." + +"Got to be on that side?" he retorted, starting up. "Who says I've got +to be on that side? we'll see about that before we get through. The men +that voted for me expect me to do what is right, and I don't think +they'll be disappointed just yet." + +And all things considered, Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson thought she had +done a good evening's work. + + + + +XVI + + WEIGHING DELIGHT AND DOLE. + Hamlet; i.--2. + +"Oh, this is completely captivating," Mrs. Frostwinch said, as she sat +down to luncheon in Edith Fenton's pretty dining-room, and looked at +the large mound-like bouquet of richly tinted spring leaves which +adorned the centre of the table. "That is the advantage of having +brains. One always finds some delightful surprise or other at your +house." + +"Thank you," Edith returned, gayly; "but at your house one always has a +delightful surprise in the hostess, so you are not forced to resort to +makeshifts." + +Helen Greyson, the third member of the party, smiled and shook her head. + +"Really," she said, "is one expected to keep up to the level of +elaborate compliment like that? I fear I can only sit by in admiring +silence while you two go on." + +"Oh, no," the hostess responded. "Mrs. Frostwinch is to talk to you. +That is what you people are here for. I am only to listen." + +Edith had invited Helen and Mrs. Frostwinch to take luncheon with her, +and she had really done it to bring these two more closely together. +She was fond of them both, and the effect of her life in the world into +which her marriage had introduced her had been to render her capable of +judging both these women broadly. She admired them both, and while her +feeling of affection had by circumstances been more closely cemented +with Helen, she felt that a strong friendship was possible between +herself and Mrs. Frostwinch should the lines of their lives ever fall +much together. + +The modern woman, particularly if she be at all in society, has +generally to accept the possibilities of friendship in place of that +gracious boon itself. The busy round of life to-day gives ample +opportunity for judging of character, so that it is well nigh +impossible not to feel that some are worthy of friendship, some +especially gifted by nature with the power of inspiring it, while, on +the other hand, there are those who repel or with whom the bond would +be impossible. But friendship, however much it be the result of eternal +fitness and the inevitable consequence of the meeting of two harmonious +natures, is a plant of slow growth, and few things which require time +and tranquillity for their nourishment flourish greatly in this age of +restlessness and intense mental activity. The radical and unfettered +Bohemian, or such descendants of that famous race as may be supposed +still to survive, attempts to leap over all obstacles, to create what +must grow, and to turn comradeship into friendship simply because one +naturally grows out of the other; the more conservative and logical +Philistine recognizes the futility of this attitude, and in his too +careful consistency sometimes needlessly brings about the very same +failure by pursuing the opposite course. + +Edith was not of the women who naturally analyze their own feelings +toward others over keenly, but one cannot live in a world without +sharing its mental peculiarities. The times are too introspective to +allow any educated person to escape self-examination. The century which +produced that most appalling instance of spiritual exposure, the +"_Journal Intime_" which it is impossible to read without blushing that +one thus looks upon the author's soul in its nakedness, leaves small +chance for self-unconsciousness. Edith could not help examining her +mental attitude toward her companions, and it was perhaps a proof of +the sweetness of her nature that she found in her thought nothing of +that shortcoming in them, or reason for lack of fervor in friendship +other than such as must come from lack of intercourse. + +Perhaps some train of thought not far removed from the foregoing made +her say, as the luncheon progressed,-- + +"Really, it seems to me as if life proceeded at a pace so rapid +nowadays that one had not time even to be fond of anybody." + +"It goes too fast for one to have much chance to show it," Helen +responded; "but one may surely be fond of one's friends, even without +seeing them." + +"If you will swear not to tell the disgraceful fact," Mrs. Frostwinch +said, "I'll confess that I abhor Walt Whitman; but that one dreadful, +disreputably slangy phrase of his, 'I loaf and invite my soul,' echoes +through my brain like an invitation to Paradise." + +Edith smiled. + +"If Arthur were here," she returned, "he would probably say that you +think you mean that, but that really you don't." + +"My dear," Mrs. Frostwinch answered, with her beautiful smile and a +characteristic undulation of the neck, "your husband, although he is +clever to an extent which I consider positively immoral, is only a man, +and he does not understand. Men do what they like; women, what they +can. There may be moral free will for women, although I've ceased to be +sure of that even; but socially no such thing exists. Do we wear the +dreadful clothes we are tied up in because we want to? Do we order +society, or our lives, or our manners, or our morals? Do we"-- + +"There, there," interrupted Helen, laughing and putting up her hand. "I +can't hear all this without a protest. If it is true I won't own it. I +had rather concede that all women are fools"-- + +"As indeed they are," interpolated Mrs. Frost-winch. + +"Than that they are helpless manikins," continued Helen. "In any other +sense, that is," she added, "than men are." + +"My dear Mrs. Greyson," the other said, leaning toward her, "you take +the single question of the relation of the sexes, and where are we? I +wouldn't own it to a man for the world, but the truth is that men are +governed by their will, and women are governed by men; and, what is +more, if it could all be changed to-morrow, we should be perfectly +miserable until we got the old way back again; and that's the most +horribly humiliating part of it." + +"It is easy to see that you are not a woman suffragist," commented +Edith. + +"Woman suffrage," echoed the other, her voice never for an instant +varied from its even and highbred pitch; "woman suffrage must remain a +practical impossibility until the idea can be eradicated from society +that the initiative in passion is the province of man." + +"Brava!" cried the hostess. "Mr. Herman ought to hear that epigram. He +asked me last night if he ought to put an inscription in favor of woman +suffrage on the hem of the _America _he is modelling." + +Helen turned toward her quickly. + +"Is Mr. Herman making a model of the _America_?" she asked. "Has he the +commission?" + +"He hasn't the commission, because nobody has it, but he has been asked +by the committee to prepare a model." + +"That is"--began Helen. "Strange," she was going to say, but +fortunately caught herself in time and substituted "capital. It is good +to think that Boston will have one really fine statue." + +"Aren't you in that, Mrs. Greyson?" Mrs. Frostwinch asked. + +"No," Helen answered. "I am really doing little since I came home. I am +waiting until the time serves, I suppose." + +She spoke without especial thought of what she was saying, desiring +merely to cover any indications which might show the feeling aroused by +what she had just heard and the decision she had just taken to have +nothing to do with the contest for the statue of _America_, although +she had begun a study for the figure. + +"I admire you for being able to make time serve you instead of serving +time like the rest of us," Mrs. Frostwinch said. + +"I shouldn't hear another call you a time server without taking up the +cudgels to defend you," responded Edith. + +Mrs. Frostwinch smiled in reply to this. Then she turned again to Helen. + +"To tell the truth, Mrs. Greyson," she observed, "I am glad you are not +concerned in this statue, for I am myself one of a band of conspirators +who are pushing the claims of a new man." + +"Is there a new sculptor?" Helen asked, smiling. "That is wonderful +news." + +"Yes; we think he is the coming man. His name is Stanton; Orin Stanton." + +"Oh," responded Helen, with involuntary frankness in her accent. + +Mrs. Frostwinch laughed with perfect good nature. + +"You don't admire him?" she commented. "Well, many don't. To say the +truth, I do not think anybody alive, if you will pardon me, Mrs. +Greyson, knows the truth about sculpture. Perhaps the Greeks did, but +we don't, even when we are told. I know the Soldiers' Monument on the +Common is hideous beyond words, because everybody says so; but they +didn't when it was put up. Only a few artists objected then." + +"And the fact that a few artists have brought everybody to their +opinion," Edith asked, "doesn't make you feel that they must be right; +must have the truth behind them?" + +"No; frankly, I can't say that it does," Mrs. Frostwinch responded. + +She leaned back in her chair, a soft flush on her thin, high-bred face. +Her figure, in a beautiful gown of beryl plush embroidered with gold, +seemed artistically designed for the carved, high-backed chair in which +she sat, and both her companions were too appreciative to lose the +grace of the picture she made. + +"I cannot see that it is bad," she went on. "Mr. Fenton has proved it +to me, and even Mr. Herman, who seems, so far as I have seen him, the +most charitable of men, when I asked him how he liked it, spoke with +positive loathing of it. I can't manage to make myself unhappy over it, +that's all. And I believe I am as appreciative as the average." + +To Helen there was something at once fascinating and repellent in this +talk. She was attracted by Mrs. Frostwinch. The perfect breeding, the +grace, the polish of the woman, won upon her strongly, while yet the +subtile air of taking life conventionally, of lacking vital +earnestness, was utterly at variance with the sculptor's temperament +and methods of thought. She no sooner recognized this feeling than she +rebuked herself for shallowness and a want of charity, yet even so the +impression remained. To the artistic temperament, enthusiasm is the +only excuse for existence. + +"I think Mrs. Fenton is right," she said. "The few form the correct +judgment, and the many adopt it in the end because it is based on +truth. It seems to me," she continued, thoughtfully, "that the prime +condition of effectiveness is constancy, and only that opinion can be +constant that has truth for a foundation, because no other basis would +remain to hold it up." + +"That may be true," was the reply, "if you take matters in a +sufficiently long range, but you seem to me to be viewing things from +the standpoint of eternity." + +The smile with which she said these last words was so charming that +Helen warmed toward her, and she smiled also in replying,-- + +"Isn't that, after all, the only safe way to look at things?" + +"What deep waters we are getting into," Edith commented. "And yet they +say women are always frivolous." + +"The Boston luncheon," returned Mrs. Frost-winch, "is a solemn assembly +for the discussion of mighty themes. Yesterday, at Mrs. Bodewin +Ranger's, we disposed of all the knotty problems relating to the lower +classes." + +"I didn't know but it might be something about my house. The last time +Mrs. Greyson lunched here we solemnly debated what a wife should do +whose husband did not appreciate her." + +She spoke brightly, but there was in her tone, an undercurrent of +feeling which touched Helen, and betrayed the fact that this return to +the old theme was not wholly without a cause. Mrs. Greyson divined that +Edith was not happy, and with the keenness of womanly instinct she +divined also that there was not perfect harmony between Mrs. Fenton and +her husband. She looked up quickly, with an instinctive desire to turn +the conversation, but found no words ready. + +Edith had at the moment yielded to a woman's craving for sympathy. An +incident which had happened that forenoon troubled and bewildered her. +She had been down town, and remembering a matter of importance about +which she had neglected to consult her husband in the morning, she had +turned aside to visit his studio, a thing she seldom did in his working +hours. She found him painting from a model, and she was kept waiting a +moment while the latter retired from sight. She thought nothing of +this, but as she stood talking with Arthur, her glance fell upon a wrap +which she recognized as belonging to Mrs. Herman, and which had been +carelessly left upon the back of a chair in sight. Even this might not +have troubled her, had it not been that when she looked questioningly +from the garment to her husband, she caught a look of consternation in +his eyes. His glance met hers and turned aside with that almost +imperceptible wavering which shows the avoidance to be intentional; and +a pang of formless terror pierced her. + +All the way home she was tormented by the wonder how that wrap could +have come in her husband's studio, and what reason he could have for +being disturbed by her seeing it there. She was not a woman given to +petty or vulgar jealousy, and she had from the first left the artist +perfectly free in his professional relations to be governed by the +necessities or the conveniences of his profession. She could not +to-day, however, rid herself of the feeling that some mystery lay +behind the incident of the morning. She began to frame excuses. She +speculated whether it were possible that Arthur were secretly painting +the portrait of his friend's wife, to produce it as a surprise to them +all. She said to herself that Ninitta naturally knew models, and might +easily have enough of a feeling of comradeship remaining from the time +when she had been a model herself, to lend or give them articles of +dress. Unfortunately, she knew how Ninitta kept herself aloof from her +old associates since the birth of her child, and the explanation did +not satisfy her. + +No faintest suspicion of positive evil entered Edith's mind. She was +only vaguely troubled, the incident forming one more of the trifles +which of late had made her very uneasy in regard to her husband. She +told herself that she had confidence in Arthur; but the woman who is +forced to reflect that she has confidence in her husband has already +begun, however unconsciously, to doubt him. + +"The question is profound enough," Mrs. Frostwinch answered Edith's +words in her even tones, which somehow seemed to reduce everything to a +well-bred abstraction. "Of course the thing for a Woman to do is to +remain determinedly ignorant until it would be too palpably absurd to +pretend any longer; and then she must get away from him as quietly as +possible. The evil in these things is, after all, the stir and the +talk, and all the unpleasant and vulgar gossip which inevitably attends +them." + +Poor Edith cringed as if she had received a blow, and to cover her +emotion she gave the signal for rising from the table. But as she did +so, her eyes met those of Helen, and the truth leaped from one to the +other in one of those glances in which the heart, taken unaware, +reveals its joy or its woe with irresistible frankness. Whatever words +Edith and Helen might or might not exchange thereafter, the story of +Mrs. Fenton's married life and of the anguish of her soul was told in +that look; and her friend understood it fully. + + + + +XVII + + THE HEAVY MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. + Measure for Measure; iv.--10. + +The temper of clubs, like that of individuals, changes from time to +time, however constant remains its temperament. Those who reflected +upon such matters noticed that at the St. Filipe Club, where a few +years back there had been much talk of art and literature, and abstract +principles, there had come to be a more worldly, perhaps a Philistine +would say a more mature, flavor to the conversation. There were a good +many stories told about its wide fireplaces, and there was much running +comment on current topics, political and otherwise. There was, perhaps, +a more cosmopolitan air to the talk. + +That the old-time flavor could sometimes reappear, however, was evident +from the talk going on about nine o'clock on the evening of the day of +Edith's luncheon. The approach of the time set for an exhibition of +paintings in the gallery of the club turned the conversation toward +art, and as several of the quondam Pagans were present, the old habits +of speech reasserted themselves somewhat. + +"I understand Fenton's going to let us see his new picture," somebody +said. + +"He is if he gets it done," Tom Bently answered. "He's painting so many +portraits nowadays that he didn't get it finished for the New York +exhibition." + +"He must be making a lot of money," Fred Rangely observed. + +"He needs to to keep his poker playing up," commented Ainsworth. + +"He's lucky if he makes money in these days when it's the swell thing +to have some foreign duffer paint all the portraits," Bently said. "It +makes me sick to see the way Englishmen rake in the dollars over here." + +"How would you feel," asked Rangely, "if you tried to get a living by +writing novels, and found the market glutted with pirated English +reprints?" + +"Oh, novels," retorted Tom, "they are of no account any way. Modern +novels are like modern investments; they are all principle and no +interest." + +"I like that," put in Ainsworth, "when most of them haven't any +principle at all." + +"Neither have investments in the end," Bently returned. "At least I +know mine haven't." + +"If you were a writer you'd be spared that pain," was Rangely's reply, +"for want of anything to start an investment with." + +"I've about come to the conclusion," another member said, "that a man +may be excused for making literature his practice, but that he is a +fool to make it his profession. It does very well as an amusement, but +it's no good as a business." + +"The idea is correct," Rangely replied, ringing the bell and ordering +from the servant who responded, "although it does not strike me as +being either very fresh or very original." + +There was a digression for a moment or two while they waited for their +drinks and imbibed them. And then Fred, with the air of one who utters +a profound truth, and answers questions both spoken and unspoken, +observed as he set down his glass,-- + +"There's one thing of which I am sure; American literature will never +advance much until women are prevented from writing book reviews." + +"Meaning," said Arthur Fenton, entering and with his usual quickness +seizing the thread of conversation at once, "that some woman critic or +other hit the weak spot in Fred's last book." + +"Hallo, Fenton," called Bently, in his usual explosive fashion. "I +haven't seen you this long time. I did not know whether you were dead +or alive." + +"Oh, as usual, occupying a middle ground between the two. Are you +coming upstairs, Fred?" + +A smile ran around the circle. + +"At it again, Fenton?" Ainsworth asked. "You'll have to go West and be +made a senator if you keep on playing poker every night." + +"If I don't have better luck than I've been having lately," Fenton +rejoined, as he and Rangely left the room, "I should have to have a +subscription taken up to pay my travelling expenses." + +The card-rooms were upstairs, and Fenton and Rangely went to them +without speaking. The artist was speculating whether a ruse he had just +executed would be successful; his companion was thinking of the news he +had just had from New York, that a girl with whom he had flirted at the +mountains last summer was about to visit Boston. + +Around a baize-covered table in the card-room sat three or four men, in +one of whom Rangely recognized the corpulent and vulgar person of Mr. +Erastus Snaffle. He nodded to him with an air of qualifying his +recognition with certain mental reservations, while Fenton said as he +took his place beside Chauncy Wilson, who moved to make room for him,-- + +"Good evening, Mr. Snaffle. Have you come up to clean the club out +again?" + +Mr. Snaffle looked up as if he did not fully comprehend, but he +chuckled as he answered,-- + +"I should think it was time. I was never inside this club that I didn't +get bled." + +The men laughed in a somewhat perfunctory way, and the cards having +been dealt, the game went on. They were all members of the club except +Snaffle, and they all knew that this rather doubtful individual had no +business there at all. There had of late been a good deal of feeling in +the club because the rule that forbade the bringing of strangers into +the house had been so often violated. The St. Filipe was engaged in the +perfectly fruitless endeavor to enforce the regulation that visitors +might be admitted provided the same person was not brought into the +rooms twice within a fixed period. Some of the members violated the +rule unconsciously, since it was awkward to invite a friend into the +club and to qualify the courtesy with the condition that he had not +been asked by anybody else within the prescribed period, and it was +easy to forget this ungracious preliminary. Some few of the +members--since in every club there will be men who are gentlemen but by +brevet,--deliberately took advantage of the uncertainty which always +arises from so anomalous a regulation, and the result of deliberate and +of involuntary breaches of the rule had been that the club house was +made free with by outsiders to a most unpleasant extent. + +Not yet ready to do away with the by-law, since many members found--it +convenient and pleasant to take their friends into the club-house, the +managers of the affairs of the St. Filipe were making a desperate +effort to discover all offenders who were intentionally guilty of +violating the regulation. They had their eye on several outsiders who +made free with the house, and it was understood that certain men were +in danger of being requested not to continue their visits to a place +where they had no right. Snaffle, who had been first brought to the +club by Dr. Wilson to play poker, was one of these, and the men who sat +playing with him to-night were secretly curious to know how he happened +to be there on this particular occasion. He had come into the card-room +alone, with the easy air of familiarity which usually distinguished +him, and appearances seemed to point to his having taken the liberty of +walking into the house in the same way. The men liked well enough to +have him in the game, because he played recklessly and always left +money at the table, but not one of them, even Dr. Wilson, who was more +recklessly democratic in his habits and instincts than any of the rest, +would have cared to be seen walking with Erastus Snaffle on the streets +by daylight. + +When Snaffle entered the club house, the servant whose duty it was to +wait at the outer door, had gone for a moment to the coat-room +adjoining the hall. Here Snaffle met him and offered him his coat and +hat. The servant extended his hand mechanically, but he looked at the +new-comer so pointedly that the latter muttered, by way of +credentials,-- + +"I came with Mr. Fenton." + +The servant made no comment, but as Mr. Snaffle went upstairs, he +reported to the steward that the intruder was again in the house and +had been introduced by Mr. Fenton. The steward in turn reported this to +the Secretary, and before Arthur himself came in, a rod was already +preparing for him in the shape of a complaint to be made before the +Executive Committee. + +It was thus that precisely the thing happened which Fenton had with his +usual cleverness endeavored to guard against. Impudent as Mr. Snaffle +was capable of being, he would never have ventured uninvited into the +precincts of the St. Filipe Club, where even when introduced he found +himself somewhat overpowered by the social standing and the lofty +manners of those around him. This feeling of awe showed itself in two +ways, had any one been clever enough to appreciate the fact. It +rendered him unusually silent, and it induced him to play high, as if +he felt under obligations to pay for his admission into company where +he did not belong. + +It was to this last fact that he owed his invitation to be present on +this particular evening. Arthur Fenton was going to the club to play +poker, urged partly by the love of excitement and perhaps even more by +the hope of raising a part or the whole of the fifty dollars of which +he had pressing need, when he encountered Snaffle standing on a street +corner. Fenton's acquaintance with the man had been confined to their +meetings in the card-room of the St. Filipe, but he had once or twice +carried home in his pocket very substantial tokens of Snaffle's +reckless play. Almost without being conscious of what he did, Fenton +stopped and extended his hand. + +"Good evening," he said. "What is up? Are you ready for your revenge?" + +"Oh, I'm always ready for a good game," Snaffle answered. "I was going +to see my best girl, but I don't mind taking a hand instead." + +Fenton smiled as the other turned and walked with him toward the club, +but inwardly he loathed the fat, vulgar man at his side. His sense of +the fitness of things was outraged by his being obliged to associate +with such a creature, and that the obligation arose entirely from his +own will, only showed to his mind how helpless he was in the hands of +fate. He was outwardly gracious enough, but inwardly he nourished a +bitter hatred against Erastus Snaffle for constraining him to go +through this humiliation before he could win his money. + +As they neared the club, Fenton recalled the fact that there had been +some talk about visitors, and that the presence of this very man had +been especially objected to, and reflected that in any case he had no +desire to be seen going in with him. As they entered the vestibule the +door was not opened for them, and Fenton's quick wit appreciated the +fact that the servant who should be sitting just inside, was not in his +place. With an inward ejaculation of satisfaction at this good fortune, +he put his hand to his breast pocket. + +"Oh, pshaw!" he exclaimed. "There are those confounded letters I +promised to post. You go in, Mr. Snaffle, and I'll go back to the +letter box on the corner. You know the way, and you'll find the fellows +in the first card-room." + +He opened the door as he spoke, and as Snaffle entered and closed it +after him, Fenton ran down the steps and walked to the next corner. He +had no letters to mail, but it was characteristic of his dramatic way +of doing things that he walked to the letter-box, raised the drop and +went through the motion of slipping in an envelope. He was accustomed +to say that when one played a part it could not be done too carefully, +and it amused him to reflect that if he were watched his action would +appear consistent with his words, while if he were timed he would be +found to have been gone from the club house exactly long enough. Not +that he supposed anybody was likely to take the trouble to do either of +these things, but Fenton was an imaginative man and he found a humorous +pleasure in finishing even his trickery in an artistic manner. + +It was Saturday night, and just before midnight a servant opened the +card-room door. The room was full of smoke, empty glasses stood beside +the players, and piles of red and blue and white "chips" were heaped in +uneven distribution along the edges of the table. + +"It is ten minutes of twelve, gentlemen," the servant said, and retired. + +"Jack-pots round," said Rangely, dealing rapidly. "Look lively now." + +He and Fenton had been winning, the pile of blue counters beside the +latter representing nearly thirty dollars, with enough red and white +ones to cover his original investments. The first jackpot and the +second were played, Dr. Wilson wining one and Snaffle the other on the +first hand. On the third, Fenton bet for awhile, holding three aces +against a full hand held by the fifth man. + +"It's all right," Fenton remarked, as Rangely chaffed him. "I am +waiting for the 'kittie-pot.' See what a pile there is to go into that. +I always expect to gather in the 'kittie.'" + +The fourth pot was quickly passed, and then Wilson, who had been +managing the "kittie," put upon the table the surplus, which to-night +chanced to be unusually large. The cards were dealt and dealt three +times again before the pot could be opened, and then Rangely started +it. Arthur looked at his hand in disgust. He held the nine of hearts, +the five, six, eight, and nine of spades, and as he said to himself he +never had luck in drawing to either straight or flush. Still the stake +was good, and he came in, discarding his heart. He drew the seven of +spades. Rangely was betting on three aces, and Wilson on a full hand, +so that the betting ran rather high. + +"Twelve o'clock, gentlemen," the servant said at the door. + +And when Fenton began his Sunday by winning the pot on his straight +flush, he found himself more than sixty dollars to the good on his +evening's work. + +"You've regularly bled me, Fenton," Snaffle observed with much +jocularity, as the players came out of the club house. "I've hardly got +a car fare left to take me home. I'm afraid the St. Filipe is a den of +thieves." + +"I don't mind lending you a car fare, Mr. Snaffle," the artist +returned, endeavoring to speak as pleasantly as if he did not object to +the familiarity of the other's address. "But don't abuse the club." + +"I think I'll go to church," Dr. Wilson said with a yawn. "It must be +most time." + +"Church-going," Fenton returned, sententiously, "is small beer for +small souls." + +"There, Fenton," retorted Rangely, as at this minute they came to the +corner where they separated, "don't feel obliged to try to be clever. +You can't do it at this time of night." + +Snaffle continued his walk with the artist almost to Fenton's door, +although the latter suspected that it was out of his companion's way. +Arthur was willing, however, to give the loser the compensation of his +society as a return for the greenbacks in his pocket, and his natural +acuteness was so far from being as active as usual that when he found +Mr. Snaffle speaking of Princeton Platinum stock he did not suspect +that he was being angled for in turn, and that the gambling for the +evening was not yet completed. He listened at first without much +attention, but the man to whom he listened was wily and clever, and +after he was in bed that night the artist's brain was busy planning how +to raise money to invest in Princeton Platinum. + +"I never saw such luck as yours," Snaffle observed admiringly. "The way +you filled that spade flush on that last hand was a miracle. It is just +that sort of luck that runs State street and Wall street." + +Fenton smiled to himself in the darkness, the proposition was so +manifestly absurd, but he was already bitten by the mania for +speculation, and when once this madness infects a man's brain the most +improbable causes will increase the disease. Snaffle, of course, was +too shrewd to ask his companion to buy Princeton Platinum stock, and +indeed declared that although he had charge of putting it upon the +market, he was reluctant to part with a single share of it. He added +with magnanimous frankness, that all mining stock was dangerous, +especially for one who did not thoroughly understand it. + +But his negatives, as he intended, were more effective than +affirmatives would have been, and the bait had been safely swallowed by +the unlucky fish for whom the astute speculator angled. Fenton had +invited him to the club to be eaten, but the wily visitor secretly +regarded the money he lost at the poker table as a paying investment, +believing that in the end it was not the bones of plump Erastus Snaffle +which were destined to be picked. + + + + +XVIII + + HE SPEAKS THE MERE CONTRARY. + Love's Labor's Lost; i.--I. + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson sat in her bower, enveloped in an +unaccustomed air of respectability, and in a frame of mind exceedingly +self-satisfied and serene. She had secured a visit from a New York +relative, a distant cousin whose acquaintance she had made in the +mountains the summer before, and she hoped from this circumstance to +secure much social advantage. For at home Miss Frances Merrivale moved +in circles such as her present hostess could only gaze at from afar +with burning envy. In her own city, Miss Merrivale would certainly +never have consented to know Mrs. Sampson, relationship or no +relationship; but she chanced to wish to get away from home for a week +or two, she thought somewhat wistfully of the devotion of Fred Rangely +at the mountains last summer, and she was not without a hope that if +she once appeared in Boston, the Staggchases, who should have invited +her to visit them long ago, she being as nearly related to Mr. +Staggchase as to Mrs. Sampson, might be moved to ask her to come to +stay with them. + +It cannot be said that Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson, dashing, vulgar +social adventurer that she was, had much in common with her guest. Miss +Merrivale, it is true, had the incurable disease of social ambition as +thoroughly as her hostess; but the girl had, at least, a recognized and +very comfortable footing under her feet, while the unfortunate widow +kept herself above the surface only by nimble but most tiresome leaps +from one precarious floating bit to another. In these matters, +moreover, a few degrees make really an immense difference. There is all +the inequality which exists between the soldier who wields his sword in +a disastrous hollow, and one who strikes triumphant blows from the +hillock above. The elevation is to be measured in inches, perhaps, but +that range reaches from failure to success. Whether social ambition is +proper pride or vulgar presumption depends not upon the feeling itself +so much as upon the grade from which it is exercised, and Miss +Merrivale very quickly understood that while she was placed upon one +side of the dividing line between the two, her hostess was unhappily to +be found upon the other. + +Indeed Miss Frances had hardly recognized what Mrs. Sampson's +surroundings were until she found herself established in the little +apartment as a guest of that lady. Her newly found cousin had at the +mountains spoken of her father, the late judge, and of her own +acquaintances among the great and well known of Boston, with an air +which carried conviction to one who had not known her too long. She +spoke with playful pathos of her poverty, it is true, but when a +woman's gowns will pass muster, talk of poverty is not likely to be +taken too seriously. Miss Merrivale knew, moreover, that the widow, +like herself, could boast a connection with the Staggchase family. + +Now she found herself at the top of an apartment house in a street of +Nottingham lace curtains carefully draped back to show the Rogers' +groups on neat marble stands behind their precise folds. The awful gulf +which yawned between this South End location and the region where abode +those whom she counted her own kind socially, was apparent to her the +moment she arrived and looked about her. Fred Rangely had called, but +Mrs. Sampson had regaled her guest with such tales of his devotion to +Mrs. Staggchase that Miss Merrivale received him with much coldness, +and his call was not a success. Now she was impatiently waiting for the +appearance of Mrs. Staggchase, who, it did not occur to her to doubt, +would of course call. She was curious to see her relative, and her +fondness for Rangely, such as it was, was marvellously quickened by the +presence of a rival in the field. Instead of the appearance of Mrs. +Staggchase, however, came a note asking Miss Merrivale to dine, whereat +that young woman was angry, and her hostess, although she was too +clever to show it, was secretly furious. + +This invitation was the result of a conversation between Mr. and Mrs. +Richard Staggchase, which had begun by that gentleman's asking his wife +at dinner when she was going to call upon Miss Merrivale. + +"Not at all, my dear," Mrs. Staggchase answered, "as long as she is +visiting that dreadful Mrs. Sampson, I'm not sure, Fred, but that if I +had known that creature could claim a cousinship to you, I should have +refused to marry you." + +"She is a dose," Mr. Staggchase admitted. "I wonder where she lives +now. Didn't Frances Merrivale send her address?" + +"She lives on Catawba Street, at the top of a speaking tube in one of +those dreadful apartment houses where you shout up the tube and they +open the door for you by electricity. I wonder how soon it will be, +Fred, before you'll drop in a nickel at the door of an apartment house +and the person you want to see will be slid out to you on a platform." + +"Gad! That wouldn't be a bad scheme," her husband returned, with an +appreciative grin. "But, really now, what are you going to do about +this girl. She's a sort of cousin, you know, and she's a great friend +of the Livingstons." + +"We might ask her to come here after she gets through with that woman. +I'll write her if you like." + +"Without calling?" Mr. Staggchase asked, lifting his eyebrows a little. + +"My dear," his wife responded, "I try to do my duty in that estate in +life to which I have been appointed, and I am willing to made all +possible exceptions to all known rules in favor of your family; but +Mrs. Sampson is an impossible exception. I will do nothing that shows +her that I am conscious of her existence." + +"But it will be awfully rude not to call." + +"One can't be rude to such creatures as Mrs. Sampson," returned Mrs. +Staggchase, with unmoved decision. "She is one of those dreadful women +who watch for a recognition as a cat watches for a mouse. I've seen her +at the theatre. She'd pick out one person and run him down with her +great bold eyes until he had to bow to her, and then she'd stalk +another in the same way. Call or her, indeed! Why, Fred, she'd invite +you to a dinner _tete-a-tete_ to-day, if she thought you'd go." + +Mr. Staggchase laughed rather significantly. + +"Gad! that might be amusing. She is of the kittle cattle, my dear, but +you must own that she's a well-built craft." + +"Oh, certainly," replied his better half, who was too canny by far to +show annoyance, if indeed she felt any, when her husband praised +another woman. "If everybody isn't aware of her good points, it isn't +that she is averse to advertising them. She has taken up with young +Stanton, the sculptor, just because some of us have been interested in +him." + +"Is he going to make the _America_ statue?" + +"That is still uncertain, but for my part I half hope he won't, if that +Sampson woman is his kind." + +Mr. Staggchase dipped his long fingers into his finger bowl, wiped them +with great deliberation and then pushed his chair back from the table. +It was very seldom that his wife denied a request he made her, but when +she did he knew better than to contend in the matter. + +"Very well," he said, "you may do whatever you please. Whether you +women are so devilish hard on each other because you know your own sex +is more than I should undertake to say." + +"Are you going out?" + +"Yes," he answered, "I have got to go to a meeting of the Executive +Committee of the St. Filipe. There is some sort of a row; I don't know +what. How are you going to amuse yourself." + +"By doing my duty." + +"Do you find duty amusing then; I shouldn't have suspected it." + +"Oh, duty's only another name for necessity. I'm going to the theatre +with Fred Rangely. He wrote an article for the _Observer_ in favor of +that great booby Stanton's having the statue. It was a very lukewarm +plea, but I asked him to do it, and as a reward"-- + +"He is allowed the inestimable boon of taking you to the theatre," +finished her husband, "I must say, Dian, that you are, on the whole, +the shrewdest woman I know." + +"Thank you. I must be just, you know," she returned smiling as +brilliantly as if her husband were to be won again. + +It was not without reason that Mrs. Staggchase had spoken of herself +and her husband as a model couple. Given her theory of married life, +nothing could be more satisfactory and consistent than the way in which +she lived up to it. Her ideal of matrimony was a sort of mutual +_laisser faire_, conducted with the utmost propriety and politeness. +She made an especial point of being as attractive to her husband as to +any other man; and she had the immense advantage of never having been +in love with anybody but herself and of being philosophical enough not +to consider the good things of conversation wasted if they were said +for his exclusive benefit. She had no children, and had once remarked +in answer to the question whether she regretted this, "There must be +some pleasure in having sons old enough to flirt with you; but I don't +know of anything else I have lost that I have reason to regret." + +Her husband, thorough man of the world as he was, and indeed perhaps +for that very reason, never outgrew a pleased surprise that he found +his wife so perennially entertaining. He was not unwilling that she +should exercise her fascinations on others when she chose, since he had +no feeling toward her sufficiently warm to engender anything like +jealousy; but he appreciated her to the full. + +He rose from his seat and walked to the sideboard, where he selected a +cigar. + +"I must say," he observed, between the puffs as he lighted it, "that +you are justice incarnate. You have always kept accounts squared with +me most beautifully." + +Mrs. Staggchase laughed softly, toying with the tiny spoon of Swiss +carved silver with which she had stirred her coffee. Her husband had +expressed perfectly her theory of marital relations. She balanced +accounts in her mind with the most scrupulous exactness, and was an +admirable debtor if a somewhat unrelenting creditor. She had a definite +standard by which she measured her obligations to Mr. Staggchase, and +she never allowed herself to fall short in the measure she gave him. +She was fond of him in a conveniently mild and reasonable fashion, and +a marriage founded upon mutual tolerance, if it is likely never to be +intensely happy, is also likely to be a pretty comfortable one. Mrs. +Staggchase paid to her husband all her tithes of mint and anise and +cumin, and she even sometimes presented him with a propitiatory +offering in excess of her strict debt; only such a gift was always set +down in her mental record as a gift and not as a tribute. + +"This Stanton is an awful lout, Fred," she observed. "Perhaps he can +make a good statue of _America_, but if he can it will be because he is +so thoroughly the embodiment of the vulgar and pushing side of American +character." + +"Then why in the world are you pushing him?" + +"Oh, because Mrs. Ranger and Anna Frostwinch want him pushed. I don't +know but they may believe in him. Mrs. Ranger does, of course, but the +dear old soul knows no more about art than I do about Choctaw. As to +the statues, I don't think it makes much difference, they are always +laughed at, and I don't think anybody could make one in this age that +wouldn't be found fault with." + +"Nobody nowadays knows enough about sculpture to criticise it +intelligently," Staggchase remarked, somewhat oracularly, "and the only +safe thing left is to find fault." + +"That is just about it, and so it may as well be this booby as anybody +else that gets the commission. It isn't respectable for the town not to +have statues, of course." + +Mr. Staggchase moved toward the door. + +"Well," he said, "I don't know who's in the fight, but I'll bet on your +side. Good night. I hope virtue will be its own reward." + +"Oh, it always is," retorted his wife. "I especially make it a point +that it shall be." + + + + +XIX + + HOW CHANCES MOCK. + II Henry IV.; iii.--I. + +A man often creates his own strongest temptations by dwelling upon +possibilities of evil; and it is equally true that nothing else renders +a man so likely to break moral laws as the consciousness of having +broken them already. The experience of Arthur Fenton was in these days +affording a melancholy illustration of both of these propositions. The +humiliating inner consciousness of having violated all the principles +of honor of his fealty to which he had been secretly proud begot in him +an unreasonable and unreasoning impulse still further to transgress. +When arraigned by his inner self for his betrayal of Hubbard, it was +his instinct to defend himself by showing his superiority to all moral +canons whatever. He felt a certain desperate inclination to trample all +principles underfoot, as if by so doing he could destroy the standards +by which he was being tried. + +Fenton was not of a mental fibre sufficiently robust to make this +impulse likely to result in any violent outbreak, and, indeed, but for +circumstances it would doubtless have vapored itself away in words and +vagrant fancies. He had once remarked, embodying a truth in one of his +frequent whimsically perverse statements, that the worst thing which +could be said of him was that he was incapable of a great crime, and +only the constant pressure of an annoyance, such as the threats of +Irons in regard to Ninitta, or the presence of an equally constant +temptation, such as that to which he was now succumbing in allowing his +relations with Mrs. Herman to become more and more intimate, would have +brought him to any marked transgression. + +In a nature such as that of Fenton there is, with the exception of +vanity and the instinct of self-preservation, no trait stronger than +curiosity. The artist was devoured by an eager, intellectual greed to +know all things, to experience all sensations, to taste all savors of +life. He made no distinction between good and bad; his zeal for +knowledge was too keen to allow of his being deterred by the line +ordinarily drawn between pain and pleasure. His affections, his +passions, his morals were all subordinate to this burning curiosity, +and only his instinct of self-preservation subtly making itself felt in +the guise of expediency, and his vanity prettily disguised as taste, +held the thirst for knowledge in check. + +It was by far more the desire to learn whether he could bend Ninitta to +his will than it was passion which carried Fenton forward in the +dangerous path upon which he was now well advanced; and it was perhaps +more than either a half-unconscious eagerness to taste a new +experience. Even the double wickedness of betraying the wife of a +friend and of enticing a woman to her fall had for Fenton, in his +present mood, an unholy fascination. He was too self-analytical to +deceive himself into a supposition that he was in love with Ninitta, +and even his passion was so much under the dominion of his head that he +could have blown it out like a rushlight, had he really desired to be +done with it. He looked at himself with mingled approbation, amusement, +and horror, as he might have regarded a favorite and skilful actor in a +vicious _role_; and the man whose mind is to him merely an +amphitheatre, where games are played for his amusement, is always +dangerous. + +As for Ninitta, the processes of her mind were probably quite as +complex as those of his, although they appeared more simple, in virtue +of their being more remote. She had, in the first place, a curious +jealousy of her husband because of his passionate fondness for Nino, +and a dull resentment at the secret conviction that the father had the +gifts and powers which were sure to win more love than the child would +bestow upon her. She could better bear the thought that the boy should +die, than that he should live to love anybody more than he loved her. + +It was also true that Grant Herman, large-hearted and generous as he +was, did not know how to make his wife happy. He was patient and +chivalrous and tender; but he was hardly able to go to her level, and +as she could not come to his, the pair had little in common. He felt +that somehow this must be his fault; he told himself that, as the +larger nature, it should be his place to make concessions, to master +the situation, and to secure Ninitta's happiness, whatever came to him. +He had even come to feel so much tenderness toward the mother of his +child, the woman in whose behalf he had made the great sacrifice of his +life, that a pale but steadfast glow of affection shone always in his +heart for his wife. But his patience, his delicacy, his steadfastness +counted for little with Ninitta. She had been separated from him for +long years of betrothal, during which he had developed and changed +utterly. She had clung to her love and faith, but her love and faith +were given to an ardent youth glowing with a passion of which it was +hardly possible to rekindle the faint embers in the bosom of the man +she married. Even Ninitta, little given to analysis, could not fail to +recognize that her husband was a very different being from the lover +she had known ten years before. One fervid blaze of the old love would +have appealed more strongly to her peasant soul than all the patience +and tender forbearance of years. + +Indeed, it is doubtful whether Ninitta might not have been better and +happier had Herman been less kind. Had he made a slave of her, she +would have accepted her lot as uncomplainingly as the women of her race +had acquiesced in such a fate for stolid generations. She could have +understood that. As it was, she felt always the strain of being tried +by standards which she did not and could not comprehend; the misery of +being in a place for which she was unfitted and which she could not +fill, and the fact that no definite demands were made upon her +increased her trouble by the double stress of putting her upon her own +responsibility, and of leaving her ignorant in what her failures lay. + +There was, too, who knows what trace of heredity in the readiness with +which Ninitta tacitly adopted the idea that infidelity to a husband was +rather a matter of discretion and secrecy; whereas faithfulness to her +lover had been a point of the most rigorous honor. And Ninitta found +Arthur Fenton's silken sympathy so insinuating, so soothing; the +tempter, merely from his marvellous adaptability and faultless tact, so +satisfied her womanly craving, and fostered her vanity; she was so +completely made to feel that she was understood; she was tempted with a +cunning the more infernal because Fenton kept himself always up to the +level of sincerity by never admitting to himself that he intended any +evil, that it was small wonder that the time came when her ardent +Italian nature was so kindled that she became involuntarily the tempter +in her turn. + +It was one of the singular features of Fenton's present attitude that +even he, with all his clear-sightedness, failed to see the error of +supposing that his departure from the paths of rectitude was nothing +but a temporary episode. He fully expected to take up again his former +attitude toward life when he would have scorned such a contemptible +action as the betrayal of Hubbard, or the more trifling, but perhaps +even more humiliating act of smuggling Snaffle into the club that he +might win his money. He even had a certain vague feeling that if he had +any viciousness to get through he must do it at once, lest the +resumption of his former respectability should deprive him of the +opportunity. He maintained before the world, indeed, a perfect +propriety of deportment, partly from the force of habit and partly from +the instinctive cunning which always tried to preserve for him the +means of retreat; but so complete was his abandonment, for the time +being, to the enjoyment of evil, that he was constantly assailed with +the temptation to make some public demonstration of his state of +feeling. He secretly longed to shock people with blasphemous or +imprudent expressions; to outrage all honor by stealing his host's +spoons when he dined out; his fancy rioted in whimsical evil of which, +of course, he gave no outward sign. + +He had a scene with Alfred Irons, one morning, at his studio. Irons +came in with a look on his face which secretly enraged the artist, who +was almost rude in the coldness of his greeting, although the caller +only grinned at this evidence of his host's irritation. + +"Well, Fenton," he said, with bluff abruptness, "I suppose it is time +for us to square accounts, isn't it?" + +"I was not aware that we had any accounts to square," the other +returned, with his most icy manner. + +Irons laughed, and looked about the studio. + +"That's your new picture, I suppose" he observed, settling himself back +in his chair, with the determined mien of a man who recognizes the fact +that he has a battle to fight, but is perfectly willing to join the +fray. + +The significance of his air, as he nodded toward the big canvas on the +easel, so plainly brought up the unfortunate hold which the _Fatima_ +had given Irons over the artist, that Fenton flushed in spite of +himself. + +"It is a picture," he returned; "and it is unfinished." + +Irons chuckled. + +"Very well," he said. "We won't fence. I thought you might be +interested to know that we've got our railroad business into first-rate +shape; and there's no doubt that the Wachusett route will carry the +day. I tell you we had a hot time in the Senate yesterday," he went on, +warming with the excitement of his subject. "We made a pretty stiff +fight in the Railroad Committee to get them to report 'not expedient' +on the Feltonville petition. I tell you Staggchase fought like a bull +tiger at the hearing, and those fellows must have put in a pot of +money. But we beat 'em. Then the fight came to get the report accepted +in the Senate. Everybody said that Tom Greenfield would settle the +thing with a big broadside in favor of his own town; and I'll own that +I was scared blue myself. But we haven't been cooking Tom Greenfield +all this time for nothing. I don't mind telling you that your help in +the matter was of the greatest value; and when Greenfield got up in the +Senate yesterday, and put in his best licks for the Wachusett route, +you'd have thought they'd been struck by a cyclone. We got a vote to +sustain that report that buries the Feltonville project out of sight; +and now there's no doubt that the Railroad Commissioners will give us +our certificate without any more trouble." + +During this rather long and not wholly coherent speech, Fenton sat with +his eyes coldly fixed upon his visitor, without giving the slightest +sign of interest. + +"I am glad," he said, in a manner as distant as he could make it, "that +your business is likely to succeed to your mind." + +"Oh, it must succeed. The Commissioners only suspended operations till +the Legislature disposed of the question of special legislation. Now +they're all ready to give us what we want." + +"And all this," Fenton said, "is of what interest to me?" + +Irons flushed angrily. + +"You were good enough," he returned, drawing his lips down savagely, +"to give us a bit of information which we found of value. Very likely +we might have hit upon it somewhere else, but that's no matter, as long +as we did get it through you. We've no inclination to shirk our debt. +Now what's your price?" + +Fenton rose from his chair, with an impulsive movement; then he +controlled himself and sat down again. He looked at his visitor with +eyes of fire. + +"I am not aware," he returned, "that I have ever been in the market, so +that I have not been obliged to consider that question." + +Alfred Irons was silent for a moment. He felt somewhat as if he had +received a dash of ice-water in the face. He wrinkled up his narrow +eyes and studied the man before him. He could not understand what the +other was driving at. He was little likely to be able to follow the +subtile changes of Fenton's imaginative mind, and he could at present +see no explanation of the way in which his advances were met, except +the theory that the artist was fencing to insure a larger reward for +his treachery than might be given him if he accepted the first offer in +silence. + +Fenton, on his part, was so filled with rage that it was with +difficulty that he restrained himself. The length to which his intimacy +with Ninitta had now gone, however, made it absolutely necessary that +he should avoid a quarrel in which her name might be brought up; and he +had, moreover, put himself into the hands of Irons, by giving him the +information in regard to the plans for Feltonville. + +"Oh, well," Irons said at length, rising with the air of one who cannot +waste his time puzzling over trifles; "have it your own way. It's only +a matter of words." + +He took out his pocket-book, and with deliberation turned over the +papers it contained. He selected one, read it carefully, and then held +it out to Fenton. + +"Our manufacturing corporation is practically on its legs now," he +said, "and the stock will be issued at once. That entitles you to ten +shares. They will be issued at sixty, and ought to go to par by fall. +Indeed, in a year's time, we'll make them worth double the buying +price, or I am mistaken." + +Fenton looked at the paper as if he were reading it, but its letters +swam before his eyes. He needed money sorely, and had this gift come in +a shape more readily convertible into cash, he might have found it +impossible to resist it. As it was, he allowed himself to be fiercely +angry. He was furious, but he was consciously so. He raised his eyes, +flashing and distended, and fixed them upon the mean, hateful face +before him. He paused an instant to let his gaze have its effect. + +"And I understand," he said, with a slow, careful enunciation, "that in +consideration of the service I have done you, you give me your promise +never to mention the fact that you saw a lady in my studio." + +"Certainly," Irons returned. + +Fenton's look made him uncomfortable. The artist was reasserting the +old superiority over him which the visitor had found so irritating, and +it was Iron's instinct to meet this by an air of bluster. + +"Very well," Arthur said. "We may then consider what you are pleased to +call our account as closed." + +He walked forward deliberately and laid the paper he held on the heap +of glowing coals in the grate. It curled and shrivelled, and before +Irons could even compress his thick lips to whistle, nothing remained +of the document but a quivering film. + +"Well," Irons commented, "you are a damned fool; but then that's your +own business." + +The artist bowed gravely. + +"Naturally," he replied. + +He stood waiting as if he expected his caller to go, and, despite +himself, Irons felt that he was being bowed out of the studio. He took +his leave awkwardly, feeling that he had somehow been beaten with +trumps in his hand, and hating Fenton ten times more heartily than ever. + +"The confounded snob!" he muttered under his breath, as he went down +the stairs of Studio Building. "He puts on damned high-headed airs; but +I'm not done with him yet." + +And Fenton meanwhile stood looking at that thin fluttering film on the +red coals with despair in his heart. He had taken the money which he +imperatively needed to pay notes soon due, and invested in Princeton +Platinum, with which the obliging Erastus Snaffle had supplied him out +of pure generosity, if one could credit the seller's statements; and he +had been secretly depending for relief upon this very gift from Irons +which he had destroyed. His affairs were every day becoming more +inextricably involved, and Fenton, it has already been said, with all +his cleverness, had no skill as a financier. + +"Well," he commented to himself, shrugging his shoulders, "that is the +end of that; but I did make good play." + +The satisfaction of having well acted his part, and of having got the +better of Irons, did much toward restoring the artist's naturally +buoyant spirits. He fell to reckoning his resources, and by dint of +introducing into the account several pleasing but most improbable +possibilities, he succeeded in building up between himself and ruin a +fanciful barrier which for the moment satisfied him; and beyond the +moment he refused to look. + + + + +XX + + VOLUBLE AND SHARP DISCOURSE. + Comedy of Errors; ii.--I. + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson had in the course of a varied, if not always +dignified career, learned many things. There are people who seem +compelled by circumstances to waste much of their mental energy in +attending to the trivial and sordid details of life, and the widow +often repined that she was one of these unfortunates. She secretly +fretted not a little, for instance, over the fact that she was +compelled to be gracious to servants, to butcher and baker and +candlestick maker, from unmixed reasons of policy. To be gracious in +the _role_ of a _grande dame_ would have pleased her, but she resented +the necessity; and she avenged herself upon fate by gloating upon the +stupidity of that power in wasting her energies in these petty things, +when results so brilliant might have been attained by a more wise +utilization of her cleverness. + +This morning, for instance, when Mrs. Sampson chatted affably with the +carpenter who had come to do an odd job in the china closet of her tiny +dining-room, she really enjoyed the talk. She was one of those women +who cannot help liking to chat with a man, and John Stanton was both +good looking enough and intelligent enough to make her willing to exert +herself for his entertainment. This did not, however, prevent her being +inwardly indignant that she felt herself compelled to converse with +Stanton because experience had taught her that a little amiability +properly exhibited was sure to increase the work and lessen the bill at +the same time. She did not forego the pleasure of pitying herself +because she chanced to find the task imposed upon her an agreeable one. +There are few people in this world who are sufficiently just and +sufficiently sane to deny themselves the luxury of self pity merely +because the occasion does not justify that feeling. + +Stanton, with his coat off and his strong arms bare to the elbow, was +planing down a shelf to make it fit into its place, and as he paused to +shake the long creamy shavings out of his plane, he looked up to say +apologetically,-- + +"I'm making an awful litter, ma'am, but I don't see how I can help it." + +Mrs. Sampson laughed. + +"Oh, it isn't of the least consequence," she answered. "If I was +inclined to complain it would be because after keeping me waiting for +six weeks for this work, you come just when I have company staying with +me, and gentlemen coming to dine." + +She had walked into the room with a not illy simulated air of having +come with the intention of going out again immediately, and stood well +posed, so that her fine figure came out in relief against a crimson +Japanese screen. + +"I haven't anything to do with that, ma'am," Stanton replied. "The boss +makes out the orders, and we go where we are sent." + +"Well," the widow said, smiling brilliantly, and moving across the room +to the table where the dishes taken from the closet were piled, "it +can't be helped, I suppose; but I hope you will let me get things +cleared up in time for dinner." + +"Oh, I'll surely get through by eleven or half past." + +"And I don't have dinner till half past six." + +The carpenter looked up questioningly. Then he went on with his work. + +"I never can get used to city ways," he observed. "I don't see how +folks can get along without having dinner in the middle of the day when +it's dinner time." + +Mrs. Sampson busied herself with the plates, arranging things on the +sideboard ready for evening. Her guest, Miss Merrivale, was out driving +with Fred Rangely, and the widow's resources in the way of servants +were so limited that it was necessary that the hands of the mistress +should attend to many of the details of the housekeeping. She enjoyed +talking to this stalwart, vigorous fellow. She was alive to the last +fibre of her being to the influence of masculine perfections, and +Stanton was a splendidly built type of manhood. She utilized the +moments and secured an excuse for lingering by going on with her work +while the carpenter continued his, carrying out her theory of getting +the most out of a laborer by personal supervision, and withal +gratifying her intense and instinctive fondness for the presence of a +magnificent man. + +"You are not city bred, perhaps," she answered his last remark, for the +sake of saying something. + +"Oh, no, ma'am," John answered. "I was raised at Feltonville." + +The widow became alert at once. + +"Feltonville?" she repeated. "Why, I have a cousin living there, the +Hon. Thomas Greenfield." + +"Oh, Tom Greenfield. Everybody knows Tom Greenfield," John said, his +face lighting up. "We call him 'Honest Tom' up our way. He's here in +the Legislature now." + +"Yes, I know he is. He's coming here to dinner to-night." + +"Is he? He's an awful smart man, and he's a good one, too, as ever +walked. He's awful interested in Orin's getting the job to make the new +statue of _America_. Orin," he added in explanation, "Orin Stanton, +he's the sculptor and he's my brother; my half-brother, that is. You've +heard of him?" + +"Oh, of course," she answered, warmly. + +Mrs. Sampson knew little of Orin Stanton, but she did know that Alfred +Irons was on the committee having in charge the commission for the new +statue, and the fact that Mr. Greenfield had an interest, however +indirect, in the same matter, was a hint too valuable not to be acted +upon. + +Despite the confidence with which he had spoken to Fenton, the railroad +business was by no means settled. The Staggchase syndicate had rallied +to raise objections to prevent the Railroad Commissioners from +authorizing the other route. A hearing had been granted, and for it +elaborate preparations were being made. The Irons syndicate were +extremely anxious that Greenfield should speak at this hearing, but +there had been so much feeling aroused at Feltonville by his action in +the Senate that he was not inclined to do so; and Mrs. Sampson, who had +already proved so successful in influencing her relative, had been +requested to continue her efforts. + +The widow had pondered deeply upon the tactics she should use, and it +is to be noted that she set down the amount of the obligation incurred +by Irons as the greater because she had really become in a way fond of +Greenfield, and she was too clever not to understand the fact, to which +the senator with singular perversity remained obstinately blind, that +he could not but injure his political prestige by the course he was +taking. She had aroused his combativeness by telling him that if his +convictions forced him to vote against the Feltonville interest, people +would say he was bought. She knew that now this was said, and that +openly;--indeed, despite all her shrewdness and knowledge of human +nature, she had moments when she wondered whether the charge might not +be true, so incomprehensible did it seem that a man should throw away +his own advantage. She had no sentiment strong enough to make her +hesitate about going on to sacrifice Greenfield to her own interests, +but she distinctly disliked the fact that Irons should also profit by +the senator's loss. + +All day the widow pondered deeply on the situation, and the result of +the chance disclosure of John Stanton was that when her guests arrived +she made an opportunity to take Irons aside for a moment's confidential +talk. + +The widow's dinner-party was a somewhat singular one to give in +compliment to a young girl, there being no one of the guests near Miss +Merrivale's own age except Fred Rangely. The widow's acquaintance among +women whom she could ask to meet the New Yorker was limited, and having +decided upon inviting Greenfield, Irons, and Rangely to dinner, the +hostess sat gnawing her stylographic pen in despair a good half hour +before she could decide upon a fourth guest. A woman she must have, and +few women whom she wished to ask would come to her house even to call. +When she now and then gathered at an afternoon tea a handful of people +whose names she was proud to have reported in the society papers, she +did it by securing a lion of literary or of theatrical fame, whose +unwary feet she entangled in her cunningly laid snares before he knew +anything about social conditions in Boston. There were many people, +moreover, who would go to see a celebrity at a house like that of Mrs. +Sampson much as they would have gone to the theatre, when they would +have received neither the guest of honor nor the hostess, the latter of +whom, to their thinking, stood for the time being much in the position +of stage manager. + +Mrs. Sampson never set herself to a problem like this without a feeling +of bitterness. To consider what woman of any standing could be induced +to eat her salt brought her true social position before her with +painful vividness. She could not, in face of the facts which then +forced themselves upon her, shut her eyes to the truth that her painful +struggles for position had been pretty nearly fruitless. She did now +and then get an invitation to a crush in a desirable house, some +over-sensitive woman who had been to stare at one of Mrs. Sampson's +captures thus discharging her debt, and at the same time virtually +wiping her hands of all intercourse with the dashing widow. As for +asking her to their tables or going to hers, everybody understood that +that was not to be thought of. + +With the cleverness born of desperation, Mrs. Sampson solved her +difficulty by asking Miss Catherine Penwick to fill the vacant place. +Miss Catherine Penwick was the last forlorn and fluttering leaf on the +bare branches of a lofty but expiring family tree. The Penwicks had +come over in the Mayflower, or at a period yet more remote, and the +acme of the prosperity and social distinction of the name was +coincident with the second administration of President Washington. +Since that time its decadence had been steady; at first slow, but later +with the accelerating motion common to falling bodies, until nothing +remained of the family revenues, little but a tradition of the family +greatness, and none of the race but this frostbitten old lady, poor and +forsaken in her desolate old age. + +Miss Penwick was one of the learned ladies of her generation, a fact +which counted for less in the erudite day into which it was her +misfortune to linger than in those of her far-away youth. She struggled +against the tide with pathetic bravery, endeavoring to eke out some +sort of a livelihood by giving feeble lectures on Greek art, which no +living being wished to hear, or could possibly be supposed to be any +better for hearing, but to which the charitably disposed subscribed +with spasmodic benevolence. The poor creature, with her antique curls +quivering about her face, yellow and wrinkled now, its high-bred +expression sadly marred by the look of anxious eagerness which comes of +watching, like the prophet, for the ravens to bring one's dinner, was +but too glad to be invited to sit at any table where she could get a +comfortable meal and be allowed to play for the moment at being the +grand lady her ancestresses had been in reality. + +"I hope you don't mind my asking Miss Penwick as the only lady," Mrs. +Sampson said to her guest; "but she is such a dear old creature, and +our family and hers have been intimate for centuries. She is getting +old, poor dear, and she hasn't any money any more, just as I haven't. +But you know she is wiser than Minerva's owl, and quite the fashion in +Boston. One really is nobody who doesn't know Miss Penwick; and she is +_so_ well bred." + +Miss Penwick, dear old soul, had a feeling that Mrs. Amanda Welsh +Sampson was somehow too hopelessly modern for one of her generation +ever to be really in sympathy with the widow; but Mrs. Sampson had been +born a Welsh, and Miss Catherine was too unworldly to be aware of all +the gossip and even scandal which had made the name of the dashing +adventuress of so evil savor in the nostrils of people like Mrs. +Frederick Staggchase. + +And it must be confessed also, that to such petty economies was the +last of the Penwicks reduced by poverty that a dinner was an object to +her. She could not afford to lose an opportunity of dining at the price +of two horse-car tickets, and so promptly at the moment she presented +herself in the dainty elegance of bits of real old lace, with family +miniatures and locks of hair from the illustrious heads of +great-great-grandmothers and grandfathers decorously framed in split +pearls, the lustre of the jewels, like that of their wearer, tarnished +by time. + +Miss Merrivale did feel that the company assembled was an odd one, +although she lived too far away to appreciate the fact that none of the +guests, with the possible exception of Rangely, were exactly what she +would have been asked to dine with at home. A country member, a +self-made vulgarian, an antiquated spinster, and a literateur who, +after all, was received rather upon sufferance into such exclusive +houses as he entered at all, made up a group of which Miss Merrivale, +with feminine instinct, felt the inferiority, despite the fact that she +had no means of placing the guests. Miss Penwick appreciated the social +standing of her fellow-diners, but she had by a long course of social +humiliations come to accept unpleasant conditions where getting a +dinner was concerned; and she was, moreover, somewhat relieved that at +Mrs. Sampson's she was not obliged to meet anybody worse. Her instincts +were keen enough, after all her melancholy experiences, to enable her +to recognize the fact that Tom Greenfield was the most truly a +gentleman of the three men, and she was pleased that he should take her +in to dinner. + +Mrs. Sampson, as she went in on the arm of Irons, contrived to let him +know what she had heard that morning from young Stanton of Greenfield's +interest in the young sculptor; adding a hint or two of the use to be +made of this information. Rangely, just behind her, was chatting with +Miss Frances in that half amorous badinage which some girls always +provoke, perhaps because they expect and keenly relish it. + +"Oh, no," he observed, just as Mrs. Sampson was able to give an ear to +what was being said by the young people. "I am not fickle. I am +constancy itself, but when you are in New York and I am in Boston, you +really can't expect me to sigh loud enough to be heard all that +distance." + +"I know you too well to suppose you will sigh at all," she returned, +with a coquettish air. "Especially with the consolations I am given to +understand that you have near at hand." + +"What consolations?" he asked, visibly disconcerted. + +"What has that confounded widow been telling her?" he wondered +inwardly. "Is it Mrs. Staggchase or Ethel Mott she's aiming at?" + +Miss Merrivale tossed her head, as they paused in the doorway of the +tiny dining-room a moment to give Mr. Irons opportunity to convey his +ungainly length into its proper niche. Her shot had been purely a +random one and, unless one believes in telepathy, so was the question +by which she abruptly changed the subject. + +"Do you know my cousin, Mrs. Frederick Staggchase?" + +He held himself in hand wonderfully. + +"Oh, yes," was his reply. "I know Mrs. Staggchase very well, but I +didn't know she was your cousin. All the good gifts of life seem to +fall to her lot." + +"Thanks for nothing. She has not been to see me. She invited me to dine +and I declined, and then she wrote and asked me to visit there when I +finished my stay here." + +"Shall you do it?" + +The thought with which Rangely asked this question was one oddly +mingled of regret and of hope. He had flirted too seriously with Miss +Merrivale to wish to meet her at Mrs. Staggchase's, although he had +never seriously cared for her; and he reflected with a humorous sense +of relief that if the pretty New Yorker should really visit her cousin, +he was likely to be put in a position to give his undivided attention +to wooing Miss Mott, a consummation for which he wished without having +the strength of mind to bring it about. As she let his question pass in +silence, he smiled to himself at the ignominious manner in which he +must retreat from his attitude as the devoted admirer of Mrs. +Staggchase and of Miss Merrivale, feeling that to set about the earnest +attempt to win Ethel would be quite consolation enough to enable him to +reconcile himself to even this. The comfort of having circumstances +make for him a decision which he should make for himself, is often to a +self-indulgent man of far more importance than the decision itself. + +As the dinner progressed, Miss Penwick, warming with the good +cheer--for Mrs. Sampson was too thoroughly a man's woman not to +appreciate the value of palatable viands--become decidedly loquacious; +and at last, by a happy coincidence for which her hostess could have +hugged her on the spot, she introduced the name of Orin Stanton. + +"I hear you are on the _America_ committee, Mr. Irons," she said. "We +ladies are so much interested in that just now. I called on Mrs. +Bodewin Ranger yesterday, and she is really enthusiastic over this +young Stanton that's going to make it. He is going to make it, isn't +he?" + +Irons laughed his vulgar laugh, which Fenton once said was the laugh of +a swineherd counting his pigs. + +"It has not been decided," he answered. "Stanton seems to have a good +many friends." + +"Oh, he has, indeed," responded Miss Penwick eagerly. "He is a young +man of extraordinary genius. I saw a beautiful notice of him in the +_Daily Observer_ the other morning, Mr. Rangely," she continued, +turning to Fred, "and Mrs. Frostwinch said she thought you wrote it. It +was very appreciative." + +"Yes, I wrote it," he responded, not very warmly. "Mr. Stanton is +endorsed by Mr. Calvin, you know, Mr. Irons; and Mr. Calvin is our +highest authority, I suppose." + +Of those present no one except the hostess was surprised at this +admission, which marked the great change in Rangely's position since +the days when, like Arthur Fenton, he was a pronounced Pagan and +denounced Peter Calvin as the incarnation of Philistinism in art. On +one occasion Rangely had boldly reproached his friend with having gone +over to the camp of the Philistines; and he had been met with the +retort,-- + +"We have found it pleasant in the camp of Philistia, have we not?" + +"We?" Rangely had echoed, with an accent of indignation. + +"Yes," Arthur had replied, with cool scorn. "You Pagans pitched into me +because I made my way over; but I am not so stupid as not to see that +there has been considerable sneaking after me." + +"But at least," Fred had urged, "we fellows preserved the decency of a +respect for the principles we had professed." + +"Ah, bah! The principles we had professed Were the impossible dreams of +extreme youth. Honesty is a weakness that is outgrown by any man who +has brains enough to do his own thinking. You still profess the +principles, and betray them, while I boldly disavow them at the start." + +"At least," Rangely had said, driven to his last defences, "if we have +fallen off, we have done it unconsciously, and you"-- + +"I," Fenton had flamed out in interruption, "have, at least, made it a +point to be honest with myself, whether I was with anybody else or not. +I find it easier to be mistaken than to be vague, and I had far rather +be." + +The thought of Fenton floated through Fred's mind as he endorsed Peter +Calvin, and with no especial thought of what he was saying, he +observed-- + +"Arthur Fenton wants Grant Herman to have the commission, and I must +say Herman would be sure to do it well." + +"If Fenton wants Herman," Irons returned, with an attempt at lightness +which only served to emphasize the genuine bitterness which underlaid +his words, "that settles my voting for him." + +"Don't you and Mr. Fenton agree?" the hostess asked. "I supposed you +were one of his admirers or you wouldn't have had him paint your +portrait." + +"I admire his works more than I do him," Irons answered, adding with +clumsy jocularity "I am waiting for offers from the friends of +candidates." + +"I am interested in young Stanton," Mr. Greenfield said; "I might make +you an offer." + +"Oh, to oblige you," the other responded, "I will consent to support +him without money and without price." + +The talk meant little to any one save the hostess and Irons, but they +both felt that this move in their game, slight as it seemed, was both +well made and important. Later in the evening Irons took occasion to +assure Greenfield that he would really support Stanton in the +committee, adding that with the vote of Calvin this would settle the +matter. When a few days later Irons asked the decision of Greenfield in +regard to the railroad matter, he found that the attitude of the +chairman of the committee was satisfactory. And honest Tom Greenfield +had the satisfaction of believing that he had been instrumental in +furthering the interests of Orin Stanton, in whose success he felt the +pride common to people in a country district when a genius has appeared +among them and secured recognition from the outside world sufficient to +assure them that they are not mistaken in their admiration. Nor was the +mind of the country member disturbed by any suspicion that he had been +managed and deceived, and that he had really played into the hands of +that most unscrupulous corporation, the Wachusett Syndicate. + + + + +XXI + + A MINT OF PHRASES IN HIS BRAIN. + Love's Labor's Lost; i.--I. + +It was a peculiarity which the St. Filipe shared with most other clubs +the world over, that the doings of its committees in private session +were always known within twenty-four hours and discussed by the knot of +habitues of the house who kept close watch upon its affairs. It did not +long remain a secret therefore, that the Executive Committee had taken +a firm stand in regard to the troublesome matter of introducing +strangers illegally, and that Fenton had been summoned to appear before +them to answer to the charge of introducing Snaffle. + +The excitement was intense. Fenton was a man whose affairs always +provoked comment, and while there was much discussion in regard to what +would be done, there was quite as much as to how he would take it. The +men who had been in the card-room on the night in question chanced not +to be on hand to say that Snaffle had appeared alone, and the word of +the servant was accepted as conclusive. + +"Fenton's a queer fellow anyway," one man observed reflectively. "He's +a damned arrogant cuss." + +"He has not only the courage of his convictions," Ainsworth responded, +"but he has also the courage of his dislikes." + +"He will never give up the assumption that he is above all rules," the +first speaker continued. "He feels that he is being bullied if he is +ever asked to submit to a law of any kind." + +"The committee are bound to put things through this time. They've been +waiting for a chance to jump on somebody for a long time, and Fenton +put a rod in pickle for himself when he tried to run Rangely in for +secretary last election." + +"One thing is certain," Ainsworth said, rising and buttoning his coat; +"Fenton isn't an easy man to tackle, and if we don't have some music +out of this before we are done, I shall be surprised." + +There was a general feeling that something unusual would come of this +action on the part of the Executive Committee. Fenton was a man of so +much audacity, so fertile in resource, and so persistent in his +efforts, that while nobody knew what he would do, it was generally +supposed that he would make a fight; and expectation was alive to see +it. + +As to Fenton, he was at first completely overwhelmed by the summons +from the committee. Disgrace, reproof,--even examination was a horrible +and unspeakable humiliation, which it seemed to him impossible to bear. +He hated life and was so thoroughly wretched as to be physically almost +prostrated, although his strong will kept him upon his feet still. + +As he reflected, however, the hopeful side of the situation presented +itself to his mind. He had been confident that his tracks were so well +hidden that his share in introducing Snaffle into the Club would not be +suspected, unless the guest had himself mentioned it. He made the +Princeton Platinum stock a pretext for calling upon the speculator, and +endeavored to discover whether the latter had spoken, but he learned +nothing. He was not quite ready to ask frankly whether Snaffle had +betrayed him, and short of doing so he could not discover. Still Fenton +told himself that the only thing he had to fear was some hearsay that +might have reached the ears of the Executive Committee, and he trusted +to his cleverness to answer this. + +He presented himself at the meeting of the committee with a bold front +and an air of restrained indignation, which became him very well. All +his histrionic instincts were aroused by such an occasion as this. He +delighted to act a part, and the fact that real issues were the stake +of his success, added a zest which he could not have found on the +boards. He spoke to the gentlemen present or replied to their greeting +with a manner of dignity which was effective because it was not in the +least overdone, and then sat down very quietly to await what might be +said. + +He had not long to wait. The Secretary of the St. Filipe heartily +disliked Fenton, chiefly because Fenton openly disliked him. He was a +man who was petty enough to take advantage of his office to gratify his +personal spite, and shallow enough not to perceive that he had done so. +His whole fat person quivered with indignant gratification as he saw +Fenton in the _role_ of a culprit, and he bent his look upon the notes +spread out before him because he was aware that his eyes showed more +satisfaction than was by any means decorous. + +The meeting partook of that awkward unofficial nature which makes +matters of discipline so hard in a social club. The men present were +Fenton's companions and associates, and the dignity with which their +position invested them was hardly sufficient to put them at their ease. +They heartily wished to be done with the disagreeable business, and +were not without a feeling of personal vexation against the culprit for +forcing upon them anything so unpleasant as sitting in judgment upon +him. + +The chairman, Mr. Staggchase, opened the case by saying in an offhand +manner, that they were all very sorry for the turn things had taken, +but that the evil of having strangers introduced into the club had +grown to proportions which made it impossible longer to overlook it, +and that this was especially true of the bringing into the house men +who not only were there in violation of the rules, but who were of a +character which made it more than a violation of good taste to +introduce them into the club at all. He added that he was convinced +that the present case was the result of a misunderstanding, and he +hoped the gentleman who had been asked to meet the committee would +comprehend that he was there rather to assist the government of the +club in maintaining discipline, than for any other reason. + +He looked at Fenton and smiled as he concluded, and the artist bowed to +him with a glance of answering friendliness. Thus far all had been +pleasant, so pleasant indeed that the corpulent Secretary had ceased +smiling. The remarks of Mr. Staggchase had been conciliatory and +gracious, and showed so distinct a leaning toward the accused, that the +Secretary felt himself to be personally attacked in this slighting way +of holding charges which he had given. He drew his thin lips together +and cleared his throat in a preparatory cough, rustling his papers as +if to call attention to them. + +"If the Secretary is ready," Mr. Staggchase said, "he may read the +memorandum of the matter about which we wished to consult Mr. Fenton." + +"The charge against Mr. Fenton," the Secretary responded, with +deliberate insolence, "is that on the evening of March 13th he brought +Mr. Erastus Snaffle into the club house, knowing that that individual +had already been several times in the club within the time specified by +the by-laws, and knowing him to be a man unfit to be introduced into a +gentleman's club at any time." + +"I have the honor of Mr. Erastus Snaffle's acquaintance," Fenton +interpolated, in a perfectly cool, self-controlled voice, "in virtue of +having had him presented to me by the Secretary of this club in the +pool-room upstairs." + +The members of the committee smiled, but the Secretary flushed with +anger. The statement was literally true, and he could not at the moment +go into the rather lengthy explanation which would have made it evident +that his thus standing sponsor for Mr. Snaffle was entirely the result +of a provoking accident rather than of his choice. He hurried on to +cover the awkward interruption. + +"Mr. Fenton further broke a rule of the club in neglecting, or I should +say omitting to register his guest, and his share in the matter might +not have been known had not Mr. Snaffle told the servant at the door +that he came at Mr. Fenton's invitation." + +Arthur had settled himself in an attitude of placid attention, secretly +enjoying the clever thrust he had given his adversary. At these last +words he sat upright. + +"Mr. Staggchase," he said, turning toward the chairman, and speaking +with sudden gravity, "do I understand that I have been summoned before +this committee in consequence of the report of a servant." + +"I think such is the fact, Mr. Fenton," was the reply, "but of course +your simple word will be received as ample exoneration." + +"Exoneration!" echoed Fenton, starting to his feet, his face pale with +excitement which easily passed for virtuous indignation. "Do you fancy +I would stoop to exonerate myself from such a charge? Since when has +the testimony of servants been received in a club of gentlemen?" + +He had his cue, and he felt perfectly safe in letting himself go. He +was frightened at the possible consequences of the coil in which he had +become involved, since he foresaw easily enough that while his only +course was to carry things through with a high hand, his words had +already bitterly incensed the Secretary and might in the end set the +committee also against him. He experienced a wild delight, however, in +giving vent to his excitement in any form, and this simulation of +burning indignation served to relieve his pent-up nervousness. He did +believe the principle upon which with so much quickness he had hit as +his best defence, and could with all his force sustain it. He looked +about the room in silence a moment, but nobody was quick enough to pin +him down to facts and insist upon his denying or allowing the charge +brought against him. The indisputable correctness of his position that +a servant's testimony could not be taken against a member in a club of +gentlemen confounded them, and before any one thought of the right +thing to say, Fenton continued, with growing indignation,-- + +"Why I personally should be chosen for insult by this committee I will +not attempt to decide, although the source of the malice is to be +guessed from the manner in which the evidence was brought to their +notice. When the Secretary has a charge to bring against me that a +gentleman would bring, I shall be ready to answer it. A charge like +this it is an insult to expect me to notice." + +He walked toward the door, as he finished, and turned to bow as he put +his hand on the latch. + +"Oh, come now, Fenton," Mr. Staggchase said confusedly, "don't go off +that way. Of course"-- + +He hesitated, not knowing how to continue, and another member took up +the word. + +"All that is nonsense, of course. If the servant was mistaken, why +can't you say so, and put yourself right with the committee?" + +"Because," Fenton answered, throwing up his head, "I prefer retaining +my self-respect even to putting myself right with this or any other +committee. Good morning." + +He went out quickly. He felt that this was a good point for an exit, +and he wished to get away lest he should be unable to keep up to the +level of the scene as he had played it. So thoroughly was his whole +attitude consciously theatrical, that he smiled to himself outside the +door as the whimsical reflection crossed his mind that he really +deserved a call before the curtain. Then he remembered how awkward he +should find it to be called back; and with a smile he ran down stairs +to get his hat and coat, and hurried out of the house into the +darkening spring afternoon. + +When Fenton had gone, the members of the committee sat looking at each +other in that condition of bewilderment which could easily turn to +either indignation or contrition as the direction might be determined +by the first impulse. Unfortunately for Fenton, it was his enemy the +Secretary who spoke first. + +"Heroics are all very well," he sneered, "but they don't change facts. +He's evidently played poker enough to know how to bluff in good shape." + +There was a rustle of impatience in the room. The men seemed to be +reminded that a very high tone had been taken with them, and that they +had all come in for a share of the rebuke which Fenton had +administered. They were irritated by the mingling of a secret +concurrence with the artist's position that a member of the club should +not be impeached on the testimony of a servant, and the conviction that +Fenton was really guilty of the charge brought against him, so that it +was contrary to both justice and common sense to allow him to escape on +a mere technicality. + +"Fenton is so hot-headed," Mr. Staggchase began; and then he added: "I +can't say that I blame him so very much, though. I don't fancy I should +be very amiable myself if I were brought up on the word of one of the +servants." + +"But it was the duty of the servant to inform me," the Secretary +returned doggedly, "and why shouldn't the committee take action on +information which comes to it that way as well as any other. We didn't +set the servant to spy on the members, and I can't for the life of me +follow anything so fine spun as Fenton's theory. He only set it up, in +my opinion, to get himself out of a bad box." + +"He might at least have had the grace to deny it, if he could," another +man said. "It leaves us in a devilish awkward fix as it is. We can't +drop the matter, and if he shouldn't be guilty"-- + +"Oh, he's guilty, fast enough," the Secretary interrupted, his little +green eyes shining under their fat lids. "He's one of the set that have +been playing poker in the club until it's begun to be talked about +outside, and I saw him go out with Snaffle that night myself." + +There was some deliberation, some doubting, and some hesitation in +regard to the proper course in such a case. The committee felt that +their own dignity had suffered, that their authority should be +asserted, and their majesty avenged. Mr. Staggchase was the most +lenient in his views of the situation, and even he admitted that +whether Fenton were innocent of the offence with which he was charged +or not, he had at least treated the committee most cavalierly, and +against the ground taken by most of the members, that if Fenton had +been able to deny the charge he would have done so, he could only +reply,-- + +"I don't think that at all follows. In the first place he wasn't asked. +He is just the man to feel that a summons before this committee is in +itself a pretty severe reprimand, as plenty of men would. He's high +spirited and sensitive as the devil, and there was nothing in what he +said to-day that wasn't compatible to my mind with his being perfectly +innocent. Indeed, I don't believe he has cheek enough to carry it off +so, if he were not sure of his position." + +"Oh, as to cheek," retorted the Secretary, venomously, "Arthur Fenton +has enough of that for anything. And, as for that matter, almost any +man will fight when he is cornered." + +In the end the Secretary prevailed, and the committee, albeit somewhat +doubtingly, passed a vote of censure upon Fenton. The Secretary was +directed to communicate this fact to the artist, and he took it upon +himself also to include the information in the printed notices of the +monthly meeting which were sent out a few days later, an innovation +which stirred the club to its very depths and became town talk within +twenty-four hours. + + + + +XXII + + HIS PURE HEART'S TRUTH. + Two Gentlemen of Verona; iv.--2. + +Helen Greyson was at work in her studio modelling the hand of a statue. +The pretty hand of Melissa Blake lay before her, so near that Milly's +face came close to her own as she sat beside the modelling stand. It +was one of those anomalies of which nature is fond the world over, and +in which she displays nowhere more whimsical wilfulness than in New +England, that Melissa, born of a race of plain country farmers, should +have the hand of a princess. It was slender and beautiful, with +exquisite taper fingers which had not as yet been spoiled by hard work, +although were the present generation of New England maidens called upon +to labor as vigorously as did their grandmothers the girl's hands would +hardly have retained their comeliness so long. + +Helen was working silently, absorbed in thought, and going on with her +modelling mechanically. She was pondering the old question, whether she +had done well in coming back to America, or whether she should have +still kept the ocean between herself and Grant Herman. While she was in +Europe, the longing to see him, to feel that he was near, to breathe +the same air, had become ever more strenuous, until at last it could +not be resisted. The sense of safety she had while so far away +prevented her from appreciating that she was returning to the same +danger from which she had fled. She told herself that time had so +softened and changed her feelings, that Herman with wife and son was so +different from the lonely man who had sought her love, and whom she had +bravely renounced from a stern sense of duty, whether wise or not, that +there could be no danger. She was a woman, and she had kept temptation +at a distance until the nerve of resistance was worn out; then she had +come home. + +Now she asked herself what she had gained. She had renounced the +passive acquiescence which she had won by years of hard struggle, and +she had in exchange only a fierce unrest which was well-nigh +unendurable. To be near Herman and yet to be as far removed from him as +if the universe were between was a torture such as she had not dreamed +of. All the old love awoke, and something of the old conviction which +had made renunciation possible had failed her with time. + +Nothing is more common than for the conscience half unconsciously to +assume that a heroic self-sacrifice has been of so great efficacy that +even the conditions which made it right are thereby altered. Without +realizing it, Helen's mental attitude was that in giving up Herman's +love and bringing about his marriage to Ninitta that his honor might be +unstained, she had accomplished a self-denial so tremendous that even +the need of making it was thereby destroyed. The idea was paradoxical, +but that a proposition is paradoxical is no obstacle to its being held +firmly by the feminine mind. + +But by coming home Helen had also been put in a position where she +could not avoid seeing something of Herman's married life, and it was +at once impossible for her to help perceiving that it was a failure, or +to evade the conclusion that if it were a failure she was to blame for +the part she had taken in bringing it about. It is always dangerous to +judge of actions by their results, since by so doing one refers them to +the code of expediency rather than to that of ethics. Helen was not +prepared to pronounce her old decision wrong; but the feeling that her +renunciation had been vain forced itself more and more strongly upon +her. + +She was losing sight of her conviction that the need of doing what one +felt to be right was in itself so imperative that no course of action +could be wrong which was based upon this principle. The truth is that +all mortals, and perhaps women especially, feel that a virtuous +resolution, a noble self-denial, must bring with it a spiritual +uplifting which will render it possible to hold to it. The hour of +self-conquest is one of inner exaltation which is so vivid that it is +impossible to realize that it can be otherwise than perpetual; a life +of self-conquest is a continuous struggle against the double doubt +which is the ghost of the short-lived exaltation that promised to be +immortal. + +From her reverie, Helen was aroused by a question of Melissa which +almost seemed as if suggested by thought transference. + +"Do you know," Melissa asked, "why the commission was not given to Mr. +Herman?" + +"The commission?" Helen repeated, so startled by the mention of the +name which had been in her mind that for the moment she did not +comprehend the question. + +"Why, for the _America_," returned Melissa. "I thought you knew Mr. +Herman, and Orin said that you had withdrawn." + +Helen looked at her with a puzzled air. + +"I did withdraw," she said, "but I did not know the matter had been +decided. Who is Orin? Orin Stanton?" + +"Yes, he is to make the statue." + +"Did he tell you so?" + +"Yes, he thinks I helped him by speaking to Mrs. Fenton; but she said +Mr. Calvin already wanted Orin, so it made no difference." + +"How long has it been decided?" asked Helen. + +"He showed me the letter from Mr. Calvin day before yesterday. The +committee hadn't met, but Mr. Irons had promised his vote, and he and +Mr. Calvin make a majority. Orin had been afraid Mr. Irons would vote +for Mr. Herman, and I did not know but what you could tell. We are all +so much interested in the statue." + +Helen laid down her tools with an air of sudden determination. + +"Why are you?" she asked, rather absently. "When Mrs. Fenton told me +she had asked you to let me model your hands, she didn't mention your +being interested in my art." + +"Oh, I don't know anything about it," returned the other, with the +utmost frankness, "only that Orin's a sculptor." + +Helen smiled at the girl's _naivete_. + +"And am I to congratulate you on Orin's success?" + +Melissa blushed. + +"Of course I am pleased," she answered, "especially for John's sake." + +"And John?" Helen pursued, finishing her preparations for leaving her +work. + +"John is Orin's half-brother," Milly replied, in a voice and with a +manner which made it unnecessary for Mrs. Greyson to question farther. + +"I shall not work any more this morning," she said. "I have to go out." + +She dressed herself for the street, and, for the first time in six +years, took the well-remembered way toward Herman's studio down among +the warehouses and wharves. She was indignant at the action of the +committee, of which she felt that Herman should be told. As, however, +she neared the place, old associations and feelings made her heart beat +quickly. When she put aside the great Oran rug and entered the studio, +she felt a choking sensation in her throat, and the tears sprang to her +eyes. She remembered so vividly the day when she had stood in this very +spot and parted from her lover, that it almost seemed to her for the +moment as if she had come to enact that scene again. + +The place was more bare than of old. The pictures from the walls and +many of the ornaments had been removed to the house which Herman had +fitted up on his marriage with Ninitta; but in his usual place stood +the sculptor, at work by his modelling stand, and over the rail of the +gallery above, toward which her eyes instinctively turned as the old +memories wakened, she saw the sculptured edge of a marble Grecian +altar. The recollections were too poignant, and she started forward +quickly, as if to escape an actual presence. + +The studio was so large that Herman had fallen into the way of saving +himself the trouble of answering the bell by putting up the sign "Come +in" upon the door, and he was not aware of Helen's presence until he +saw her standing with her hand upon the portiere, as he had seen her +six years before when she had renounced him, placing his honor before +their love. With an exclamation that was almost a cry, he dropped his +modelling tool and started forward to meet her. + +"Helen!" he cried, and the intensity of his feelings made it impossible +for him to say more. + +Yet, however strong the emotions which were aroused by this +meeting,--and for both of them the moment was one of keenest +feeling,--they were schooled to self-control, and after that first +exclamation the sculptor was outwardly calm as he went to greet his +visitor. Even for those who are not guided by principle, self-restraint +comes as the result of habit, and none of us in this age of the world +assert the right of emotion to vent itself in utterance. The +Philoctetes of Sophocles might shriek to high heaven, and Mars vent the +anguish of his wounds in cries and sobs, but we have changed all that. +Even the muse of tragedy is self-possessed in modern days; good +breeding has conquered even the fierce impulse of passion to find +outlet in words. + +Both Herman and Helen were alive to the danger of the situation, and +their meeting was one of perfect outward calm. + +"Good morning," she said, "it seemed so natural to walk in, that I +should almost have done it if your card hadn't been on the door." + +She held out her hand as she spoke. + +"I cannot shake hands," he said, "I am at work, you see." + +She answered by a little conventional laugh which might mean anything. +Both of them hesitated a moment, their real feeling being too deep for +it to be easy quickly to call to mind conventionalities of talk. Then +the sculptor turned to lead the way up the studio, waving his hand as +he did so toward the place where he had been working. + +"You couldn't have come more opportunely," remarked he. "You are just +in time to criticise my model for _America_. I was just looking it over +for the last touches." + +"It was that I came to talk about," Helen returned, moving forward +toward the modelling stand on which was a figure in clay. "I have just +learned that the commission has already been awarded; and I thought you +ought to know how the committee is acting." + +"I do know," he answered. "Mr. Hubbard came and told me, although the +committee meant to keep the decision quiet until after the models were +in." + +"But you are finishing yours." + +"Yes, I declined to enter a competition and was hired to make a model. +Of course I finish that, whatever the decision of the committee. Mr. +Hubbard told me because he had before assured me of his support, and he +wished to avoid even the suspicion of double dealing." + +"The action of the committee is outrageous!" Helen protested, +indignantly. "They might as well put up a tobacconist's sign as the +thing Orin Stanton will make. It shows that you are right in refusing +to enter a competition, since they have decided without even seeing the +models they asked for." + +"Yes," was Herman's reply. He paused a moment, and added, "Was that the +reason you withdrew?" + +Helen flushed slightly, and turned her face aside. + +"It hardly seemed worth while," she began; but he interrupted her. + +"I would not have gone in," he said, "even as I did, if I had known +there was a chance of your competing." + +She turned toward him, and her eyes unconsciously said what she had +been careful not to put into words. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, with sudden comprehension. "You knew I was in it +and that is why you withdrew." + +"Well," she said, trying to laugh lightly, "it would not have been +modest for me to compete against my master." + +She moved away as she spoke. She had a tingling sense of his nearness, +a passionate yearning to turn toward him and to break down all barriers +which made her afraid. She felt that she had been rash in coming to the +studio, and had overestimated her own strength. She glanced around +quickly, as if in search of something which would help to bring the +conversation to conventional levels; but her eye fell upon a +terra-cotta figure which sent the blood surging into her head so +fiercely that a rushing sound seemed to fill her ears. It was the nude +figure of a soldier lying dead upon a trampled mound, with broken +poppies about him, while across the pedestal ran the inscription,-- + + "I strew these opiate flowers + Round thy restless pillow." + +It was the figure beside the clay model of which, yet wet from his +hand, the sculptor had told her, that day long ago, of her husband's +death. In the years since, she had believed herself to have worn her +love into friendship, to have beaten her passion into affection; but +every woman, even the most clear-headed, deceives herself in matters of +the heart, and now Helen knew what pitiful self-deception her belief +had been. + +Over and over and over again has it been noted how great a part in +human life and action is played by trifles, and despite this constant +reiteration the fact remains both true and unappreciated. And yet it +is, after all, more exact to consider that the thing is simply our +habit of noticing the obvious trifles rather than the underlying +causes, as it is the straws on the surface of the current that catch +our eye rather than the black flood which sweeps them along. It was the +chance sight of the figure of the dead soldier which now broke down +Helen's self-control, but the true explanation of her outburst lay in +long pent up and well-nigh resistless emotions. + +She turned toward her companion with a passionate gesture. + +"It is no use," she broke forth, "I did wrong to come home. I should +have kept the ocean between us. I must go back." + +Herman grasped the edge of the modelling stand strongly. + +"Helen," he said, in a voice of intensest feeling; "We may as well face +the truth. We were wrong six years ago." + +"Stop!" she interrupted piteously, putting up her hand. "You must not +say it. Don't tell me that all this misery has been for nothing, and +that we have sacrificed our lives to an error. And, besides," she went +on, as he regarded her without speaking, "however it was then, surely +now Ninitta has claims on you which cannot be gainsaid." + +"Yes," he said bitterly, "and of whose making?" + +She looked at him, pale as death, and with all the anguish of years of +passionate sorrow in her eyes. He faltered before the reproach of her +glance, but he would not yield. The disappointment of his married life, +his sorrow in the years of separation, the selfish masculine instinct +which makes all suffering seem injustice, asserted themselves now. The +effect of the fact that he was forbidden to love this woman was to make +him half consciously feel as if he had now the right to consider only +himself. He almost seemed absolved from any claims for pity which she +might once have had upon him. Even the noblest of men, except the two +or three in the history of the race who have shown themselves to be +possessed of a certain divine effeminacy, instinctively feel that a +disappointment in passion is an absolution from moral obligation. + +"See," he said, with a force that was almost brutal; "we loved each +other and we have made that love simply a means of torture. My God! +Helen, the besotted idiots that fling themselves under the wheels of +Juggernaut are no more mad than we were." + +She hurried to him and clasped both her hands upon his arm. + +"Stop!" she begged, her voice broken with sobs, "for pity's sake, stop! +It is all true. I have said it to myself a hundred times; but I will +not believe it. Don't you see," she went on, the tears on her cheek, +"that to say this is to give up everything, that if there is no truth +and no right, there is nothing for which we can respect each other, and +our love has no dignity, no quality we should be willing to name." + +He looked at her with fierce, unrelenting eyes. + +"Ah," he retorted cruelly, "my love is too strong for me to argue about +it." + +She loosed her hold upon his arm and stepped backward a little, +regarding him despairingly. She did not mind the taunt, but the moral +fibre of her nature always responded to opposition. She broke out +excitedly into irrelevant inconsistency. + +"It is right," she cried. "We were right six years ago, and you shall +not break my ideal now. I must respect you, Grant. Out of the wreck of +my life I will save that, that I can honor where I love." + +She stopped to choke back the sobs which shook her voice, and to wipe +away the tears which blinded her. The sculptor stood immovable; but his +face was softened and full of yearning. + +"And, oh," Helen said, the memory of sorrowful years surging upon her, +"you would not try to shake my conviction if you realized how +absolutely it has been my only support. It is so bitter to doubt +whether the thing that wrings the heart is really right after all." + +Herman made a sudden movement as if he would start forward, then he +restrained himself. + +"Forgive me," he said, in a strangely softened voice. "You have +forgiven me for being cruel before. To have done a thing because you +believe it is right is of more consequence than anything else can be. +The truth is in the heart, not the thing." + +She tried to smile. She felt as if she were acting again an old scene, +the trick of taking refuge from too dangerous personal feeling in the +expression of general truths carrying her back to the time when the +expedient had served them both before. + +"But people who have faith," she said, "who believe creeds and +doctrines, can have little conception how much harder it is for us than +for them to do what we think is the right." + +He did not answer her, and a moment they stood in silence with downcast +looks. Then she moved slowly down the great studio toward the door, and +he followed by her side. + +As she put her hand upon the Oran rug to lift it, she raised her eyes +and met his glance. The blood rushed into their faces. They remembered +their parting embrace and the burning kisses of long ago. + +"Good-by," she said, and even before he could answer her she had gone +out swiftly. + + + + +XXIII + + AS FALSE AS STAIRS OF SAND. + Merchant of Venice; v.--2. + +The fact that her mother was a Beauchester Mrs. Staggchase never +forgot, although she seldom spoke of it. It formed what she would have +called a background to her life, and gave her the liberty of doing many +things which would have been unallowable to persons of less +distinguished ancestry. It was, perhaps, in virtue of her Beauchester +blood, for instance, that she made the somewhat singular selection of +guests brought together at a luncheon which she gave in honor of Miss +Frances Merrivale when that young lady came to pay her a visit, at the +conclusion of her stay with Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson. + +Miss Merrivale had been in doubt whether she could properly accept this +invitation, in view of the fact that her cousin's wife had neglected to +call upon her since her arrival in Boston. The reflection, however, +that this visit to the Staggchase's was the chief object of her +becoming Mrs. Sampson's guest at all had decided the young lady upon +overlooking considerations of etiquette, and from the flat of the widow +she had removed to the more aristocratic region of Back Bay. + +Miss Frances had been shrewd enough to forestall all possible +objections by accepting the invitation before mentioning it to Mrs. +Sampson; and however deep the chagrin of that enterprising individual, +she was too astute to protest against the inevitable. Mrs. Sampson +even, in her secret heart, considered the advisability of calling upon +her late guest in her new quarters, but reluctantly abandoned the idea +as being likely, on the whole, to be productive of no good results +socially. That Miss Merrivale would probably forget her as quickly as +possible she was but too well assured, and it pretty exactly indicates +the position of the widow toward society that this prospective +ingratitude moved her to no indignation. It was so exactly the course +which in similar circumstances she herself would have pursued, that no +question of its propriety presented itself to her mind. Even the faint +air of conscious guilt with which the girl announced her intention did +not arouse in Mrs. Sampson any feeling of surprise or bitterness. +Society to her mind was a ladder, and being so, to climb it was but to +follow the use for which it was designed. + +Miss Merrivale was of better stuff, and if not well bred enough to live +up to the obligations she had assumed by becoming Mrs. Sampson's guest, +she was at least conscious of them; and she said good-by with an air of +apologetic cordiality, quieting her conscience by the secret +determination some time to repay the widow's kindness in one way or +another, although she should be obliged to repudiate her socially. Had +she known Mrs. Staggchase better, and been aware how much she fell in +that lady's estimation by throwing Mrs. Sampson overboard, her decision +might have been different. + +"She is coming, my dear," Mrs. Staggchase had said to her husband, on +receiving Miss Merrivale's acceptance of her invitation. "I shouldn't +have expected it of one of your family." + +"You know we can't all be born Beauchesters," he had returned, with +good-natured sarcasm. + +Once at Mrs. Staggchase's, Miss Merrivale began to see Boston society +under very different auspices. She had been at a luncheon at Ethel +Mott's, given in compliment to herself, where she had sat nearly +speechless for an hour and a half while half a dozen young ladies had +discussed the origin of evil with great volubility, and what seemed to +her, however it might have impressed metaphysicians, astounding +erudition and profundity. She had assisted at that sacred rite of +musical devotees, the Saturday night Symphony concert, where a handful +of people gathered to hear the music, and all the rest of the world +crowded for the sake of having been there. She had been taken by Miss +Mott to a select sewing-circle--that peculiar institution by means of +which exclusive Boston society keeps tally of the standing of all its +young women. She was somewhat bewildered, but enjoyed what might be +called a hallowed consciousness that she was doing exactly the right +thing; and it was, perhaps, only a delicate consciousness of the +fitness of things that made her answer all questions as to the time of +her arrival in Boston with the date of her coming to Mrs. Staggchase, +ignoring her previous visit to a woman of whose existence it was only +proper to assume her new acquaintances to be entirely unaware. + +Fred Rangely was shrewdly and humorously appreciative of her attitude, +being the more keenly conscious of the exact situation because he +himself made a point of ignoring his acquaintance with Mrs. Sampson. He +had debated in his mind what change in his conduct was advisable now +that Miss Merrivale was visiting Mrs. Staggchase. He had astutely +decided that the latter, at least, would make no remarks about him to +her guest; and, in view of the fact that it was scarcely possible to +conceal his flirtation with the New Yorker from the penetration of her +hostess, he decided to content himself with hiding from the stranger +his devotion to his older friend. He still assured himself that his +serious intentions were directed toward Miss Mott, and he secretly +smiled to himself with the foolish over-confidence of a vain man, when, +from time to time, he heard allusions to the devotion of Thayer Kent to +Ethel. Kent had been in the field before Rangely presented himself as a +rival candidate for the damsel's good graces; and the novelist might +have been less confident had not personal interest blinded him to a +state of things which he would have apprehended easily enough where +another was concerned. The easy familiarity, born of long friendship +and perfect understanding, which Ethel showed toward Kent, Fred mistook +for indifference. His own sudden popularity had somewhat turned his +head, so that he failed to distinguish between the attentions shown to +the author and those bestowed upon the man, and constantly felt himself +to be making personal conquests when he was simply being lionized. + +Mrs. Staggchase invited the guests for her luncheon before she spoke of +them to Miss Merrivale. + +"I have asked Mrs. Bodewin Ranger," she explained, "although she is old +enough to be your grandmother, because she is the nicest old lady in +Boston, and it is a liberal education to meet her." + +The other guests were Mrs. Frostwinch, Ethel Mott, and Elsie Dimmont. + +"Elsie Dimmont," Mrs. Staggchase observed, "needs to be looked after. +She is either going to make a fool of herself by marrying that odious +Dr. Wilson or she is allowing herself to be made a fool of by him, +which is quite as bad." + +Secretly Mrs. Staggchase, for all her Beauchester blood, had a good +deal of sympathy for the girl who was defying her family in receiving +the attentions of a man of no antecedents, although, having done the +same thing herself, she was the more strongly bound outwardly to +discountenance any such insubordination. + +Guests may be selected on the principle of harmony of taste and +feeling, or simply with an eye to variety; in the present instance it +was distinctly the latter method which had obtained; and it was perhaps +to be regarded as no mean triumph of social civilization that a harmony +apparently so perfect resulted from the strange combination which the +hostess had brought about. Whether from a secret intention of rebuking +Miss Dimmont for her associations with one socially so impossible as +Chauncy Wilson, or with the less amiable design of disciplining Miss +Merrivale for her friendship with Mrs. Sampson, the hostess adroitly +and deliberately turned the conversation to social themes, and thence +on to what perhaps were best described as the proprieties of caste. + +She was too clever a woman to do this crudely, and indeed would have +seemed to any but the most acute observer to follow the conversation +rather than to lead it. Ethel and Elsie chatted briskly of the current +gossip of the day, and it was Mrs. Bodewin Ranger who was skilfully led +on to strike the keynote of the talk by saying,-- + +"Doesn't it seem to you that the modern fashion of admitting artists +into society is mixing up things terribly? Nowadays one is always +meeting queer people everywhere, and being told that they are writers +or painters." + +The fine old lady smiled so genially that one seeing her benign +countenance framed in its beautiful snowy curls, must know her well to +realize that in truth she meant exactly what she said. Mrs. +Frostwinch's answering smile was not without a tinge of sarcasm,-- + +"It is worse than that," she said. "You even meet actors in quite +respectable houses." + +"Oh, actors!" threw in Ethel Mott, briskly; "nowadays they even go +below the level of humanity and invite those things called +elocutionists." + +"But of course," ventured Miss Merrivale, wishing to put herself on +record and striking a false note, as usually happens in such cases, +"one doesn't really know these people. They are only brought in to +amuse." + +"One never knows undesirable people, my dear," Mrs. Staggchase +responded, without the faintest shadow of the sarcastic intent which +her guest yet secretly felt in her words. + +"Bless me!" broke in Elsie Dimmont, with characteristic explosiveness. +"What an abandoned creature I must be! I am actually going to the +Fenton's to dine to-night." + +"Mr. Fenton," Mrs. Bodewin Ranger responded, in her soft voice, "is a +gentleman by birth, and his wife was a Caldwell; her mother was a +Calvin, you know." + +Ethel Mott laughed. + +"And so he passes," she said, "in spite of his being an artist. How +pleased he would be if he knew it." + +"It would be worth while to tell him," Mrs. Frostwinch interpolated, +"just to hear his comments." + +"We owe Arthur Fenton more scores than we can ever settle," observed +the hostess, "for the things he says about women. He said to me the +other day that the society of lovely woman is always a delight except +when a man was in earnest about something." + +"I said to him, one night," added Elsie Dimmont, "that Kate West wasn't +in her first youth. 'Oh, no!' he said, 'her third or fourth at least.'" + +The others smiled, except Mrs. Ranger. + +"Poor Kate!" she said; "all you girls seem to dislike her somehow. Mrs. +West was a somebody from Washington," she added, reflectively, as if +she unconsciously sought in the girl's pedigree some explanation of her +unpopularity. + +"Is it so dreadful to come from Washington?" asked Miss Merrivale; and +then wondered if she ought to have said it. + +"It is not the coming from Washington," was Mrs. Frostwinch's reply, +delivered in the same faintly satirical manner which she had maintained +throughout the discussion; "it is the being merely a somebody instead +of having a definite family name behind her." + +"It is all very well for you to make fun of my old-fashioned notions, +Anna," Mrs. Ranger returned, good-naturedly. "You think just as I do." + +"I should be sorry not to think as you do about everything," was the +answer. "And, to be perfectly honest, I can't help being a little +ashamed that a cousin of mine has gone on to the stage. She was always +dreadfully headstrong." + +"Has she talent?" asked Mrs. Staggchase. + +"Yes, she has talent; but is anything short of genius an excuse for +taking to the boards?" + +"I wish I could act," put in Miss Dimmont, emphatically. "I'd go on to +the stage in a minute." + +Mrs. Ranger looked shocked and grieved as well. + +"My dear," she said, "you can't realize what you are saying. The stage +has always been a hotbed of immorality from the very beginning of +theatrical art, and nothing can reform it." + +"Reform it," echoed Mrs. Staggchase, suavely; "we don't want to reform +it. Nothing would so surely ruin the actor's art as the reformation of +his morals." + +"Oh, my dear!" remonstrated Mrs. Ranger. + +"Really, Diana," Mrs. Frostwinch said, good-naturedly, "your sentiments +are too shocking for belief." + +"But she doesn't mean them," added Mrs. Ranger. + +"I am sorry to shock anybody," the hostess responded, "but I really do +mean what I say. Not that I can see," she added, "that society can +afford to be too squeamish on the question of morals." + +A look of genuine distress began to shadow + +Mrs. Ranger's face, and it deepened as Miss Merrivale said, +flippantly,-- + +"Is Boston such an abandoned place?" + +"Really, Diana," the old gentlewoman remarked, with a manner in which +playfulness and earnestness were pretty equally mingled, "I don't think +you ought to talk so before these girls. When I was your age, half a +century ago, it wouldn't have been considered at all proper." + +Mrs. Staggchase laughed softly. + +"But, nowadays," she returned, "the girls are so sophisticated that +what we say makes no difference." + +There was a moment of silence while the servant changed the plates, and +then Miss Dimmont broke out, saying, with unnecessary force,-- + +"I don't care who people are if they only amuse me, and I'll know +anybody I like, whether they had any grandfathers or not." + +"Since when?" Ethel whispered significantly into her ear. + +Elsie crimsoned, but she gave no other sign that she had heard or +understood the thrust. + +"Then there is Fred Rangely," Mrs. Staggchase remarked, in a tone so +even that it showed she meant mischief. "He comes here to see Frances, +and you can't think, Mrs. Ranger, that it's my duty to be rude to him +just because he writes for the newspapers." + +"It is impossible to imagine Mrs. Staggchase being rude to anybody," +quickly interpolated Ethel, with smiling malice; "and I supposed Mr. +Rangely had won at least a brevet right to be considered in the swim +from his long intimacy with social leaders." + +The hostess was too old a hand not to be pleased with a clever stroke, +even at her own expense, and she took refuge in an irrelevant +generality which might mean anything or nothing. + +"One learns so much in life," she said, "and of it appreciates so +little." + +And Frances Merrivale looked from Miss Mott to Mrs. Staggchase with an +uncomfortable wonder what allusions to Fred Rangely lay behind this +talk, which she could not understand. + + + + +XXIV + + THERE BEGINS CONFUSION. + I Henry VI.; iv.--1. + +Fred Rangely began to find himself in the condition of being controlled +by circumstances, instead of himself controlling them. Nor with all his +astuteness could he decide how far he was being managed by Mrs. +Staggchase, or led on by Miss Merrivale. He went about in a state of +continual astonishment at the extent to which he had committed himself +with the latter, and fell into that dangerous mental condition where +one seems passively to regard his own actions rather than to direct +them. Rangely had been so long settled in the conviction that he was to +marry Ethel Mott, even the not infrequent rebuffs of that lady +producing in his mind only temporary misgiving, that his present doubts +bewildered him. He was less of a coxcomb than might seem to follow from +this statement, albeit there was no timidity and little burning passion +in his feeling toward her. His was simply the cool masculine assurance +of a man selfish enough to regard even love in a cold-blooded manner. +He approved of his own choice socially, financially, and aesthetically; +and since he loved himself rather more for having selected Ethel, he +fell into the not unnatural error of supposing himself to be in love +with her. + +His entanglement with Miss Merrivale, on the other hand, was largely a +matter of vanity. What had begun as an idle flirtation, designed to +kill the leisure of summer days in the mountains, was continued from a +half-conscious fear that he should appear at a disadvantage by breaking +it off. It so keenly wounded Rangely's self-love to be thought ill of +by a woman, that he was often forced to play at devotion which he not +only did not feel but of which the simulation was almost wearisome to +him. Nevertheless he was not, in this instance, without a shrewd +appreciation of all the possibilities of the situation. He said to +himself philosophically, that if worst came to worst and the fates had +really decided to marry him to Miss Merrivale, she had money, good +looks, and a fair position, and might on the whole prove more +manageable as a wife than one so clever and so high spirited as Ethel. + +Miss Merrivale, on her part, was foolishly and fondly in love with the +broad-shouldered egotist. She had made up her mind from a variety of +causes that she should, on the whole, prefer to marry in Boston, +although in reality this meant simply that she wanted to marry Fred +Rangely. She pored over his books in secret, talked to him of them with +a want of comprehension only made tolerable by the fervor of her +admiration, and took pains to show him that she regarded him as the +literary hope of his generation of novelists. In vulgar parlance, she +flung herself at his head; and in such a case a girl's success may be +said to depend almost wholly on opportunity and the extent of her +lover's vanity. + +Rangely had vanity enough and Mrs. Staggchase supplied the opportunity. +If a feminine mind could ever properly be called spherical, that +epithet should be applied to Mrs. Staggchase's inner consciousness. She +was so sufficient unto herself, she so absolutely scored success or +failure simply as a matter of her own sensations that her self-poise +was perfect. She had even the quality, rare in a woman, of being almost +indifferent whether others shared her opinions or not. She was content +with the knowledge that she had succeeded in doing what she wished, +while often the results and effects were so subtile and remote as to be +imperceptible to others. Life was to her a toy with which she amused +herself, and she found her chief enjoyment in trying experiments upon +it of which the results were intangible to all but herself. + +In the present case it amused Mrs. Staggchase and gave her some +feminine satisfaction as well, to think that Rangely should marry +Frances Merrivale. By promoting this marriage into which she was aware +that he had no intention of being drawn, she avenged herself upon him +for having presumed to show attentions to another while she honored him +with her intimate friendship. It was not so much the nature of the +punishment which pleased her as the fact that she was able to constrain +him to her will. She found an ungenerous satisfaction in proving to +herself that it lay within her power to do with him what she would; and +if this conclusion did not inevitably follow from the premises, her +logic was at least satisfactory to herself, and that was sufficient to +determine her course of action. She found some pleasure, too, in +feeling that she was taking away a lover from Ethel Mott, for whom she +had a dislike which in another woman would have been petty but which in +Mrs. Staggchase was merely intellectual, since she was not a woman +without understanding that one of her sex must feel the loss of even an +admirer for whom she has no love. She did not share Rangely's mistake +of supposing that Ethel would marry him, yet it was distinctly her +intention that Miss Mott should not have the satisfaction of +undeceiving him, but that Fred should carry through life the regretful +and tantalizing conviction that he had thrown away this chance. It +required only a little cleverness in bringing together the young man +and Miss Merrivale, with a little skill in dropping now and then a word +assuming his devotion to her guest, and Mrs. Staggchase's plan was +evidently in a fair way of accomplishment. + +On the morning of the day of her luncheon, for instance, she had +managed that Rangely should take Frances to some of the studios. The +girl had little acquaintance with artistic life, but it attracted her +by that romantic flavor which it is so apt to have for the uninitiated. + +"I should think," she observed, as they walked along in the bright +sunny morning, "that you would want to go to the studios all the time, +if you know so many artists. I'm sure I should." + +"Oh, it very soon gets to be an old story," was his answer. "One studio +is very like another." + +"But their work? That must be awfully interesting." + +"Yes, to a novice, but that soon gets to be an old story too. An artist +is only a man who puts paint or charcoal on cardboard or canvas with +more or less cleverness, just as an author is a man who has more or +less skill in getting ink on to paper." + +Miss Merrivale laughed, with more glee than comprehension. + +"You are always so witty," she said. "I don't wonder your books sell. I +think that girl who couldn't tell which man she liked best was just too +funny for anything. I can't for the life of me see how you think of +such things, anyway." + +"The trouble isn't to think what to say, but to tell what not to say." + +"I'm sure I don't know what you mean. Now of course an artist just sees +things, and all he has to do is to make pictures of them; but you have +to make up things." + +"But we see things too," the novelist responded, smiling upon her, and +reflecting that she was looking uncommonly pretty that morning. + +"Oh, but that's different. Now you never knew a girl who was hesitating +which of two lovers to choose, and she wouldn't tell you how she felt +if you did; but there it is all in your book so natural that every girl +says to herself that's just the way she should feel." + +The flattery was too evidently sincere not to be pleasing. So long as +praise is genuine, few men are so exacting as to insist that it be also +intelligent. + +"Thank you," he said; "you at least understand the art of saying nice +things. Though that," he added, with his warmest smile, "is perhaps +only natural in one who must have had so many nice things said to her." + +She laughed, her ready, girlish laugh, which always seemed to him so +young; and they climbed the crooked stairs of Studio Building, their +breath hardly being any longer sufficient for much speech. + +"I'm going to take you to Arthur Fenton's first," Rangely observed, as +they paused to rest on one of the landings. "These stairs are awful. I +wonder how he gets his elderly sitters up here." + +Miss Merrivale seated herself upon a bench benevolently placed on the +landing. + +"They sit down here, of course," she responded. + +"This is a sort of life-saving station," he remarked, seating himself +beside her. + +"Oh, Mr. Rangely, how awfully funny you are." + +"It's my trade; I have to be to earn my living. Now you and I are the +only survivors from a wreck." + +"Alone on a desert island?" + +"Life-saving stations are not generally on desert islands; but I hope +you wouldn't mind so very much if it were." + +She looked at him with bright eyes, and then let her glance fall. + +"That would depend," she responded demurely. + +"Upon what? How I behaved?" + +"Oh, of course you'd behave well." + +"Of course; but how would I have to behave to make you contented on a +desert island?" + +She shot him a keen quick glance from beneath her bent brows. + +"I never said I should be contented." + +"But you implied it." + +She whirled her muff over and over upon her two hands like the wheel of +a squirrel cage, regarding it intently with her pretty head on one side. + +"No, I didn't imply it either. I don't believe I could be contented." + +"Not even with me?" + +She flushed, but evidently not with displeasure. + +"Why with you more than anybody else?" she softly inquired, with great +apparent artlessness. + +"Because," he began, "I should"--He was going to add, "be so fond of +you," but reflected that this was perhaps going a little too fast and +too far, and concluded instead--"take such good care of you." + +Perhaps it was because approaching footsteps sounded on the stairs +below them; perhaps it was because her subtile feminine sense +appreciated the fact that he was on his guard; but for some reason or +for no reason she tossed her head and rose to her feet. + +"I am fortunately not obliged to go so far as a desert island to get +taken care of," she said. + +Her companion was not unwilling that the talk should be broken in upon. +He smiled to himself as he followed her lead, and in a moment more he +was knocking at the door of Fenton's studio, which was well up toward +the roof. There was no response, and, as Fred rapped the second time, a +carpenter who was at work on the casing of a door near by looked up, +and said,-- + +"Mr. Fenton has a sitter, sir." + +"He is in then?" said Rangely. + +"Yes," answered John Stanton, straightening himself up, with his plane +in his hand, "but since Mrs. Herman went in half an hour ago, he hasn't +opened the door to anybody." + +"Mrs. Herman?" echoed Rangely, in astonishment. + +"Yes, sir." + +It was a capricious fate which brought John Stanton to tangle the web +of Fenton's life. His brother Orin's relations with artists had given +John a sort of acquaintanceship with them at second-hand, a kind of +vicarious proprietorship in the privileges of art circles. He had long +known Fenton by sight, while that he recognized Mrs. Herman also was +the result of accident. He had been standing with Orin a few days +before on a street corner, when the sculptor had lifted his hat to Mrs. +Herman and named her in answer to John's question. There had not been +in his honest mind the faintest tinge of suspicion when he saw her +enter the studio, and he never had any intimation of the mischief he +had clone in mentioning her name to Rangely. + +Fred and Miss Merrivale went on to Tom Bentley's curio-crowded rooms, +while the sound of their knock still lingered in the double ears of the +two people who sat confronting each other within the studio, with looks +on the one hand sullen; on the other, pleading. Fenton's picture of +_Fatima_ was finished, yet Ninitta continued to come to the studio. His +brief passion, which had been more than half mere intellectual +curiosity how far his power over the Italian could go, had ended with +that curiosity. In its place was a gradually increasing hatred for this +woman, who seemed to assert a claim upon him, this model whom he never +had loved, and whom he could now scarcely tolerate, since he had ceased +to respect her. He cursed himself vehemently after the fashion of such +offenders, when eager, vibrating passion has given place to a sense of +irksome obligations, but more vigorously still did he upbraid fate, to +whose score he set down all annoyance. + +As for Ninitta, she, perhaps, no more truly loved Fenton than he had +cared for her, but she clung to him as a frightened child might clutch +the arm of one with whom it has wandered into the darkness of some +vault beset with pitfalls. Ninitta's moral sense was of the most +rudimentary character. She was, perhaps, incapable of appreciating an +ethical principle, and her spiritual life never soared beyond the +crudest emotions and the simplest questions of personal feeling. She +had come to live without the guidance of a priest, and this fact, in +itself, had left her without moral support. She had now no particular +consciousness of having done wrong, although she was moved by the fear +of the consequences of the discovery of her transgression. + +It has been said that Ninitta's affection for her husband might have +been more enduring had he been less gentle with her. She came of a race +of peasants whose women understood masculine superiority in the old +brutal, physical sense, and whenever Herman bore patiently with his +wife's caprices he lessened a respect which he could have retained only +at the expense of a blow. With all Arthur Fenton's soft and caressing +ways toward Ninitta, there was always an instinctive masterfulness in +his attitude toward any woman and especially since he had tired of her +did he keep Mrs. Herman figuratively at his feet. The more strongly her +appealing attitude seemed to press upon him claims which he could not +satisfy and had no mind to acknowledge, the more harsh he became, and +the more she bent before him. The language of brutality was one which +she Understood by inherited instinct. + +"But why," Fenton was saying impatiently, when Rangely's knock startled +them, "do you come here, when I haven't sent for you? There's somebody +at the door, now, and we haven't even the shadow of an excuse, since +the picture is done." + +"I wanted to see you," Ninitta answered humbly, her plain face working +with her effort to keep back the tears. "It is so lonely at home, and +they take even Nino away from me." + +The artist started up impatiently, and took his wet palette from the +stand beside him. + +"Well!" he said, answering as she had spoken, in Italian, "you must be +anxious that your husband shall know of your coming here, or you would +not take such pains to have him find it out." + +He began painting sullenly, putting in the last touches upon the +background of the portrait of a beautiful girl. The lovely face of +Damaris Wainwright, so pathetic, so pure, and so noble, looking at him +from the canvas stung him inwardly into an impotent fury. His fine +sense of the fitness of things was outraged by the presence of Ninitta +beside the spiritual personality which shone upon him from the +portrait. He could even feel the incongruity between himself and his +work, though this appealed to his sense of humor as the other aroused +his anger. + +Ninitta watched in silence a moment; then she rose from her seat, her +wrap falling away from her shoulders. Her tears were done, and a white +look of intense feeling showed the despair that she felt. All the +isolation which tortured her, that pain which souls like hers, blind, +groping, and helpless, are least able to bear, had left its stamp upon +her. Perhaps even her sin had been a desperate and only half-conscious +attempt once more to draw in sympathy really near a human heart. She +had learned little from the changed conditions into which the fates of +her life had brought her, but she had been separated, in mind no less +than in body, from her own kind without being fitted for other +companionship. She was utterly and fatally alone, and a terrible sense +of her remoteness from all human fellowship smote her now at Arthur's +cruelty. She hesitated an instant, supporting herself by the arms of +the big carved chair in which she had been sitting; then, with an +impulsive gesture, she threw her arms above her head, wringing her +hands together. + +"Oh, my God!" she cried, "what shall I do?" + +Fenton turned quickly toward her. + +"Oh, _mon Dieu!_" was his inward comment; "what a divine pose! What a +glorious figure! But ah, how tiresome she is!" Then, aloud, he said: +"Come, come, don't be foolish, Ninitta! You know as well as I do that +there is no danger, if you are only careful." + +And putting aside his palette again, he soothed her with soft words +until she was calm enough to be sent home. + +When she was gone, he shrugged his shoulders, and spread out his hands +with a deprecatory gesture. + +"After all," he soliloquized aloud, "it is difficult for civilization +to get on without the sultan's sack and bowstring." + + + + + XXV + + AFTER SUCH A PAGAN CUT. + Henry VIII.; i.--3. + +The announcement by the Secretary of the St. Filipe Club that a vote of +censure had been passed upon Fenton had not only caused a tempest of +excitement, but had brought about the unexpected result of eliciting +testimony to prove that the charge against him was without foundation. +Men came forward to testify that Snaffle entered the club alone on the +evening when Fenton was said to have brought him there, while Tom +Bently, Ainsworth, and others had seen the artist come in afterward, +and had spoken with him before he went upstairs with Fred Rangely to +the card-room. The Executive Committee found itself in a most awkward +predicament, and its members took what comfort they could in pitching +upon the Secretary, who had, without authorization, announced the vote +of censure on the call for the monthly meeting. He was now directed to +write to Mr. Fenton a letter of apology, which he did with such small +grace as he could command, taking the precaution to mark the note +"confidential." + +The artist experienced more than a feeling of conscious virtue at being +thus exonerated from a fault which he had committed; and it was with +mingled glee and a certain dare-devil desperation that he resolved upon +his own course of action. + +The monthly meeting of the St. Filipe came on the evening of the day +when Mrs. Staggchase gave her luncheon. By a misunderstanding of +Fenton's wishes, his wife had invited friends to dine that night. He +meant to excuse himself after dinner and go to the club for a short +time, returning to his guests after he had said a few words upon which +he had determined. + +The guests were Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Hubbard, Helen Greyson, Ethel +Mott, Miss Catherine Penwick, Thayer Kent, the Rev. De Lancy Candish, +and Fred Rangely. It was wholly by chance, and without malicious intent +that Edith assigned Ethel to Mr. Kent, while Rangely took Mrs. Greyson +in to dinner. Mrs. Fenton, of course, knew that gossip had sometimes +connected the names of Ethel and Rangely in a speculative way, but she +partly suspected and partly knew by feminine intuition that Fred was +practically out of the running, and that Ethel's heart was given to +Thayer Kent. It was hardly to be expected that Rangely should be +pleased at the sight of his rival's advantage; but having passed the +morning in squiring Miss Merrivale, his conscience was hardly +case-hardened enough to have made him at his ease had he been able to +exchange places with Kent. + +To Mr. Candish was given the care of Miss Penwick, since with her Edith +knew that his sensitive awkwardness would be as comfortable as was +possible with any one; and the guests were so arranged that the +clergyman sat upon his hostess's left hand, being thus in a manner +intrenched between her and Miss Penwick against the raillery which Mrs. +Fenton knew her husband would press as far as his position as host +would allow. Edith always made it a point to do all that she could for +Mr. Candish's comfort, and it was largely on his account that she had +included Miss Penwick in the list of guests. She had a certain +tenderness for the forlorn old lady, but it might not have found active +expression had not the rector's pleasure come into the question. Arthur +had laughed when the proposed arrangement was submitted to him. + +"Does your care for your pastor's spiritual welfare go so far," he +asked jocosely, "that you don't dare trust him with a young woman? +Really, it looks as if you were jealous of the red-haired angel." + +"Mr. Candish is not a young woman's man," had been Edith's answer; +whereat her husband laughed again. + +The talk at dinner was less animated than was usual at Fenton's table. +The host was preoccupied, despite his efforts not to appear so, and the +company was somehow not fully in touch. No conversation could be wholly +dull, however, which Arthur led; and while the "lady's finger" in his +cheek told his wife and Helen that he was laboring under some intense +excitement, he held himself pluckily in hand. + +The conversation at first was between neighbors, but soon the host, +according to his fashion, began to answer any remark that his quick +ears caught, no matter from whose lips. + +"You talk about marriage like a Pagan," he heard Helen say to Rangely. + +"Oh, no," Fenton broke in, "he doesn't go half far enough for a Pagan. +The Pagan position is that matrimony is a matter of temperament and +convenience; it is essentially Philistine to consider that a marriage +ceremony imposes eternal obligations." + +"There, Mr. Fenton," Mrs. Hubbard rejoined, "I haven't heard you say +anything so heathenish for half a dozen years. I hoped your wife had +reformed you." + +"Or that he had come to years of discretion," suggested Mr. Hubbard, +with his charming smile. + +"Oh, but I find years of indiscretion so much more interesting," Fenton +retorted. + +A moment later Helen said something about the truth, and Rangely +retorted,-- + +"Truth is generally what one wishes to believe." + +"Except in Puritanism," broke in Arthur, "there it was whatever one +didn't wish to believe." + +"Don't you think," questioned Mr. Hubbard, "that you are always a +little hard on the Puritans? You must admire their conviction and their +bravery." + +"Oh, yes," was Fenton's reply; "there is something superb in the +earnestness of the Puritans, and their absorption in one idea; but that +idea has left its birthmark of gloom on all their descendants, and one +cannot forget that Puritanism was the soil from which sprang the +unbelief of today." + +"Bless us!" cried Rangely, "is Saul also among the prophets? Are you +also condemning unbelief?" + +"Not at all," said Fenton, coolly, "I only want those who defend +Puritanism to accept its legitimate results." + +"It seems to me," protested Mr. Candish, who had become very red +according to his unfortunate wont; "that if you argue in that way, you +must always condemn good, because evil may come after it." + +"Oh, I do," retorted Fenton, airily. + +Everybody except the clergyman laughed at the unexpectedness of this +reply; but Mr. Candish was wounded by the most faint suspicion of +anything like trifling with sacred things. + +"My husband is utterly abandoned, as you see, Mr. Candish," said Edith, +coming to the rescue, as she always did when Arthur showed signs of +baiting the rector. "Is the decision made in regard to the _America_?" +she continued, turning to Mr. Hubbard, by way of changing the subject. + +"Yes," he answered, "the commission is to be given to Orin Stanton." + +"Orin Stanton?" asked Kent. "Who is he?" + +"Oh, he," returned Fenton, "is a man that had the misfortune to be born +with a wooden toothpick in his mouth instead of a silver spoon." + +"Is he Irish?" + +"No, but he ought to be to have won favor in the sight of a committee +appointed by the Boston City Government." + +"Come," said Helen; "that is rather severe when Mr. Hubbard is on the +committee." + +"Oh, I don't mind," returned Hubbard. "I know Fenton wouldn't lose a +chance of having his fling at the Irish." + +"Well," Fenton explained, defensively, "I am always irritated at the +pity of the United States having expended so much blood and treasure to +free itself from the dominion of the whole of Great Britain simply to +sink into dependence upon so insignificant a part of that kingdom as +Ireland." + +"Mercy!" exclaimed Miss Penwick. "What extreme sentiments!" + +They smiled at the old lady's words, and then Edith went back to the +statue. + +"I fancy young Stanton hasn't been above some wire-pulling," she +remarked. "He sent his prospective sister-in-law, Melissa Blake, to ask +me to use my influence with Uncle Peter in his behalf." + +"He needn't have troubled," Mr. Hubbard returned. "Mr. Calvin supported +him from the first." + +"Oh, yes," Ethel said; "Mrs. Frostwinch and Mrs. Bodewin Ranger chose +Stanton long ago and persuaded Mr. Calvin to help them." + +"I can't fancy Mr. Calvin as anybody's tool," commented Kent, who would +have regarded his companion's words as a trifle too frank to be spoken +at the table of Mr. Calvin's niece, had his mind been in a condition to +take exception to anything that she said. + +"Isn't that Melissa Blake," asked Mr. Hubbard of Edith, "the one you +recommended to me as a copyist?" + +"Yes, I hope you found her satisfactory." + +Mr. Hubbard smiled somewhat grimly. + +"Indeed he did not," broke in Mrs. Hubbard speaking for him. "She broke +confidence." + +"Broke confidence!" echoed Edith, in astonishment. "Melissa Blake?" + +"Yes," Hubbard returned. "I really didn't mean to tell you, but my +wife, you see, has all the indignation of a woman against a woman." + +"But how did she break confidence?" demanded Edith. "I would trust her +as implicitly as I would myself." + +"The papers she copied," was the reply, "were the plans for a syndicate +to put up mills at Fentonville. We kept the scheme quiet until the +route of the new railroad should be decided, and when we came before +the Committee of the House, the whole thing had been given away, and +the Wachusett men had even secured the chairman, Tom Greenfield. He +lives in Fentonville himself, and we had counted him at least as sure." + +"That must have been the thing," placidly observed Miss Penwick to +Rangely, "that Mr. Irons was talking to Mrs. Sampson about, the night +we dined there to meet Miss Merrivale." + +Rangely glanced up in vexation, to see if Miss Mott were listening, and +caught a gleam of mischievous intelligence from her eyes. + +"I don't remember it," he answered ambiguously. + +"But how do you know," persisted Edith, "that the information came from +Miss Blake?" + +"Because Mr. Staggchase found out at Fentonville afterward that she +came from there, and that a young man she is engaged to had just +forfeited on a mortgage some of the meadows our company was to buy." + +"The evidence doesn't seem to me conclusive," remarked Fenton, "and +simply as a matter of family unity I am bound to believe in my wife's +_proteges_." + +Even the faint sense of humor which he felt at the situation could not +prevent him from experiencing the sting of self-shame. Had it been an +equal who was unjustly accused of a fault he had committed he would +have felt less humiliated. To the degradation of having betrayed +Hubbard, the addition of this last touch of having also unconsciously +injured an inferior came to him like the exquisite irony of fate. He +wondered in an abstract and dispassionate way whether the ghost of all +his misdeeds were continually to rise before him. "Really," he said to +himself with a smile that curled his lips "in that case I shall become +a perfect Macbeth." And at that instant the ghost most dreadful of all +rose at the feast like that of Banquo as Rangely said,-- + +"I knocked at your studio this morning but couldn't get in." + +There flashed through Fenton's mind all the possibilities of discovery +and disaster that might lie behind this remark, and his one strong +feeling was that it would be unsafe to venture on a definite statement; +he took refuge in the vaguest of general remarks. + +"I am sorry not to have seen you," he said. + +He tried to reflect, while Edith said something further in defence of +Melissa. He joked with Ethel about the probable appearance of the +statue young Stanton would make, which was to be set up directly +opposite her father's house. He noticed that Helen was very silent, and +he even reflected how handsome a man was Thayer Kent; but through it +all he seemed to hear the echo of that knock upon his studio door and a +foreboding which he could not shake off made him reflect gloomily how +utterly defenceless he should be in case of discovery. + +A brief silence suddenly recalled him to his duties as host, and he +caught quickly at the first topic which presented itself to his mind, +going back to the question of the _America_, which had been much +discussed because the funds to pay for it had been bequeathed to the +city by a woman of prominent social position. + +"I suppose," he observed, turning to Hubbard, "that with two such +lights of the art world as Peter Calvin and Alfred Irons on the +committee, the new statue will be regarded as the flower of Boston +culture. Of all droll things," he added, "nothing could be funnier than +coupling those two men. It is more striking than the lion and the lamb +of Scriptural prophecy." + +"Who is the lion and who the lamb?" asked Candish. + +"It is your place to apply Scripture, not mine," retorted Fenton. + +"I represent the minority of the committee," was Hubbard's reply to his +host's question. "There is no other position so safe in matters of art +as that of an objector." + +"That is because art appeals to the most sensitive of human +characteristics," Arthur retorted smiling,--"human vanity." + +"Vanity?" echoed Mrs. Hubbard. + +"That from you?" exclaimed Miss Mott. + +"Really, Mr. Fenton," protested Miss Penwick, in accents of real +concern, "you shouldn't say such a thing; there are so many people who +would suppose you meant it." + +The simple old creature knew no more of the real meaning of art than +she did of that of the hieroglyphics on an Egyptian obelisk, but she +had lectured on it, and she felt for it the deep reverence common to +those who label their superstition with the name "culture." + +"But I do mean it," returned Fenton, becoming more animated from the +pleasure of defending an extravagant position. "What is the object of +art but to perpetuate and idealize the emotions of the race; and how +does it touch men, except by flattering their vanity with the +assumption that they individually share the grand passions of mankind." + +A chorus of protests arose; but Arthur went on, laughingly over-riding +it. + +"Really," he said, "we all care for the Apollo Belvidere and the Venus +of Milo because it tickles our vanity to view the physical perfection +of the race to which we belong; it is our own possibilities of anguish +that we pity in the Laocoon and the Niobe; it is"-- + +"Oh, come, Fenton," interrupted Rangely; "we all know that you can be +more deliciously wrongheaded than any other live man, but you can't +expect us to sit quietly by while you abuse art." + +"That is more absolute Philistinism," put in Hubbard, "than anything I +have heard from Mr. Irons even." + +"Oh; Philistinism," was Fenton's rejoinder, "is not nearly so bad as +the inanities that are talked about it." + +"That sounds like a personal thrust at Mr. Hubbard," Kent observed; and +as Arthur disclaimed any intention of making it so, Mrs. Fenton gave +the signal for rising. + + + + +XXVI + + O, WICKED WIT AND GIFT. + Hamlet; i.--5. + +It was fortunate for Fenton's plans that most of his guests had early +engagements that evening, and by nine o'clock he was able to leave the +house with Rangely to take his way to the meeting of the Club. As they +came out of the house, Thayer Kent was just saying good-by to Miss Mott +after putting her into her carriage. Fenton's fear lest he should be +too late for the business meeting had made him follow rather closely in +the steps of his departing guests, and he and Rangely were just in time +to hear Ethel say,-- + +"But I am going that way and I will drop you at the club." + +Kent hesitated an instant, and then followed her into the carriage. +Fenton laughed as they drove away. + +"With Ethel Mott," he said, "that is equivalent to announcing an +engagement." + +"Nonsense!" protested Fred, incredulously. + +Fenton laughed again, a little maliciously. + +"Oh, I've been looking for it all winter," he said. "Ever since you +devoted yourself to Mrs. Staggchase, and gave Thayer his innings. Well, +since you didn't want her, I don't know that she could have done +better." + +Fenton pretty well understood the truth of the matter in regard to +Rangely's relations to Ethel, and this little thrust was simply an +instalment toward the paying of sundry old scores. He had never +forgiven Fred for having taunted him, long ago, with going over to +Philistinism; especially, as he inwardly assured himself, that the +difference between their cases was that he had had the frankness openly +to renounce Paganism, while his companion would not acknowledge his +apostasy even to himself. In Fenton's creed, self-deception was put +down as the greatest of crimes, and he had fallen into the way of half +unconsciously regarding his inner frankness as a sort of expiation for +whatever faults he might commit. + +He chuckled inwardly at the discomfort which he knew his remark brought +to Fred, humorously acknowledging himself to be a brute for thus taking +advantage of circumstances with a man who had just eaten his salt. The +excitement of the thing he was about to do had mounted into his head +like wine, and he hastened toward the club with a feeling of buoyancy +and exhilaration such as he had not known for months. He laughed and +joked, ignoring Rangely's unresponsiveness; and when he entered the +club parlors his cheeks were flushed and his eyes shone as in the old +Pagan days. + +He was just in season. The monthly business meeting was about being +completed, and Fenton had scarcely time to recover his breath before +the President said,-- + +"If there is no other business to come before this meeting we will now +adjourn." + +Then Fenton stepped forward. + +"Mr. President," he said, in his smooth, clear voice, only a trifle +heightened in pitch by excitement. + +The President put up his eyeglasses and recognized him. + +"Mr. Fenton." + +There was an instant hush in the room. Every member of the club knew of +the vote of censure, which had excited much talk, and of which the +propriety had been violently discussed. A few were aware that the +censure had been withdrawn, and all were sufficiently well acquainted +with Fenton's high-spirited temperament to feel that something exciting +was coming. + +Fenton was too keenly alive to what he would have called the stage +effect to fail of appreciating to the utmost the striking situation. He +threw up his head with a delicious sense of excitement, the pleasing +consciousness of a vain man who is producing a strong and satisfactory +impression, and who feels in himself the ability to carry through the +thing he has undertaken. With a sort of tingling double consciousness +he felt at once the enthusiasm of injured virtue at last triumphant, +and the mocking scorn of a Mephistopheles who bejuggles dupes too dull +to withstand him. He looked around the meeting, and in a swift instant +noted who of friends or foes were present; and even tried to calculate +in that brief instant what would be the effect upon one and another of +what he was going to say. + +"Mr. President," he began, deliberately, "if I may be pardoned a word +of personal explanation, I wish to say that the motion I am about to +make is not presented from personal motives. I might make this motion +as one who has the right, having suffered; but I do make it as one who +believes in justice so strongly that I should still speak had my own +case been that of my worst enemy. I move you, sir, that the St. Filipe +Club pass a vote of unqualified censure upon its Executive Committee +for admitting in the investigation of an alleged violation of its rules +the testimony of a servant, thereby assuming that the word of a +gentleman could not be taken in answer to any question the committee +had a right to ask." + +He had grown pale with excitement as he went on, and his voice gained +in force until the last words were clear and ringing to the farthest +corners of the room. + +A universal stir succeeded the silence with which he had been heard. +Half a dozen men were on their feet at once amid a babble of comment, +protestation, and approval. The Secretary managed to get the floor. + +"Mr. President," he said, his round face flushed with anger, and his +fat hands so shaking with excitement that the papers on the table +before him rustled audibly, "since it must be evident that the +gentleman's remarks are instigated by anger at the committee's +treatment of himself, it is only justice to the committee to state what +many of the members may not know, that a letter of ample apology has +been sent by them to Mr. Fenton." + +The men who had been eager to speak paused at this, and everybody +looked at the artist. + +"Mr. President," he said, with a delightful sense of having himself +perfectly in hand, and of being in an unassailable position, "I have +been insulted by the committee under cover of a charge which they now +acknowledge to be false; and, contrary to the usage of the club, a +printed notice of this has been sent to every member. I have received a +note of apology from the Secretary." + +He paused just long enough to let those who were taking sides against +him emphasize their satisfaction at this acknowledgment by +half-suppressed exclamations; then, in a voice of cutting smoothness, +he continued,-- + +"At the head of that note was the word 'confidential,' which forbade +me, as a gentleman, to show it. This was evidently the committee's idea +of reparation for the outrage of that printed circular." + +He paused again, and the impression that he was making was evident from +the fact that nobody attempted to deprive him of the floor; then he +went on again,-- + +"I have already said that my motion was not a personal matter; if my +case serves as an illustration, so much the better, as long as the +principle is enforced." + +"The motion," interposed the President, gathering his wits together, +"has not been seconded, and is therefore not debatable." + +"I second it," roared Tom Bently in his big voice, adding _sotto voce_: +"We won't let the fun be spoiled for a little thing like that." + +The half laugh that followed this sally seemed to recall men from the +state of astonishment into which they had been thrown by the audacity +of Fenton's attack. There were plenty of men to speak now;--men who +thought Fenton's position absurd;--men who believed in upholding the +dignity of the Executive Committee;--men, more revolutionary, who were +always pleased to see the existing order of things attacked;--men who +wanted explanations, and men who offered them;--men who rose to points +of order, and men who proposed amendments; with the inevitable men who +are always in a state of oratorical effervescence and who speak upon +every occasion, quite without reference to having anything to say. + +Fenton was keenly alive to everything that was said, and in his +excitement fell into the mood not uncommon with people of his +temperament of regarding the whole debate from an almost impersonal +standpoint. His sense of humor was constantly appealed to, and he +laughed softly to himself with a feeling of amusement scarcely tinged +by concern for the result of the contest when Mr. Ranger, stately and +ponderous, got upon his feet. He could have told with reasonable +precision the inconsequent remarks which were to come; and the +interruption which they made appealed to his sense of the ludicrous as +strongly as it irritated many impatient members. + +"I am confident," began Mr. Ranger with dignified deliberation, "that +all the excitement which seems to be manifest in many of the remarks +that have been made is wholly uncalled for. I am sure no member of this +club can suppose for an instant that its Executive Committee can have +intentionally been guilty of any discourtesy, and far less of any wrong +to a member. And we all have too much confidence in their ability to +suppose that they could fall into error in so important a thing as a +matter of discipline. And I need not add," he went on, not even the +real respect in which he was held being able wholly to suppress the +movement of impatience with which he was heard, "that we all must hold +Mr. Fenton not only as blameless but as painfully aggrieved." + +"Mr. Facing-both-ways," said Fenton to himself as the speaker paused, +apparently to consider what could be added to his lucid exposition of +the situation. + +One or two men had the hardihood to rise, but the President had too +much respect for Mr. Ranger's hoary locks to deprive him of the floor. + +"It seems to me," the speaker continued, placidly, "that this is a +matter which is better adjusted in private. The discipline of the club +must be maintained, and individual feeling should be respected; but +where we all have the welfare of the club at heart, it seems to me that +members would find no difficulty in amicably adjusting their +differences with the club officials in private conference." + +He gazed earnestly at the opposite wall a moment, as if seeking for +further inspiration. Then as no handwriting appeared thereon, he +resumed his seat with the same deliberate dignity that had marked his +rising. + +Mr. Staggchase, alert and business-like as usual, next obtained the +floor. + +"As chairman of the Executive Committee," he said, "perhaps I am too +much in the position of a prisoner at the bar for it to be in good +taste for me to speak on this motion. Naturally I do know something, +however, about the circumstances of this case, and I am willing to say +frankly that I cannot blame Mr. Fenton for feeling aggrieved at the +painful position in which he has been placed entirely without fault on +his part. It is only just to the committee, however, to state that the +charge as presented to them in the first place was supported by +evidence which appeared to them convincing; that Mr. Fenton never +denied it; and that I and, I presume, every member of the committee +supposed until this evening that the letter of apology sent him had +been ample and satisfactory. That it was marked 'confidential' was +certainly not the fault of the committee, who now learn this fact for +the first time." + +This statement evidently produced a strong impression. Fenton felt that +it told against him, yet he was more irritated at what he considered +the stupidity of the members in not seeing that Mr. Staggchase had not +touched upon the point at issue at all, than he was by the injury done +to his cause. In the midst of the excitement raging about him he sat, +outwardly perfectly calm and collected. He refused to admit to himself +that after all there was little probability of his motion's being +carried; although in truth at the outset he had intended nothing more +than to take this striking method of stating his grievance against the +committee. He was amused and delighted at the commotion he had caused. +He likened himself to the man who had sown the dragon's teeth, and +while listening keenly to what was being said, he rummaged about in his +memory for the name of that doughty classic hero. + +It was with a shock that it came upon him all at once that the tide was +turning against him. There had been warm expressions of sympathy with +himself and of disapprobation at the course of the committee; and Grant +Herman had announced his intention of offering another motion, when +this should have been disposed of, to the effect that a printed notice +of the removal of the vote of censure be sent to each member of the +club; but it was evident that there was a general feeling that Fenton's +attitude was too extreme. The club was evidently willing to exonerate +him and to offer such reparation as lay in its power, but it was not +prepared formally to rebuke its committee. The debate had continued +nearly an hour, and speakers were beginning to say the same things over +and over. At the farther end of the room some men began to call +"question." The word brought Fenton to his feet like the lash of a +whip; he put his hands upon his chest as if he were panting for breath, +his eyes were fairly blazing with excitement, and when he spoke his +voice shook with the intensity of his emotion. + +"Mr. President," he began, "it seems to me that the honor of this club +is in question. It had not occurred to me to regard this so much a +personal affront as an insult to the club which has elected me to its +membership. It is forced upon me by the remarks that have been made to +look at the personal side of the matter. Gentlemen have been insisting +that I am seeking reparation for an insult which they acknowledge has +been offered me; which they acknowledge has been gratuitous, and to +which all the publicity has been given which lay within the power of +the officers of this club. Very well, then, far as it was from my +original intention, I present my personal grievance and I claim +redress. The vote of censure which the committee has passed upon me I +regard as merely a stupid and offensive blunder; the implication +conveyed by listening to a servant in relation to a charge against a +member is an insult to him as a gentleman, which, to me personally, +seems too intolerable to be endured. I came into this club as to a body +of gentlemen, and I have a right to claim at your hands that I shall be +treated as such by its officers." + +Fenton had many enemies in the St. Filipe, but the splendid dash and +audacity of his manner, even more than his words, produced a tremendous +effect. There was an instant's hush as he ended, and then the voice of +Tom Bently, big and vibrating, rang through the room in defiance of all +rules of order and of all the proprieties as well. + +"By God! He is right!" said Tom, and a burst of applause answered him. + +The day was won, and although there were a few protests, they were +silenced by cries of "Question! Question!" and the motion was carried +by a majority which, if not overwhelming, was large enough to be +without question. + +"The motion is carried," announced the president. + +Fenton rose to his feet again. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "I cannot resist the temptation personally to +thank you. Mr. President, I have now the honor to tender you my +resignation from the St. Filipe Club." + +He bowed and turned to walk from the room. He was full of a wild +exultation over his success, and he reasoned quickly with himself that +even if his resignation were accepted, he retired in good order. He +had, too, a half-defined feeling that in thus tempting fate still +further, he made a sort of expiatory offering for his actual guilt. He +said to himself, with that lightning-like quickness which thought +possesses in a crisis, that since the principle for which he contended +stood above the question of his individual transgression, it was but +just that the motion should have been carried, and that now he was +ready to take his punishment by losing his membership in the St. Filipe. + +But before he had gone half a dozen steps, two or three men had called +out impulsively,-- + +"Mr. President! I move this resignation be not accepted." + +There were plenty of men there who would gladly have seen Fenton leave +the club; the members of the Executive Committee were smarting under +the rebuke he had brought upon them; but the excitement of the moment, +the admiration which courage and dash always excite, carried all before +them. The motion was voted with noise enough to make it at least seem +hearty, and with no outspoken negatives to prevent its appearing +unanimous. His friends dragged him back and insisted upon drinking with +him, the formalities of adjournment being swallowed up in the uproar. +His triumph could not have been more complete, and its celebration, +with much discussion, much congratulation and not a little wine, lasted +until midnight. + +And all the while, as he talked and jested and argued and laughed and +drank, his brain was playing with the question of right and wrong as a +child with a shuttlecock. Without a hearty conviction of the absolute +justice of the principle for which he contended, it is doubtful if +Fenton could have acted the lie of assumed innocence. He had entangled +the question of his guilt with that of the propriety of the action of +the committee so inextricably that one could scarcely be taken up +without the other. He admired himself as an actor, he approved of +himself as a logician, and he despised himself--without any +heart-burning bitterness--as a liar. He was too clear-headed to be able +to bejuggle himself with the reasoning that he had not been guilty of +falsehood because he had never specifically and in word denied the +charge of the committee. Yet with all his pride in his +self-comprehension, he really deceived himself. He supposed himself to +have been animated by the desire to establish a principle in which he +really believed, to conquer and humiliate the Secretary, and to please +himself by acting an amusing _role_; while in truth he had been +instigated by his dominant selfish instinct of self-preservation. But +he thoroughly enjoyed his triumph, and by the time he left the house he +seemed to have established himself on quite a new footing of friendship +with even the members of the Executive Committee. + +As he went down the steps of the club, starting for home, Chauncy +Wilson said to him, with his usual rough jocularity,-- + +"I'll bet you a quarter, Fenton, you did bring Snaffle in that night, +after all. By the way, did you know that Princeton Platinum had gone +all to flinders?" + + + + +XXVII + + UPON A CHURCH BENCH. + Much Ado about Nothing; iii.--3. + +When Fenton went to the club that night he left Helen Greyson and Mr. +Candish, both of whom were sufficiently familiar to excuse the +informality. The combination of the clergyman and the sculptor might +seem likely to be incongruous, but the two had much more in common than +at first sight appeared. Fenton had been right in declaring that Helen +was by instinct a Puritan. It was true that she had shaken herself free +from all the fetters of old creeds and that her religious beliefs were +of the most liberal. The essence of Puritanism, however, was not its +dogmas, but its strenuous earnestness, its exaltation of self-denial, +and its distrust of the guidance of the senses. + +The original Puritans made their religion satisfy their aesthetic +sense, even while they were insisting upon the virtue of starving that +part of their nature. To believe literally and with a realizing sense +of its meaning the creed of Calvin, would have been impossible without +madness to any nature short of the incarnate inhumanity of a Jonathan +Edwards. The aesthetic sense of humanity demands that the imagination +shall be nourished; and the imagination is fed by receiving things as +only ideally true. The Puritans were right in declaring that art was +hostile to religion as they conceived it; but they failed to perceive +that this hostility arose from the fact that the acceptance of their +theology was only possible in virtue of the very faculties to which art +appealed. They were obliged to deprive the imagination of its natural +food, in order that it should be forced to feed upon that the +assimilation of which they conceived to be a moral obligation. It may, +at first sight, seem a bold assertion that our Puritan ancestors +believed their creed, however unconsciously, simply in the sense in +which we believe in the bravery of the heroes of Homer or in the loves +and sorrows of the heroines of Shakespeare. It is to be reflected, +however, that those unhappy creatures who attempted to receive +Calvinism literally and absolutely paid for their mistake with madness; +and that it did not enter into the minds of generations of Puritans, +who lived and died in the error that they believed with their +understanding what they really received only with the imagination, to +take this view, in no way affects its truth. + +Helen's position differed from that of her Puritan grandmothers from +the fact of her having turned her imagination back to art; but she +shared with them the temperament which made Puritanism possible. The +aesthetic sense, which is as universal in mankind as the passions, +clung in her case to sensuous beauty, while that of Mr. Candish clung +to what he considered beauty moral and spiritual; but the controlling +force in the life of both was the stinging inspiration of a fixed idea +of duty. They were thus able, although rather as a matter of +unconscious sympathy than of deliberate understanding, to comprehend +each other; and if Helen had the broader sight, Mr. Candish possessed +the greater power of ignoring self. + +Edith stood on a middle ground between the two. At the time of her +marriage she had been much nearer to the position occupied by the +clergyman; and she would have been startled and shocked had she +realized how much her views had been modified during the six years of +her life with Fenton. She had certainly been led into no toleration of +moral laxity, and indeed the effect of her husband's cynical Paganism +had been to make her dread more acutely any infringement upon moral +laws. She had been constantly learning, however, the enjoyment and +appreciation of beauty, not merely in a conventional and Philistine +sense, but as a pure Pagan aestheticism. The change showed itself +chiefly in her increased tolerance of views less rigid than her own, +which made possible the perfecting of the intimacy with Helen, which +had begun simply from her sense of pity for the sadness of the other's +life. + +"Isn't it charming," Edith said to-night, as the three sat before the +fire after Arthur had gone out, "to see Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard together. +It's not only that they are so fond of each other, but they are so +perfectly in accord. It seems to me an ideal marriage." + +Helen looked at her with an inward sigh. + +"It is much the fashion, nowadays," she said, "to insist that the ideal +marriage is no marriage at all." + +Mr. Candish looked at her inquiringly. + +"Or, in other words," she explained, with a passing thought of his want +of quickness of apprehension, "that no marriage can be ideal." + +"Or anything else, for that matter," put in Edith quickly. "The +iconoclasts of this generation will spare absolutely nothing." + +"These objectors don't take into account," observed Mr. Candish, "that +if we once begin to give up things because their possibilities are not +realized, we shall soon end by having nothing left. Plenty of people do +not live up to the possibilities of marriage, but the fact is that the +trouble is with themselves. The blame that they lay on the institution +really belongs on their own shoulders." + +"Yes," agreed Edith; "like everything else it comes back to a question +of egotism." "And egotism," added Helen, smiling, yet wistfully, "is +the supreme evil." + +Mr. Candish nodded approvingly. + +"I don't know," he said, "that a bachelor like myself has any right to +discuss marriage, except on general principles; but certainly, even +without taking the religious view of it, one can see that the very +objections brought against wedlock are reasons in its favor." + +"Yes," Edith returned, but she moved uneasily in her chair, and Helen +divined that the subject was painful to her. + +"The difficulty is," she said, with an air of dismissing the whole +subject, "that most people marry for the honeymoon and very few for the +whole life." + +She fell to thinking in an absorbed mood which was not wholly free from +irritation, how constantly this question of marriage met one at every +turn, as if the whole fabric of life, social and ethical, depended +entirely upon this institution. She sighed a little impatiently, +looking into the fire with mournful eyes. She thought of the marriages +with which her destiny had been most intimately connected, her own +ill-starred mating, the union of Herman and Ninitta, that of Fenton and +Edith. She had long ago settled in her own mind that wedlock was not +only the mainstay of society, but that it was largely a concession to +the weakness of her sex; and yet instinctively she protested; that +revolt against being a woman which few of her sex have failed at one +time or another to experience taking the form of a revolt against +matrimony. + +"Indeed," she broke out, half humorously and half pathetically, "the +most joyful promise for the Christians hereafter is that they shall +neither marry nor be given in marriage." + +Mr. Candish looked a little shocked; but Edith said softly,-- + +"That is only possible when they become as the Sons of God." + +Helen spread out her hands in a deprecatory gesture. + +"Come, Edith," she said, "that isn't fair, to take the discussion into +regions where I can't follow you." + +Edith smiled, but made no rejoinder in words. Turning to Mr. Candish +she remarked, with an abrupt change of subject,-- + +"When may I tell Melissa Blake about the Knitting School?" + +"I see no reason," he answered, "why she shouldn't know at once. We +shall be ready to begin operations in a month at most, and ought to +know her decision." + +"Isn't it capital?" Edith explained, turning toward Helen. "The +Knitting School is really to be started. Mrs. Bodewin Ranger guarantees +the funds for a year, and we have contracts for work to be delivered in +the fall that will keep from a dozen to twenty girls busy all summer; +while the matron's salary will put Melissa Blake on her feet very +nicely. It's such a relief to have some of those girls provided for." + +"That's the Melissa Blake, isn't it," Helen asked, "that Mr. Hubbard +spoke of at dinner?" + +"Yes," answered Edith, "but it is impossible that he should be right." + +Helen replied only by that look of general sympathy which does duty as +an answer when one has no possible interest in the subject under +discussion, but Mr. Candish, who knew Melissa, shook his head with an +air of conviction. + +"No," he observed, "Miss Blake has too much principle to be guilty of a +breach of confidence. I am sure Mr. Hubbard must be mistaken." + +"And yet," commented Helen, "there is such a general feeling that if +one keeps the letter of his word he may do as he pleases about the +spirit, that she may have contrived to give her lover a hint without +actually breaking her promise as she would understand it." + +"I don't know," Edith returned earnestly, "that we have any right to +judge other people more harshly than we should ourselves. If one of our +friends had betrayed Mr. Hubbard's plans we should say he was a rascal +because we should assume that he knew what he was doing; and we +wouldn't believe such a charge unless we knew he was really bad." + +"But," persisted Helen, with an unconscious irony which Fenton would +have keenly appreciated had he but been there to hear, "in our class of +course it's different. A nice sense of honor is after all very much a +social matter nowadays. That may sound a bit snobbish, but don't you +think it is true?" + +"It is and it isn't," was Mr. Candish's reply. "It would undoubtedly be +true if religious principle did not come into the matter; but religious +principle is stronger in what we call the middle classes than among +their social superiors." + +Mrs. Greyson was not sufficiently interested to continue the +discussion, and she let the matter drop, while Edith contented herself +with reiterating her conviction in Melissa's perfect trustworthiness. + +They chatted upon indifferent subjects for a little while, and then Mr. +Candish went to keep an appointment at the bedside of a sick +parishioner; so that Helen and Edith were left alone. + +They sat together a little longer, and then Helen asked casually,-- + +"By the way, Edith, how long has Arthur been painting Ninitta?" + +"Painting Ninitta?" echoed Edith. + +She remembered the wrap she had seen in the studio, with the wavering +evasion of her husband's eyes when her glance had sought his in +question, and painful forebodings against which she had striven, lest +they should become suspicions, were awakened by Helen's words. + +"Yes," the other went on. "Fred Rangely told me at dinner to-night that +he couldn't get into the studio this morning because Arthur was +painting Mrs. Herman." + +"What did you say to him?" asked Edith. + +"I said," her companion returned, looking up in surprise at her tone, +"that I fancied the picture must be intended as a surprise for Mr. +Herman and he'd better not speak of it." + +"But," Edith objected, "if Arthur told him she was there"-- + +"He didn't," interrupted Helen; "a man outside the door said he had +seen her go in." + +Edith grew pale as ashes. She evidently made a strong effort at +self-control; and then, burying her face in her hands, she burst into +violent weeping. Helen bent forward and put her arms about her. She +drew the quivering form close, resting Edith's beautiful head upon her +bosom. She did not speak, but with soft, caressing touch she smoothed +the other's hair. She remembered vividly the time, six years before, +when Edith, who had left her at night in indignation and disapproval, +had come to her on the morning after her husband's death. She could +almost have said to this weeping woman, the words with which she +remembered the other had then greeted her,--"You must feel so lonely." + +She dared not speak now. She feared to ask the cause of this outburst, +both lest Edith might be led to say what she would afterward wish +unspoken, and because she dreaded to hear unpleasant truths in regard +to Arthur. + +"Oh, Helen," Edith sobbed. "Life is too hard! Life is too hard!" + +Still Helen did not answer, save by the caress of her fingers. The +tears were in her own eyes. One woman instinctively appreciates the +tragedy of another's life, and her unspoken sympathy was balm to +Edith's soul. + +"Come," she said, patting Edith's shoulder as one might soothe a +weeping child, "you're all tired out. I can't take the responsibility +of letting you have hysterics; Arthur would never leave you alone with +me again." + +She spoke with as much lightness of tone as she could command, while +her embrace and her caresses conveyed the sympathy she would not put +into words. + +Presently Mrs. Fenton disengaged herself from her companion's arms and +sat up, wiping away her tears. + +"I must be tired," she said, "or I shouldn't be so foolish." + +"You do too much," Helen returned. Then, with the design of giving her +friend a chance to retreat from their dangerous nearness to +confidences, she added,-- + +"Now tell me what you've done to-day." + +"I have done a good deal," the other replied, smiling faintly and +showing the recovery of her self-possession by sundry little touches to +the crushed roses in her gown. "At nine o'clock I went to the Saturday +Morning Club, to hear Mr. Jefferson's paper on 'The Over-Soul in +Buddhism'; then, at eleven, I went to Mrs. Gore's to see an example of +the way they teach deaf and dumb children to read lip language; then +Arthur and I went to luncheon at Christopher Plant's, and at half past +three was the meeting of the committee on the Knitting School; then +there was the reception at Uncle Peter's, and the tea at Mrs. West's, +before I came home to dress for dinner." + +Helen leaned back in her chair and laughed musically. She felt, with +mingled relief and a faint sense of disappointment, that her effort to +avoid a confidence had been successful. + +"I should think," she said, "that you Boston women would be worn to +shreds, and I don't wonder that you have a leaning toward hysterics. +Did you carry a clear idea of the Buddhistic over-soul through all the +things that came after it in the day?" + +She rose as she spoke, with the desire to hasten away. She had little +mind to know more than she must of the causes of Edith's unhappiness. +She was glad to help her friend, but she felt that she could do so no +better from knowing anything Edith could tell her; and she was, +moreover, sure that Mrs. Fenton's loyal soul would bitterly regret it +if she were by the emotion of the minute betrayed into revelations that +involved her husband. + +"No," Edith answered, rising in her turn; "I am not even sure whether +the Buddhists believe themselves to have an over-soul. But why must you +go? Wait, and let Arthur walk home with you." + +"Oh, I shall take a car," Helen said. "I don't in the least mind going +alone; and it's time both of us were in bed. Good-night, dear; do try +and get rested." + + + + +XXVIII + + BEDECKING ORNAMENTS OF PRAISE. + Love's Labor's Lost; ii.--1. + +Edith Fenton did not, however, follow Helen's advice and go to bed. She +went to her room and exchanged her dinner gown for a wrapper, and then +sat down before the wood fire in her chamber to wait for Arthur's +return. + +It is a dismal vigil when a wife watches for her husband and questions +herself of the love between them. It was Edith's conviction that it is +a wife's duty to love her husband till death; not alone to fulfil her +wifely obligations, to preserve an outward semblance of affection, but +to love him in her heart according to the vows she has taken at the +altar. Had one told her that the limit of human power lay at +self-deception, and that, while it was possible to cheat one's self +into the belief of loving, affection could not be constrained, she +would with perfect honesty have replied as she had answered Helen in +her allusion to St. Theresa. She said to herself to-night, with +unshaken conviction and the concentration of all her will, that she +would not cease to love Arthur; but she could not wholly ignore the +difference between the unquestioning affection she had once given him +and this love whose force lay in her will. + +A picture of Caldwell, painted a year ago just before his long hair had +been sacrificed at his boyish entreaties, hung over her mantel. She +looked up at it while her lip quivered and her eyes filled with tears. +The keenly sensitive soul instead of becoming hardened to suffering +feels it more and more sharply. The powers of endurance become worn +out, and to the pain is added a sense of injustice. Since it suffered +yesterday the heart claims the right to be happy to-day, and feels +wronged that this is denied it. With all her endurance, and with all +her faith, Edith could scarcely repress the feeling of passionate +protest which rose in her bosom. She said to herself that she had done +all, and been all, that lay in her power; that there was no sacrifice +in life she was not ready to make to preserve her husband's love; and +the most cruel pang of all she felt in thinking of her boy. For +herself, it seemed to her, she could have borne anything; but that the +atmosphere of the home in which her son was reared should fall short in +anything of the utmost ideal possibilities caused her intolerable +anguish. It seemed to her a cruel wrong to Caldwell that the love and +confidence between his parents should not be perfect. It is probable +that more of her personal pain was covered by this pity for her son +than she was aware; but as she looked up at his picture she felt almost +as if he were half-orphaned by this estrangement between herself and +Arthur, which it were vain for her to attempt to ignore. + +It was after midnight when she heard the street door open and close; +and a moment later came her husband's tap. + +"I saw the light in your room, as I came down street," he said. "What +on earth kept you up so late?" + +"I was waiting," Edith replied, "to talk with you." + +He came across the chamber, and regarded her a moment curiously; then +he turned away with a slight shrug of the shoulders. + +"You will perhaps excuse me," he said, "if I make myself comfortable. I +am pretty tired." + +He went to his dressing-room, coming back a moment later in smoking +jacket and slippers, cutting a cigar as he walked. The reaction from +the excitement of the evening already showed itself in the darkened +circles beneath his eyes, and the pallor of his lips. + +"Do you mind my smoking?" he asked, carelessly. "We've been having the +deuce of a time at the club, and my nerves have all gone to pieces. I +tell you, Edith," he went on, a sudden spark of excitement showing in +his eyes, "I've had a tremendous row, but I've beaten. I made them pass +a vote of censure on the Executive Committee, and then Herman got them +to instruct the Secretary to send out a printed notice taking back that +vote of theirs; and then I offered my resignation, and they voted +unanimously not to accept it." + +"I am so glad!" Edith responded warmly. "That censure was so +outrageous. Tell me all about it." + +She was so pleased to find herself talking cordially and intimately +with her husband that she forgot for the moment what she had meant to +say to him. She listened with eager interest while he gave her a +picturesque version of the exciting scene at the club. Edith hardly +realized how little of the old familiarity there was now between +herself and Arthur. It was his nature to be communicative. He enjoyed +talking, partly from his pleasure in words and the delight he found in +effective and picturesque phrasing, and partly because it pleased his +vanity to excite attention and to produce striking effects. He had an +inveterate habit of telling his most intimate and inner experiences in +some sort of fantastic disguise. The very vain man is apt to be either +extremely reticent or very communicative. The only secrets which Fenton +kept well were those which his vanity guarded. As desire for admiration +and attention provoked him to continual revelations, so the fear that +the disclosure of a secret would react to his disadvantage could cause +him to be silent. + +From the feeling that his wife disapproved of much that he told her had +grown up in Fenton's mind, at first, an irritated desire to shock and +startle her as much as possible. As there came into his life, however, +things which he knew she would view not only with disapproval but with +abhorrence, and especially since his entanglement with Ninitta, he had +grown constantly more guarded in his speech. Edith felt keenly the loss +of the old familiar talks, though, womanlike, she invented a thousand +excuses to prevent herself from believing in the growing estrangement +of her husband. To-night she yielded herself to the pleasure of the +moment, and she had almost forgotten both the sad thoughts of her vigil +and the fear that troubled her, as she listened to Arthur's animated +words. It was not until he rose as if to say good-night, that her mind +came back suddenly to the matter of which she wished to speak. + +It was in a very different mood, however, from that in which she would +have spoken half an hour before, that she now brought up the thing that +had been troubling her. She hesitated a little how to question her +husband without seeming to jar upon the friendly tone in which they had +been talking. He was watching her keenly, wondering why she had waited +for his coming, and speculating whether it were possible that she might +altogether have forgotten what she meant to say. He thought she was +about to speak, and anticipated her by saying,-- + +"Really, Edith, it would be hard to find, even in Boston, a more +incongruous company than we gathered together at dinner to-night." + +"There was a good deal of variety," she returned; adding defensively, +"but then they fitted together pretty well." + +"What a funny old party Miss Penwick is," Arthur went on, inwardly +gathering himself up for a rapid retreat. "Almost as soon as she had +said, 'how do you do' she asked me what I thought the object of life +was." + +"How very like her; what did you tell her?" + +"Oh, I said I supposed the object of life is to transform the crude +animal and vegetable substances of our food into passions and petty +sentiments." + +Edith laughed absently, her thoughts elsewhere. + +"And she looked dreadfully puzzled," Fenton continued, "as to whether +she ought to be shocked or not. But bless me, how late it is! +Good-night, my dear." + +He stretched up his arms in a yawn. Edith turned quickly toward him. + +"Arthur," she said abruptly, but with the kindness of her softened +mood, "are you painting Ninitta?" + +He gave her a startled glance and sat down again in his chair. There +ran through his mind a sudden pang of fear, but he said to himself +instantly that Edith was not one to suspect evil, and she could not +possibly know the truth. + +"Painting Ninitta?" he returned. "Why do you ask that?" + +"Because Fred Rangely told Helen at dinner to-night that you were." + +"Where did he get his information?" asked Fenton, with a feeling of +tightness in his throat as he remembered how Rangely had knocked at his +door that morning. + +"He said," was Edith's answer, "that a carpenter told him Mrs. Herman +was in the studio to-day; and I remembered seeing her wrap there last +week." + +Fenton felt the insecurity of a man about whom all things totter in the +shock of an earthquake, but he refused to yield to fear. He wondered +how much was to be inferred from the fact that an unknown mechanic was +aware of Mrs. Herman's visits. He had an overwhelming sense of being +trapped, and he inwardly gnashed his teeth with rage against Ninitta +and against fate. + +But he felt the supreme importance of self-control, and he was +outwardly collected as he asked,-- + +"What did Helen say to him?" + +"She said," answered Edith, with an exquisite note of sadness in her +voice, "that you must be making a portrait for a surprise to her +husband." + +The artist's heart gave a bound and he caught eagerly at this +suggestion, which afforded him a means of escape. + +"Helen is too shrewd by half," he said, with a smile. "It is for +Grant's birthday and nobody was to know. As a matter of fact," he +added, his invention quickly leaping to the refinements of details in +his falsehood, "I fancy Ninitta really wants it for the _bambino_, as +she calls him." + +He smiled with relief as he went on, and rose again to his feet. + +"Deception," he observed, with his natural lightness of manner, "is the +bane of married life, but marital felicity is impossible without +discreet reserves. It wasn't my secret, you see, so I didn't feel at +liberty to tell you." + +"You were perfectly right," she answered. "The truth is," she +continued, hesitatingly, "I was afraid you had persuaded Ninitta to sit +for the _Fatima_, you know you said once that she was the only model in +Boston who was what you wanted." + +"Did I say that? What a dreadful memory you have. I should expect Grant +to make a burnt sacrifice of me if I had beguiled her into such an +indiscretion. He won't even have her sit to himself since she was +married." + +"Of course not," rejoined Edith, emphatically. "Poor Grant! He can't be +very happy with Ninitta. She never can get the taint of Bohemia out of +her blood." + +Arthur laughed and flung his cigar end into the fire. + +"You speak," he said, "as if that were a hopeless poison." + +He stood smiling to himself an instant. He had pushed off one slipper +and was endeavoring to pick it up, using his foot like a hand. He was +in that state of high excitement when he would have found relief in the +wildest and most boisterous actions; and it pleased him to be able +still to retain the appearance of his ordinary calm. + +"Modern civilization," he observed, "consists largely in learning to +live without the use of either truth or the toes. Good-night, my dear. +I want to get a nap before the church bells begin to ring." + +He stooped and kissed her, and went to his chamber. He closed the door +and began to recite with exaggerated gestures a fragment from +_Macbeth_. The varied emotions of the evening had set every nerve +quivering. He was so excited that he was not even despondent over the +collapse of Princeton Platinum stock, although this meant to him +desperate financial straits. He knew that he was in no condition to +consider anything calmly; but half the remainder of the night he tossed +upon a sleepless bed, reacting the scene at the club, reflecting upon +his narrow escape from the discovery of his relations with Ninitta, +resolving to begin her portrait at once, and thinking a thousand +confused things which made his brain seem to him filled with whirling +masses of fiery thought-clouds. + +It was really only just before the church bells began to ring that he +fell asleep at last, to dreams hardly less vivid than his waking +reflections. + + + + +XXIX + + CRUEL PROOF OF THIS MAN'S STRENGTH. + As You Like It; i.--2. + +Orin Stanton had been tolerably sure of getting the commission for the +_America_, and had been busily at work preparing his model for the +figure. By the time the decision of the committee was reached, his +study was practically complete, and only a day or two after he had been +officially notified that the choice had fallen upon him the public were +invited to his studio to view the statue. + +Whatever else Orin might or might not be, he was undeniably energetic. +He missed no opportunities through neglect, and he never left undone +anything which was likely to tell for his own advantage. He had once +before called upon the world to admire his work on the completion of +his masterpiece, a figure called _Hop Scotch_, representing according +to Bently "a tenement-house girl having a fit on the sidewalk." He +therefore understood well enough the usual methods of managing these +affairs, and as the ladies who had taken him up felt bound to make a +point of patronizing the exhibition, the affair succeeded capitally. + +Stanton had no regular studio in Boston, and had for this work secured +a room on the ground floor of a business building. The light, to be +sure, was not all that might have been desired, but it was abundant, +window screens were cheap and the sculptor not over sensitive to +subtile gradations of values. He made no attempt to decorate the room +for his exhibition, partly from a certain indifference to its bareness, +and partly from a native shrewdness which enabled him to feel both the +difficulty of doing this adequately, and the fact that the statue +appeared better as things were. There were a few benches, scantily +cushioned, two or three chairs, not all in perfect repair, with the +paraphernalia essential to his work. A few sketches in crayon and +pencil were pinned to the wall, and among them the artist had had the +fatuity to pin up a photograph of that most beautiful figure, the +_Winged Victory_ of Paionios. + +The study for _America_, which was of colossal size, represented a +woman seated, leaning her left hand upon a rock. The right hand held +slightly uplifted a bunch of maize and tobacco plant; her head wore a +crown in which the architectural embattlements not uncommon in classic +headdresses had been curiously and wonderfully transformed into the +likeness of the domed capitol at Washington. The figure was completely +draped, only the head, the left hand and the right arm to the elbow +emerging from the voluminous folds in which it was wrapped, save that +the tip of one sandalled foot was visible, resting upon a ballot box. +Half covered by the hem of the robe were seen a tomahawk, an axe, a +printer's stick, a calumet, and various other emblems of American life, +civilized and barbarous. + +A secret which Stanton did not impart to the public and which, with a +boldness allied to impudence, he trusted to their never discovering, +was the fact that his figure had been stolen bodily from an antique. +There exists in the museum of the Vatican a statuette representing a +work by Eutychides of Sikyon. Bas-reliefs of the same figure exist also +on certain coins of Antioch still extant. The figure represented the +city goddess _Tyche_ resting her foot upon the shoulder of the river +god _Orontes_, who seems to swim from beneath the rock upon which she +is seated. Stanton had a sketch of the statuette which he had made in +Rome, and from this he had modelled his _America_, replacing the god +_Orontes_ by a ballot-box, changing the accessories and adding as many +symbolical articles as he could crowd around the feet. He was not +wholly untroubled by an inward dread lest the source of his inspiration +should be discovered; but when he had been complimented by Peter Calvin +upon the marked originality of the design, he threw his fear to the +winds and delivered himself up to the enjoyment of receiving the +praises of his visitors. + +There was a strange mixture of people present. Stanton had invited the +artists, members of the press, and all the people that he knew, whether +they knew him or not. Mrs. Frostwinch was there, Mrs. Staggchase, Elsie +Dimmont, and Ethel Mott; and although Mrs. Bodewin Ranger was not +actually present, she in a manner lent her countenance by sending her +carriage to the door to call for one of her friends. Fred Rangely was +present, talking in a satirical undertone to Miss Merrivale and viewing +the statue with a wicked look in his eye which boded little good to the +sculptor. Melissa Blake was there, rather overpowered by the crowd and +clinging tightly to the arm of her companion, a girl whose acquaintance +she had made in her boarding-house, and who was much given to an +affectation of profound culture as represented by attendance upon +stereopticon lectures and the exhibitions of the local art clubs. + +"Oh, I should think," this young lady said to Melissa, in a simpering +rapture, "you'd be just too proud for anything, to know Mr. Stanton. It +must be too lovely to know a real sculptor." + +"I don't know him so very well," returned the conscientious Melissa. + +"But you really know him," persisted the other, "and he's been to call +on you. Isn't it funny how some men can make things just out of their +heads without anything to go by?" + +Rangely, who was standing close by, caught the remark and secretly made +a grimace for the benefit of Miss Merrivale. + +"That," said he in her ear, "is genuine Boston culture." + +She laughed softly, not in the least knowing what to say. The statue +meant nothing whatever to her, and had the original of Eutychides been +placed by its side she would have been unable to understand that in +copying it Stanton had transformed its dignity into clumsiness, its +grace into vulgarity. Had she been at home in New York, she would have +said frankly that she neither knew nor cared anything about the +_America_; being in Boston, she had a superstitious feeling that such +frankness would be ill-judged, and she therefore contented herself with +non-committal laughter. + +"How do you do, Miss Merrivale?" at this moment said a cheery voice +close by her. + +She looked up to see the merry eyes and corn-colored beard of Chauncy +Wilson. + +"I say, Fred," went on the doctor, confidentially, "don't you think +this thing is beastly rubbish? It looks like an old grandmother wrapped +up in her bedclothes. And what has she got that toy village on her head +for?" + +"Oh, Doctor Wilson!" exclaimed Miss Merrivale, in a manner that might +mean reproval or amusement. + +Miss Frances was having a very good time. Although Mrs. Staggchase had +been throwing her guest and Rangely together for motives of her own, +the result to Miss Merrivale had been as pleasing as if her hostess had +been purely disinterested. It is true, the time for her return to New +York drew near, but visions of the pleasure of imparting to her family +and friends the news of her engagement to the brilliant young novelist +did much to alleviate her regret at departing from Boston. She had a +pleasant consciousness that afternoon, of sharing in the attention +which Rangely received in public nowadays, especially since his novel +had been violently attacked in the _London Spectator_ and defended in +the _Saturday Review_. She noted the glances that were cast at him, +receiving their homage with a certain secret feeling of having a share +in it. + +But bliss in this world is always transient, and at her happiest moment +Miss Merrivale looked up to perceive Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson bearing +down upon her. Mrs. Sampson was accompanied by the Hon. Tom Greenfield, +who both felt and looked utterly out of place; and who was dragged +along in the wake of his companion quite as much by his unwillingness +to be left to his own devices in a crowd of strangers, as by any +particular desire to follow her. + +"My dear Frances," the widow said effusively, kissing Miss Merrivale on +both cheeks. "I am _so_ glad to see you. Really it is perfectly cruel +that you haven't been to see me. But then, I know," she ran on without +giving the other time to speak, "how busy you've been. I've seen your +name in the _Gossip_, and you've been everywhere." + +"Yes, I have," returned Miss Merrivale, catching rather awkwardly at +the excuse supplied to her. + +Chauncy Wilson laughed significantly. He never felt it necessary to +treat the widow with any especial respect. + +"Mrs. Sampson passes the whole of Sunday forenoon committing the +society columns of the _Gossip_ to memory, and wishing her name was +there," he chuckled, with a jocoseness which seemed to that lady +extremely ill-timed. + +But she kept her temper beautifully, long years of social struggle +having taught her at least this art of self-restraint. + +"Dr. Wilson is nothing if not satirical," she returned, with a +conventional smile. + +It would not have been displeasing to Miss Merrivale had the floor at +that particular instant opened and engulfed her former hostess. It +needs unusual breadth of mind to forgive those toward whom we have been +discourteous. On the other side of the statue, Frances saw Mrs. +Staggchase watching the encounter with a sort of quiet amusement. It +flashed across her mind that if she were to become Mrs. Rangely, and +live in Boston, it would be necessary to drop Mrs. Sampson from her +calling list, and the reflection instantly followed that the sooner the +process of breaking the acquaintance were begun the better. Her face +insensibly, hardened a little. + +"Of course," she said, "one can't help being put into the _Gossip_, but +I should never think of reading it." + +Mrs. Sampson understood that this was a snub, and her cheek flushed. +Wilson laughed maliciously. + +"Oh, everybody reads the _Gossip_," Rangely interposed, good-naturedly +coming to the rescue; "although it's to the credit of humanity that +everybody has the grace to be ashamed of it." + +There was a bustle and stir in the crowd as Tom Bently pushed his way +up to the group. + +"By Jove, Rangely," he said, "have you got on to that statue? Do you +know what it's cribbed from?" + +"No," returned Fred; "is it from anything in particular? I supposed it +was just a general steal from the antique, and Stanton appropriates +only to destroy." + +"I don't know what it is," was Bently's reply, "but I know there's a +cut of it in a book I've got at the studio." + +Rangely's eyes flashed. + +"Good," said he, "I'll come round to-night and we'll look it up. I'm +going to do a notice of the _America_ for the _Observer_." + +The two exchanged significant glances, laughing inwardly at the +discomfiture of the unfortunate sculptor. + +"But don't you admire the figure?" asked Mrs. Sampson, eagerly seizing +an opportunity to get into the conversation. + +"It's the kind of thing I should have liked when I was young," Bently +returned. "I was taught to like that sort of thing; but all the +preliminary rubbish that was plastered on to me when I was a youngster, +I have shed as a snake sheds its skin." + +The movement in the crowd gave Miss Merrivale an excuse for changing +her position; and she improved the opportunity to turn away from the +widow until the latter could see little except her back. Mrs. Sampson +flushed angrily, but she covered her discomfiture, as well as she was +able, by turning her attention to the statue, and descanting upon its +beauties to Greenfield. + +"How exquisitely dignified the drapery is," she remarked, "and so +beautifully modest." + +"Big thing, ain't it," said the strident voice of Irons, close to her +ear. "I think we've hit something good this time. I'm really obliged to +you, Greenfield, for putting me up to vote for Stanton. I like a statue +with some meaning to it. Now just look at the significance of all those +emblems of American progress." + +"Yes, it is very fine," admitted Greenfield, with a helpless air. "I'll +work it into a speech, sometime," he added, his face brightening with +the relief of having an idea; "there's the ballot-box at the bottom as +a foundation, and you work up through all the industries till you get +to the capitol, the centre of government, at the top." + +"Hear! hear!" exclaimed the widow, clapping her hands very softly and +prettily; "really you must speak at the unveiling of the statue." + +"Capital idea," exclaimed Irons, to whose gratitude for Greenfield's +aid in the railroad matter was added the politic forecast that he might +some time need his help again; "there's Hubbard over there now; I'll go +and ask him whether our committee chooses the orator." + +He started to make his way through the crowd, followed by the admiring +looks of various young women who had been frankly listening to the +conversation, although they were strangers. + +"Oh, isn't the statue just too lovely for anything," gushingly remarked +one of them, with startling originality; "it's so noble and--. And, +oh," she broke off suddenly, the light of a new discovery shining in +her face, "just see, girls, that's corn in her hand." + +"Oh, yes, and cotton," responded her companion. "See, it really is +cotton, and something else." + +"Yes, that must be maize," returned the other, oracularly; "it's all so +beautifully American." + +The crowd moved and swayed and changed, until Ethel Mott stood close to +the _America_, with her back turned squarely upon the figure. She +evidently found more pleasure in looking at her companion than in +studying the work of the sculptor, which she had nominally come to see. + +"I think it will be too cold, Thayer, to go out in the dog-cart," she +said, with one of those glances whose meaning not even a poet could put +into words. + +"Oh, no," Kent answered. "I have a tremendously heavy rug, and you can +wrap up." + +"Well," was her answer, "if it's pleasant, and the sun shines, and I +don't change my mind, and I feel like it, perhaps I'll go. At any rate +you may come round about ten o'clock." + +Rangely was too far away to catch, amid the babble of the crowd, a +single word of this conversation, but he noted the looks which the pair +exchanged. + +"Oh, do come along," a corpulent lady in the crowd observed to her +companion. "We've seen everybody here that we know, and I want to go +down to Winter Street and get some buttons for my grey dress. Miranda +wanted me to have them covered with the cloth, but I think steel ones +would be prettier." + +"Yes, they say steel's going to be awfully fashionable this spring. Are +they going to put that statue up just as it is?" + +"Oh, they bake it or paint it or something," was the lucid answer, as +the corpulent lady threw herself against Mr. Hubbard, nearly +annihilating him in her effort to clear a path through the crowd. + +"I think, my dear," Hubbard observed to his wife, "unless you've +designs on my life insurance, you'd better take me out of this crowd." + +"But we haven't seen the statue," she returned. + +"I have," he retorted grimly, "and I assure you you haven't lost +anything. You'll see it enough when it's set up, and you'll go about +perjuring your soul by denying that I was ever on the committee." + +"Hush," she said, "do be quiet; people will think you're cross because +you were overruled." + +On the other side of the statue the sculptor had been receiving +congratulations all the afternoon, and now Mr. Calvin and Mrs. +Frostwinch chanced to approach him at the same time to take their leave. + +"I am so glad to have seen the statue," was the latter's form of adieu, +"it is distinctly inspiring. Thank you so much." + +He bowed awkwardly enough, stammering some unintelligible reply, and +the lady moved away with Mr. Calvin, who observed as the pair emerged +into the open air: + +"It is such a relief to me that this statue has turned out so well. +There has really been a good deal of feeling and wire-pulling, and some +New York friends of mine will never forgive me that the commission was +not given to one of their men. I really feel as if the thing had been +made almost a personal matter." + +"It must be a great satisfaction to you," his companion returned, "that +he has succeeded." + +"It is," was Calvin's reply. "I meant to see Mr. Rangley and ask him to +say a good word in the _Observer,_ but everybody is so much pleased +that I think he may be trusted to be." + +"Oh, he must be," she answered. + +And as she spoke Tom Bently passed by, quietly smiling to himself. + + + + +XXX + + THE WORLD IS STILL DECEIVED. + Merchant of Venice; iii.--2. + +On the evening following his reception, Orin Stanton presented himself +at the rooms of Melissa. He was fairly beaming with self-complacency +and gratification. He had been awarded the commission, the exhibition +of his model had been attended, as he assured Melissa, "by no end of +swells," and five thousand dollars had been paid over to him as an +advance upon which to begin his work. He felt as if the world were +under his feet and he spoke to Melissa with an air of lofty +condescension which should have amused her, but which she received with +the utmost humility. + +"Well," he said, "what do you think of that for a crowd? Wasn't that a +swell mob? Didn't you notice what a lot of bang-up people there were at +the studio this afternoon?" + +"Of course I didn't know many of them," Melissa returned humbly; "but I +could see that there were a lot of people that everybody seemed to +know. I'm glad that you were pleased." + +Orin pulled out a big cigar and bit the end off it excitedly. + +"Pleased!" he echoed. "I was more than pleased--I was delighted. All +the committee were there, of course, and half the fashionable women of +Boston." + +"I heard a lady telling another who the artists were," Milly observed, +glad to find a subject upon which she could talk to Orin easily. + +"O yes, there were a lot of artists there, but they don't count for +much in getting a fellow commissions." + +Stanton had evidently no intention of being satirical, but spoke with +straightforward plainness what he would have regarded, had he given the +matter any thought at all, as being a truth too obvious to need any +disguises. His Philistinism was of the perfectly ingrained, inborn +sort, which never having appreciated that it is naked has never felt +the need of being ashamed; and he let it be seen on any occasion with a +frankness which arose from the fact that it had never occurred to him +that there was any reason why he should conceal it. He was one of those +artists who never would be able wholly to separate his idea of the muse +from that of a serving-maid; and he viewed art from the strictly +utilitarian standpoint which considers it a means toward the payment of +butcher and baker and candlestick maker. He was not indifferent to the +opinion of his fellow sculptors; but the criticism of Alfred Irons, +which he knew to be backed by a substantial bank account, would have +outweighed in his mind the judgment of Michael Angelo or Phidias. + +Milly, of course, had no ideas about art beyond a faint sentimental +tendency to regard it as a mysterious and glorious thing which one +could not wholly escape in Boston; while her thrifty New England +nurture enabled her to appreciate perfectly the force of the +considerations Orin brought forward. + +"I am glad you are getting commissions," she said, "but it must be nice +to have the artists like your work, for after all, don't you think rich +people depend a good deal upon what the artists say?" + +"Oh yes, they do, some," admitted the sculptor. + +He puffed his cigar, and with the aid of a penknife performed upon his +nails certain operations of the toilet which are more usually attended +to in private. Milly sat nervously trying to think of something to say, +and wondering what had brought the sculptor to visit her. She was too +kindly to suspect that possibly he had come because in her company he +could enjoy the pleasure of giving free rein to his self-conceit. The +words of her companion of the afternoon had given her a new sense of +the honor of a visit from her prospective brother-in-law, although this +increased her diffidence rather than her pleasure. + +"Was Mr. Fenton there this afternoon?" she asked, at length, simply for +the sake of saying something. + +The face of her companion darkened. + +"Damn Fenton!" he returned, with coarse brutality. "He's a cad and a +snob; he says Herman ought to have made the _America_, and he abuses my +model without ever having seen it." + +The remark of Fenton's which had given offence to Stanton had been made +at the club in comment upon a photograph of the model which somebody +was showing. + +"The only capitol thing about it," Fenton had said, "is the headgear." + +The remark was severe rather than witty, and it was its severity which +had given it wings to bear it to the sculptor's ears. + +"I don't like Mr. Fenton very well," Milly admitted, "but Mrs. Fenton +is perfectly lovely; she's been awfully good to me." + +By way of reply the sculptor, with a somewhat ponderous air, unbuttoned +his coat and produced a red leather pocket-book. This he opened, took +out a handful of bills, and proceeded to count them with great +deliberation. Melissa watched while he counted out a sum which seemed +to have been fixed in his mind. He smoothed the package of bills in his +hand, then he glanced up at her furtively as if to ascertain whether +she knew how much he had laid out. She involuntarily averted her +glance. Instantly Orin gathered up several of the bills quickly, +conveying them out of sight with a guilty air as if he were purloining +them. Then he held the remainder toward his companion. + +"There," he said, "I should have kept my promise if you hadn't hinted +by speaking of Fenton. Of course you understand that I can't give you +anything very tremendous, but there's a hundred and fifty dollars." + +Melissa flushed and drew back. + +"I had no idea of hinting," was her reply. "Of course I thank you very +much, but you ought to give the money to John, not to me." + +"No," Orin insisted, "you helped me with Mrs. Fenton, and John might as +well know that I wouldn't put this money into a hole just to please +him. I know John. He'll set more by you if the money comes through you." + +"But I don't believe," protested she, "that what I said to Mrs. Fenton +really made any difference." + +But in Orin's abounding good nature her disclaimer passed unheeded. He +pressed the money upon her, and went away full of the consciousness of +having exercised a noble philanthropy. + +It is possible that had he waited to read Fred Rangely's criticism upon +his _America_ which appeared in the _Daily Observer_ next morning he +might never have made this contribution toward paying his father's +debts. With Bently's help Rangely had discovered the original of the +statue, and had then written a careful comparison between the work of +Eutychides and that of Stanton. It hardly need be added that the result +was not at all flattering to the latter. Rangely possessed a very +pretty gift of sarcasm, and it was his humor to consider that in +attacking the sculptor he was to a certain degree settling scores with +Mrs. Staggchase for her change in attitude toward him after Miss +Merrivale came. He served up the unlucky statue and its more unlucky +maker with a piquancy and a zest which made his article town talk for a +month. The sculptor sheltered himself, so far as he could, by keeping +out of sight, while Peter Calvin, unable to endure the jibes and +laughter which everywhere met him, abandoned the cause of his _protege_ +and the town together, by starting two months earlier than he had +intended on a trip to Europe. + +Rangely was angry with himself for having been persuaded by Mrs. +Staggchase to write an article sustaining Stanton's claims in the first +place, and not having signed it, he endeavored to give to this +criticism a tone which should indicate, without its being specifically +stated, that he had not written the former paper. He understood +perfectly well that Mrs. Staggchase would regard his position as a +declaration of independence, and indeed when the lady read the +_Observer_ that morning she smiled with an air of comprehension. + +"That's an end to that," she said to herself. "When you've known a man +as long as I have Fred Rangely, he's like a book that's been read; +you've got all the good there is in him. There are other men in the +world." + +When Orin had gone, Milly stood turning over and over in her hand the +roll of bills he had given her. Then she spread them out upon the +table, counting them and gloating over them, with a delight which arose +quite as largely from her foretaste of John's pleasure and the joy of +having helped to cause it, as it did from mere love of money. She had +just taken the precious roll to put it away, when her lover himself +appeared. + +John Stanton was really of more kindly disposition than might have been +inferred from his misunderstanding with his betrothed. He had been half +a dozen weeks coming to his right mind, but whatever he did he did +thoroughly, and in the end he had reached a point where he was willing +to acknowledge himself wrong, and to make whatever amends lay in his +power. He came in to-night with the determined air of one who has made +up his mind to get through a disagreeable duty as speedily as possible. + +Milly opened the door for him, and stood back to let him pass; she had +learned in these weeks of their estrangement to restrain the +manifestation of her joy at his coming. It was with so great a rush of +blissful surprise that she now found herself suddenly caught up into +his arms, that she clung closely to his neck for one joyful instant, +and then burst into a passion of weeping. + +"There, there," her lover said, caressing her; "don't cry, Milly. I've +been a brute, and I know it; but if you'll forgive me this time I'll +see that you never need to again." + +He moved toward a chair as he spoke, half carrying her in his arms. In +her excitement she loosened her hold upon the roll of money, which was +still in her hand, and the bills were scattered on the floor behind him +as he walked. He sat down and took her in his lap, stroking her hair +and soothing her as well as he was able. By a strong effort she +controlled herself, dried her tears, and sat up, half laughing. + +"I'm getting to be dreadful teary," she said. "I"-- + +"What in the world," he interrupted her in amazement, "is that on the +floor?" + +She turned and saw the money, and burst into a peal of laughter. +Springing down from his knee, she ran and gathered up the bills in her +two hands; then, dancing up to him, half wild with delight, her cheeks +flushed, her eyes shining, she scattered the precious bits of green +paper fantastically over his head and shoulders. + + "'Take, oh take, the rosy, rosy crown!'" + +She sang, in the very abandonment of gayety. + +"Are you gone crazy?" he demanded, clutching the floating bills, and +then catching her about the waist. "You act like a witch! Where did all +this money come from? The savings-bank?" + +"No," she returned, becoming quiet, and nestling close to him. "The +Lord sent it by the hand of your brother Orin." + +It was some time before John could be made to understand the whole +story; and when it had been told, he instantly leaped to the conclusion +that the whole credit of Orin's getting the commission belonged of +right to Milly, a conviction in which he remained steadfast despite all +her disclaimers. + +At last she gave up protesting, and shut his mouth with a kiss. Since +John, as well as Orin, thought so, she felt that her part must have +been more important than she had realized; but she was too modest to +bear so much praise. + +"John," she said at length, "I have something awful to confess. I've +been keeping a secret from you." + +"I'm afraid I've been too much of a bear for it to have been safe to +tell me," returned her lover, smiling. + +His own heart was filled with the double joy of reconciliation, and of +having brought it about himself by a manly confession of his fault. + +"It wasn't that at all," she protested. "It was because I wasn't sure +about it; and then I wanted to surprise you if I got it." + +"Got what? You speak as if it was the smallpox. Is it anything +catching?" + +"Oh, no," answered Milly, laughing gleefully at his sally, which to her +present mood seemed the most exquisite wit. "You needn't be afraid; +it's only the matronship of the new Knitting School, thank you, with a +salary of five hundred dollars a year." + +"Really, Milly?" + +"Really, John; and don't you think"-- + +"Think what?" + +She had made up her mind to say it even before this blessed agreement +had come about, but now that the moment came, the habits and trammels +of generations held her back. + +"Why," she stammered, blushing and hesitating, "don't you +think,--wouldn't it seem more appropriate if a matron was"--Her voice +failed utterly. She flung her arms convulsively about her lover's neck, +and drew his ear close to her lips. "Surely, now, John, dear," she +whispered, "we could afford to"-- + +She finished with a kiss. + +"If you can put up with me, darling," he answered her, with a mighty +hug; "we'll be married in a week, or, better still, in a day." + +"I think in a month will do," responded Mistress Milly, demurely, +sitting up to blush with decorum. + + + + +XXXI + + PARTED OUR FELLOWSHIP. + Othello; ii.--1. + +The news of the collapse of Princeton Platinum stock, which Dr. Wilson +had given Arthur on Saturday night, proved to be somewhat premature. On +Sunday it was decided at the club, where the matter was discussed in a +cold-blooded and leisurely fashion, that the whole scheme had gone to +pieces; and of course this decision was accompanied by the statement, +in various forms, that everybody knew that there was nothing +substantial behind the certificates. On Monday, however, the stock took +an unexpected rise, and for two or three days held its own with a +firmness which greatly encouraged its holders. + +Fenton had bought the bulk of his shares at two and seven-eights, and +still held them, notwithstanding the rumors of disaster in the air. +With a folly that would be incredible were it not one of the most +common things in amateur stock transactions, the artist had by this +time put the bulk of his little fortune into this wild-cat stock, which +he now held with a desperate determination not to sell below the figure +at which he had purchased. He could so little afford the least loss, +that, with the genuine instinct of the gambler, he trusted to luck, and +ran the risk of utter ruin for the sake of the chance of making a +brilliant stroke, or at least of coming out even. Having made up his +mind to hold on, he clung to the position with his customary obstinacy, +even dismissing the matter, as far as was possible, from his thoughts. + +He was very busy preparing an exhibition of pictures at the St. Filipe +club. The matter had been left in his hands by the other members of the +Art Committee, of which he was chairman; but his attitude toward the +club had prevented his taking any steps until after the meeting on +Saturday night. Now, he was particularly anxious to make the exhibition +a brilliant success, to give a signal instance of the value of his +services. + +He had gone to his studio on Sunday afternoon and sketched in a head of +Ninitta, and upon this he worked, now and then, with a desperate energy +born of the feeling that it substantiated his story to Edith. He had +been seized with grave doubts as to the advisability of exhibiting the +_Fatima_ just now; but he did not see his way clear to spare so large +and important a picture from the collection, and he comforted himself +with the thought that the face was different, and that if the model +were recognized he would be supposed to have worked up old sketches +taken when Ninitta had posed for him before her marriage. + +He worked with all his marvellous energy, collecting pictures, +directing their hanging, soothing artists whose canvases were not +placed to their liking, making out the catalogue, and arranging all the +details which in such a connection are fatiguing and well-nigh +innumerable. + +The exhibition was opened on Wednesday evening with a reception to +ladies, and by nine o'clock the gallery began to fill. Fenton had +decorated the rooms a little, chiefly with live pampas grass and palms +and India-rubber trees. It is difficult to see how mankind in the +nineteenth century could exist without the India-rubber tree. If that +plant were destroyed, civilization would be left gasping, helpless and +crippled; and of late years, not content with making it serviceable in +every department of practical life, men have brought the shrub into the +domain of aesthetics by using it for decorative purposes. + +The collection of paintings was an interesting one, made up of the work +of the best artists in town. Fenton had spared no pains either in +procuring what he wanted, or in arranging the gallery. The _Fatima_ +hung in a position of honor opposite the main entrance. The selection +of so prominent a place for his own work offended Fenton's taste, and +annoyed him with an uncomfortable sense of how strongly the picture was +in evidence. The exigencies of hanging, and the fact that the canvas +was the most important one in the room forced him to place it as he +did; and Bently, whom he called to his assistance, laughed at his +scruples. None of the artists had seen the picture, and Bently was +quite carried away by his admiration of it. + +"By Jove! Fenton," he said, "I didn't know you had it in you. It's +perfectly stunning. But it's beastly wicked," he added. "Perhaps that's +the reason it's so good." + +"Come," Fenton said with a laugh, "that sounds quite like the old Pagan +days." + +"But how in the dickens," Tom went on, "did you get Mrs. Herman to pose +for you?" + +"Great Heavens!" ejaculated Fenton, "don't say that to anybody else. I +had no end of studies of her, made long ago; but I didn't suppose I had +followed them closely enough for it to be recognized." + +"You don't mean," Tom returned, "that that side and arm are done from +old studies!" + +Fenton had a delicate dislike to literal falsehood. It was not a +question of morality directly, but one of taste. Albeit, since taste is +simply morality remote from the springs of action, it perhaps came to +much the same thing in the end. He felt now, however, that the time for +the selfish indulgence of his individual whims was past, and that he +owed to Ninitta the grace of a downright and hearty falsehood. + +"Why, of course," he said, "I had one or two models to help me out; but +the inspiration came from the old studies." + +"And she didn't pose for you?" Tom persisted incredulously. + +"Pose for me?" echoed Fenton, impatiently. "Why, man alive, think what +you're saying! Of course, she didn't pose for me. She never has posed +for anybody since she was married." + +"And a devilish shame it is, too," responded Tom. + +This conversation, which took place Wednesday afternoon, made Fenton +extremely uneasy. Fate seemed to have worked against him. He had +painted the picture to go to the New York Exhibition, where he hoped it +would be sold without ever coming under the eye of Herman at all. He +reflected now that Ninitta had posed for Helen and for several of his +brother painters, while it was scarcely credible that the likeness +which Bently had perceived at a glance should escape the trained +artist's eye of her husband; and it seemed to him now, little less than +madness to have brought the picture here at all. + +Upon second thought, however, he reflected that even were the picture +recognized, no great harm would probably come of it. No one would be +likely to speak on the subject to Herman, and, least of all, was there +a probability that the latter would confess that he was aware of what +his wife had done. Herman's condemnation, Fenton said to himself with a +shrug, he must, if worst came to worst, endure; this was to be set down +with other unpleasantnesses which belong to the unpleasant conditions +of life as they exist in these days. As long as there was no open +scandal, he could ignore whatever lay beneath the surface, and he +assured himself that in any event it were wisest, as he had long ago +learned, to carry things off with a high hand. + +It was about half past nine when Fenton brought Edith into the gallery. +The crowd had by this time become pretty dense, and just inside the +door they halted, exchanging greeting with the acquaintances who +appeared on every side. The St. Filipe was an old club, and for more +than a quarter of a century had maintained the reputation of leading in +matters of art and literature. Its influence had, on the whole, been +remarkably even and intelligent; but of late it began to be felt, among +those who were radical in their views, that the club was coming under +Philistine influence. Half a dozen years before, when Fenton had +proposed Peter Calvin for membership, even the social influence of the +candidate did not save him from a rejection so marked that Arthur had +threatened to resign his own membership. Now, however, Peter Calvin was +not only a member of the St. Filipe, but he was on the Election +Committee. The club was held in favor in the circles over which his +influence extended, and although workers in all branches of art were +still included among the members, they were pretty closely pushed by +the more fashionable element of the town. Fenton was not far from right +in asserting, as he did one day to Mrs. Greyson, after her return from +Europe, that the change in his own attitude toward art was pretty +exactly paralleled by the alteration which had taken place in that of +Boston. + +The character of the membership of the club was indicated to-night by +the brilliancy of the company present. It was one of those occasions +when everybody is there, and the scene, as the new-comers looked over +the gallery, was most bright and animated. Although the ladies had +evidently labored under the usual uncertainty in regard to the proper +dress which seems inseparable from an art exhibition in Boston, and +were in all varieties of costume from street attire to full evening +toilette, there were enough handsome gowns to supply the necessary +color. There was also abundance of pretty and of striking faces, and +the crowd had that pleasant look of familiarity which one gets from +recognizing acquaintances all through it. + +One of the first persons the Fentons saw was Ethel Mott, who, under the +chaperonage of Mrs. Frostwinch, was making the tour of the gallery with +Kent, and paying far more attention to her companion than to the +pictures. + +"Oh, Arthur," Edith whispered, "I saw Mrs. Staggchase in the +dressing-room, and she told me that Ethel's engagement is out to-day." + +Arthur smiled, remembering his perspicacity when Ethel had driven away +from his dinner with Kent in her carriage. + +"Isn't the crowd dreadful?" the voice of Mrs. Bodewin Ranger said, at +Edith's elbow. "I'm really getting too old to trust myself in such a +crush." + +While Edith chatted with her, the steward called Fenton away, in +connection with some question about the catalogues, and when Mrs. +Ranger moved on, Edith found herself for an instant alone. The mention +of her husband's name behind her caught her ear and her attention. + +"Fenton's cheeky enough for anything!" said an unknown voice. "But he +makes a point of his good taste, and I think it's beastly poor form for +him to show that picture here." + +"Bently says," returned another voice, also strange to Edith, "that +Fenton says she didn't pose for him, but that he worked it up from old +studies." + +"I don't care if he did," was the response. "All the fellows know it, +and Herman must feel like the deuce." + +"But you can't suppress every picture that has a study of her in it." + +"Hush," said the other voice, "there comes Herman himself." + +It seemed to Edith that this brief dialogue had been shouted out so +that it could not be inaudible to any one in the room. She looked about +for her husband. Her ears rang with the meaningless babble of voices, +the jargon of human sounds conveying far less impression of +intelligence than the noise of water on the shore, or the sound of the +wind in the tree-tops. All about her were faces wreathed in +conventional smiles, the inevitable laughter, the usual absence of +earnestness, and in the midst of all, with a shock hardly less painful +than that of the discovery she had just made, she heard the voice of +Herman bidding her good evening. + +She held out her hand to him with a hasty, excited gesture. She was +painfully conscious that he had but to lift his eyes to see the +_Fatima_ hanging on the opposite wall of the gallery, and she +instinctively felt that she must draw his attention away. + +"How do you do, Mr. Herman," she said, with eager warmth. "Is Mrs. +Herman with you?" + +She moved half around him as she spoke, as if compelled by the shifting +of the crowd to change her position; and while she shook hands managed +to bring herself almost face to the picture, so that his back was +toward it. + +"No," he answered, "she never comes to these things if she can possibly +help it. I hear your husband has outdone himself on this exhibition." + +Edith looked about despairingly for Arthur. She felt herself unequal to +the emergency, and longed for his clever wits to contrive some means of +escape from the cruel dilemma in which his act had placed her and his +friend. Indignation, shame, and sorrow filled her heart. She recognized +that Arthur had not told her the truth in regard to Ninitta. The dread +and the suspicion which she had felt on the night of the dinner +returned to her with tenfold force. But the greatest triumph of modern +civilization is the power it has bestowed upon women of concealing +their feelings. The pressing need of the moment was to show to Herman a +smiling and untroubled face, and to avoid arousing his suspicion that +anything was wrong. + +"The truth is," she returned, "that I haven't seen the exhibition. It's +impossible to see pictures in such a crowd, don't you think? I know +Arthur has worked very hard. I've hardly seen him this week." + +"He has a most tremendous power of accomplishing what he undertakes," +Herman said heartily. "But tell me about yourself. You're looking +tired." + +"It is the time of year to look tired. I believe I am feeling a little +anxious that spring should arrive." + +She was struggling in her thoughts for a means of preventing the +discovery, which it seemed to her must be inevitable the moment she +ceased to engage Herman in conversation and he turned away. Over his +shoulder she could see the beautiful, sensuous _Fatima_ lying with long +sleek limbs amid bright-hued cushions. Now that she knew the truth, she +could see Ninitta in every line, and her whole soul rose in indignant +protest. It was her friend, the wife of this man she honored, who was +delivered up on the wall yonder to the curious eyes of all these +people. The stinging blush of shame burned in Edith's cheeks, and, as +at this instant she turned to find her husband beside her, the glance +which darted from her eyes to his was one of righteous scorn and +indignation. + +His wife's burning look showed Arthur that she knew; and, reflecting +quickly, he decided that Herman did not. It was characteristic of him +that he instantly chose the boldest policy. + +"Come," he said to Herman as soon as they had greeted each other, "I +know you haven't seen my _Fatima_. The boys say its the best thing I've +done, but I couldn't get a decent model, and had to depend so much on +old studies, that, for the life of me, I can't tell whether it's good +or not." + +Like two blows at once came to Edith a sense of shame that she could +even involuntarily have wished for her husband's aid, and an +overwhelming consciousness of the readiness and boldness of his +falsity. She saw the face of Grant Herman, nobly instinct with truth in +every line, and, as he turned at her husband's word, everything blurred +before her vision. She believed she was going to faint, and she rallied +all her self-command to hold herself steady. The lights danced, and the +sound of voices faded as into the distance. Then, with a supreme effort +of will, she rallied, and the voices rolled back upon her ear with a +noise like the roar of an incoming wave. + +A sphere of silence seemed to envelop Herman and Arthur and herself in +the very midst of the crowd, as for an instant which seemed to her +cruelly long she stood waiting for what the sculptor should say. + +"Your friends are right, Fenton," Herman said, at length, in a voice so +changed from its previous cordiality that it was idle to suppose the +likeness had escaped him. "You have never painted anything better." + +"Thank you," Fenton responded, brightly. "I am awfully glad you like +it. I fancy," he added, with a laugh, "that the tabby-cats will be +shocked." + +His companion made no reply, and the approach of Rangely afforded +Arthur a chance to change the conversation. + +"I say, Fred," he demanded, "have you congratulated Thayer Kent yet?" + +"Congratulated him?" echoed Rangely. + +"Yes. Didn't you know his engagement is out?" + +Rangely might have been said to take a page out of Fenton's own book, +as he answered,-- + +"But what's the etiquette of precedence?" "Of precedence?" echoed +Arthur, in his turn. + +"Yes," Rangely returned. "Which of us should congratulate the other +first? Only," he added, hitting to his own delight upon a position +which might save him from some awkwardness in the future, "of course my +engagement can't be announced until Miss Merrivale gets home to her +mother." + +"Well," Arthur said, "marriage is that ceremony by which man lays aside +the pleasures of life and takes up its duties. I congratulate you on +your determination to do anything so virtuous." + +"Sardonic, as usual," retorted Fred, laughing; and then he went to find +Miss Merrivale, convinced that under the circumstances the sooner he +proposed to her the better. + + + + +XXXII + + HEART-BURNING HEAT OF DUTY. + Love's Labor's Lost; i.--1. + +All the world feels the pathos of helplessness hurt and wounded; but +only some recognize how this applies to a great and noble nature +attacked by unscrupulousness. In an encounter with dishonesty, nobility +of soul may be, in its effect for the moment, utter weakness. Assailed +by deceit or treachery the great heart has often no resource but +endurance; and while endurance may save, it cannot defend. + +The moment Grant Herman's eyes fell upon the _Fatima_, he understood +fully why Fenton had so volubly remarked that he had painted the +picture from old studies. He tried to fight with his conviction that +what the artist said was false, although even as he did so he could not +crush down the feeling of having been wounded by the hand of a friend. +It seemed to him incredible that Fenton, even though the painter's +defection from the Pagans had caused something of a breach between +them, could have been guilty of this outrage. He choked with an +intolerable sense of shame for himself, for the artist, and for +Ninitta. A terrible anguish wrung his heart as he looked across the +crowded gallery gay with lights, with the rich dresses, with laughter, +and with the beauty of women, to where hung the picture of the mother +of his boy, an image of sensuous enticement. The fact that Fenton had +substituted another face for that of Ninitta did not, for the moment, +console him. To his sculptor's eye, form was the important thing, and +the fact that he recognized the model bore down all else. He remembered +how marked had been Ninitta's unwillingness to accompany him to the +exhibition, and the possible connection between this and the picture +forced itself upon his mind. + +With all the instinctive generosity of his soul, however, Herman strove +to believe that the _Fatima_ had been painted, as Fenton said, from old +studies, and that his wife had not been guilty of the painful indecorum +of posing. He compelled himself to answer the artist calmly, although +he could not make his manner cordial. And as he spoke, his eye, +searching the picture for confirmation of his hope or of his fear, +recognized among the draperies a Turkish shawl he had himself given his +wife after their marriage. + +He made his way out of the gallery and out of the club house. He felt +that he must get away from the innumerable eyes by which he was +surrounded. He started toward home, but before he had gone a block, he +stopped, hesitated a moment, and struck off into a side street. He was +not ready to go home. He had said to himself too often, reiterating it +in his mind constantly for six years, that in dealing with his wife his +must be the wisdom, the patience, and the forbearance of both. He +remembered a night long ago, when he had gone to Ninitta's room, in a +mood of contrition, to renew the troth of his youth, and had fallen +instead into a fit of bitter anger. With no evident reason, came back +to him to-night the beautiful weeping figure of the Italian as she had +cast herself at his feet and implored his forgiveness. He would not go +to her now until he was calmer, and until he had considered carefully +all the points of the situation. + +In that whirl which comes in desperate circumstances before the +startled and bewildered thoughts can be reduced to order, Herman +wandered on, not thinking where he was going, until he found himself +leaning against a railing and looking over the waters of the Charles +River. It was a beautiful starlight night with a wavering wind that +came in uncertain gusts only to die away again. The water was like a +flood of ink, across which streamed thin tremulous lines of brightness, +and over which were strewn the flickering reflections of the stars. The +gas jets of the city across the flood, the rows of lamps which marked +the bridges, the distant horse cars which rumbled between Cambridge and +Boston with their colored lights, the green and red lanterns that +glowed from the railroad tracks farther down the river, all suggested +the busy life of men with its passions, its greed, and its +heartlessness; but the darkness held all remote, as if the world of men +were a dream. And overhead the immovable stars, like the unpitying +gods, hung above the city and were reflected in the water, and wounded +the soul of the lonely man with the terrible sense of power inimitably +removed, of passionless strength which served to humanity but as a +measure of its own weakness and triviality. The misfortunes of life +might be endured; its disappointments, its anguish, even its inviolable +loneliness might be supported, but a sense of the awful futility of +existence crushes man to the depths of impotent despair. + +A review of the past is usually a protest against fate, and manly as +Herman was it was inevitable that into his reverie should come a sense +that the wrong and suffering of his life had been thrust upon him +undeserved. He could not be blind to the fact that it had been through +his virtues that he had been wounded. A sense of injustice comes with +the consciousness of having suffered through merit. Many a man is too +noble basely to avoid the consequences of his acts, but few can wholly +rid themselves of the feeling that the uncomplaining acceptance of +painful results should serve as expiation for the deeds which caused +them. The nobility of his nature, the purity of his intentions had made +of a boyish folly the curse of a lifetime. With whatever tenderness the +sculptor regarded Ninitta as the mother of his son, it was vain for him +to attempt to deceive himself in regard to his love for her. A man with +whom cordiality was instinctive, who was born for the most frank and +intimate domestic relations, he found in his wife small sympathy and +less comprehension. He had married her, believing that she had a right +to claim happiness at his hands because he had taught her to love him. +He had long since been obliged to own to himself that he had done this +at the expense of his own peace, and he now questioned whether the +experiment had succeeded better in her case than in his. If she had not +been able to comprehend his aims and to enter into his scheme of life, +it was equally true that she must have found in him little response to +the calls of her own nature. The bitterness of the sigh which wrung his +bosom, as he stood with his hand upon the railing and looked over the +water with the lights reflected on its blackness, was as much for her +as for himself. + +Yet he would not have been human had he not felt thrills of anger when +he thought of the _Fatima._ No faintest suspicion crossed his mind of +any darker shame which might lie behind the fact that his wife had +posed for Fenton. This he could not doubt that she had done. This +explained her frequent absences from home in the morning, to which he +had before given no thought. He remembered, too, that for weeks a +furtive restlessness, poorly concealed, had been evident in Ninitta's +manner. He had attributed it to her intense opposition to Nino's being +sent to school; but now he read it differently. He could not but be +angry, yet his pity was greater than his wrath; and he resolved not +only to be forbearing with his wife, but hereafter to use greater +endeavors to enrich her colorless life. He was too thoroughly an artist +himself not to feel and appreciate how much the old love of posing, the +longing for the air of a studio, and the art instinct might have had to +do with Ninitta's fault. + +But in regard to Fenton his heart burned with that rage which is +largely grief. It was like the anger, which is half astonishment, of a +child who is unexpectedly struck by its playmate. The fact that he was +incapable of comprehending how it was possible to betray a friend made +him confused in thinking of the artist's share in the transaction; and +the fact that he could vent upon Fenton his righteous indignation +enabled him to free his feelings toward Ninitta of almost all +animosity. When at last he turned to go home, it was with a profound +pity that he thought of his wife. + +It was a little after eleven when he reached his house. The gas was +burning in his chamber and Ninitta lay apparently sleeping. The +wretched woman feigned a slumber which she had in vain courted. She was +convinced that her husband could not see the _Fatima_ without +discovering her secret, and the guilty knowledge in her heart filled +her with growing fears as the moments went on. + +When at last she heard Herman's step, she had started up in bed like a +wild creature, her heart fluttering, her ears strained as if to catch +from the sound some clue to his mood. But instantly she had lain down +again, and, with an instinct like that of the timorous animals whose +nature it is to feign death when they cannot flee, had composed herself +into the appearance of slumber. + +Herman paused a moment, just inside the chamber door, and looked at his +wife. Something in her pose suggested to him so vividly the _Fatima_ +that, despite his self-conquest on the bridge, a flood of anger swelled +within him. The masculine instinct, nourished through a thousand +generations, that no palliation gives the wife a right to claim +forgiveness from her husband for the shame she has put upon him by a +violation of modesty, surged up within him. He drew in a deep +inspiration and started forward with an inarticulate sound as if he +could throw himself upon this woman and tighten his fingers on her +throat. + +Ninitta raised herself in bed with an exclamation of fear. Her black +hair streamed loose, and her dark eyes shone. Her swarthy passionate +face was an image of terror. She was not far enough away from her +peasant ancestors not to be moved by the size and strength of her +husband's large and vigorous frame. Many generations and much subtlety +of refinement must lie between herself and savagery before a woman can +learn instinctively to fear the soul of a man rather than his muscles +in a crisis like this. Husband and wife confronted each other as he +walked quickly across the chamber. Her cowering attitude, the fear +which was written in every line of her face, fed his anger, until, in +his blind rage, all pity and self-restraint seemed to be swept away. + +But just as he neared the bed, when in his burning look Ninitta seemed +already to feel his hands clutching her with cruel force, his foot +struck against something which lay on the floor. It was one of Nino's +wooden soldiers. The father stopped, and his look changed. He +remembered how Nino had come in from the nursery while he was dressing +that night, bringing his arms full of more or less shattered figures +which he had appealed to his father to put to rights for a grand battle +which was to be fought in the morning. Herman looked down at the toy +and forgot his anger. He looked up at his wife and she saw with wonder +the change in his face. It had been full of indignation against the +wife who had deceived him; on it now was written reproachful anguish, +and pity for the mother of his son. + +"Ninitta," he said. "How could you do it?" + +She cowered down in the bed, burying her face in her hands. She could +not answer, and there came over him a painful sense of the uselessness +of words. + +"Everybody must recognize Fenton's picture," he said. "If you did not +remember me, Ninitta, how could you forget Nino? How will he feel when +he is old enough to realize what you have done?" + +The frightened woman burst into convulsive sobs mixed with moans like +those of a hurt animal. In the last hours she had been thinking no less +than her husband; but where he had considered her, she had thought +chiefly of her boy. Mingled with the fear of her husband's anger had +been the nobler feeling, that she was no longer worthy to be with her +son. The very passion of the love she bore him moved her now with the +determination to leave him. It was always Ninitta's instinct to run +away in trouble, and now, added to the impulse to escape from her +husband was the determination forming itself with awful stress of +anguish in her soul, to go away from Nino; to take away from her son +whom she loved better than life itself, this woman who had no right in +his pure presence. She did not look upon it as an expiation of her +fault; it was only that maternal love gathered up whatever was noble in +her nature, in this supreme sacrifice for her son. + +To Herman, looking down upon the cowering figure of his wife, with a +heartbreaking sense of the impossibility of effecting anything by +words, she was simply a cowardly woman who took refuge in tears from +the reproaches which her conduct deserved. Could he have known what was +passing in her heart, it would have moved him to a deeper respect and a +keener pity than he had ever felt for her. No more than a dumb animal +had she any language in which she could have made him understand her +feelings had she tried; and at last he turned away with a choking in +his throat. + + + + +XXXIII + + A BOND OF AIR. + Troilus and Cressida; i.--3. + +The stock of the Princeton Platinum Company was issued in ten-dollar +shares, it being the conviction of Erastus Snaffle, deduced from a more +or less extensive experience, that the gullible portion of the public +is more likely to buy stock of a low par value. On the morning after +the exhibition at the St. Filipe Club, the shares were quoted at two +dollars and an eighth. + +Arthur Fenton read the stock reports at breakfast. He laid the paper +down calmly, drank his coffee in silence, and absently played with his +fork, while his wife attended to Caldwell's breakfast and her own. He +said nothing until the boy, whose mind was intent upon some new toy or +other, having hastily finished his meal, asked to be excused. + +"Don't be in a hurry, Caldwell," his mother said, gently. "I want you +to learn to wait for older people." + +"Let him go, Edith," his father interposed. "I want to talk to you." + +The boy jumped down quickly and ran to give his father a hasty kiss. He +had learned to look to Fenton to help him in evading his mother's +attempts at discipline, and Edith noted with pain, as she had too often +noticed before, the knowing smile which came into the child's face at +her husband's words. Caldwell evidently regarded his father's remark +merely as a convenient excuse, and it hurt Edith to see how in subtile +ways her son was learning to distrust the honesty of his father. + +On this occasion, however, Arthur had meant what he said. When the door +had closed behind the little fellow, he looked up to observe in the +most matter-of-fact tone,-- + +"I suppose it is only fair, Edith, that I should tell you that we are +ruined." + +She looked at him with a puzzled face. + +"What do you mean?" she said. + +"I mean," he returned, "that I have been getting into no end of a mess, +and that some stock I bought to help myself out of it, has gone down +and made things ten times worse." + +She folded her hands in her lap and regarded him wistfully. She had +been so often repressed when she had tried to gain his confidence in +regard to business matters that she hesitated to speak now. + +"Should I understand if you told me about it?" she asked. + +"Oh, very likely not," he returned, coolly; "but I don't in the least +mind telling you, if it's any satisfaction to you. It isn't any great +matter, only that I live so near the ragged edge that a dollar or two +either way makes all the difference between poverty and independence." +Edith breathed more freely. Her husband's self-possessed manner, and +the fact that she knew him to be so given to exaggeration, made her +feel that things were not so hopeless as his words had at first implied. + +"I have three thousand shares of Princeton Platinum stock," Fenton went +on, with the condescending air of one who elaborately explains details +which he knows will not be understood. "I bought at two and +seven-eighths, with money that should go to pay notes due on Saturday. +The stock was worth two and an eighth last night and very likely by +to-night won't be worth anything." + +"Then why didn't you sell yesterday?" Edith asked. + +Arthur smiled at the feminine turn of her words. + +"Because, my shrewd financier, I don't want to sell at a loss, and Mr. +Irons assures me that there will be a rise before the final collapse." + +He did not add, as he might have done, the substance of the talk +between himself and Irons. That wily financier had said to him one +day,-- + +"Fenton, you were almighty toploftical about those railroad shares, and +I'll give you another chance. I've had four thousand shares of +Princeton Platinum turned over to me on an assignment. It cost me two, +and you may have it at that figure, though it's worth two and a half in +the market to-day." + +"You are too generous, by half," Fenton had answered. + +"Well, the fact is," Irons had responded, "I hate infernally to be +under obligations. Princeton Platinum is wild-cat fast enough, but it +will touch four before they let the bottom drop out. That I happen to +know. This will give you a chance to make a neat thing out of it, and +it will square off the obligation our syndicate's under to you." + +"Thank you," was Fenton's answer; "but the obligation, such as it is, I +prefer to have stand, and I haven't any money to put into stock of any +kind now." + +"Well, think it over. Don't let your sentiments interfere too much with +business. I'll hold the stock for you for three days. If you're fool +enough to miss your opportunity after that I'm not responsible." + +Naturally, this portion of the conversation Fenton did not impart to +his wife. + +Edith's look became more perplexed as her talk with her husband +continued; and the matter-of-fact way in which he spoke of approaching +disaster was to her unintelligible. + +"What is going to collapse?" she asked at length. "The stock?" + +"Certainly, my dear. There isn't anything behind it. I doubt if there +ever was any Princeton Platinum mine, but I did think the men who were +managing it were clever enough to get it to four or four and a half +before they let go." + +"But how could they get it to four or four and a half, if there isn't +any mine?" + +"By gulling fools like me, my dear; that's the way these things are +always done." + +A troubled look came over Mrs. Fenton's face, and her lips closed a +little more tightly. + +"Well," demanded her husband impatiently, "what is it? Moral scruples?" + +"It doesn't seem to me to be very honest stock to be dealing in," Edith +replied, timidly. + +"To discuss the morality of stock speculation," he replied, with coolly +elaborate courtesy, "is much like eating a fig. You may be biting the +seeds all day without being sure you've finished them." + +She was silenced, and cast down her eyes waiting for what he might +choose to say next. + +"The situation," he continued, after a pause, "is merely this. I +haven't the cleverness properly to manage being in debt. I don't know +how those notes are to be paid Saturday, and have been given to +understand that there are reasons, doubtless judicious, but extremely +inconvenient, why they will not be renewed." + +His manner was as calm as ever, but there was a growing hardness in his +tone and a cruel tightening of his lips. His restraint had much of the +calmness of despair. His was a nature which always outran actualities +with imagined possibilities, and thus found in even the fullest joy a +sense of loss and failure; while in misfortune, it magnified all evils +until it was overwhelmed with the burden of their weight. He suffered +the more acutely because he endured not only the sting of the present +evil, but of all those which he foresaw might follow in its wake. He +felt at this moment a growing necessity to find some one against whom +he might logically turn his anger; and while he was firmly determined +not to vent his displeasure upon his wife, his attitude toward her +became constantly more stern. + +"If Uncle Peter were at home," Edith began, after a pause, "he might"-- + +"He might not," interrupted Arthur, roughly. "In any case he has taken +the light of his countenance abroad, so he's out of the question." + +"But some of your friends, Arthur, might lend you the money you want." + +"My dear Edith, do you fancy that within the past month I have failed +to go over the list of my friends, backward and forward? Don't say +those tiresome, obvious things. I'll fail and have an auction, and give +up the house, and lose caste, and have a pleasant tea-party generally. +That's the only thing there is to do." + +Edith rose from her seat, and went around to where he was sitting. +Standing behind his chair she laid her hands on his shoulders, and, +bending forward, kissed his cheek. + +"I dare say, Arthur," she said, "that we should be quite as happy if we +gave up trying to live in a way that we can't afford; but meanwhile +there is godmamma." + +"Mrs. Glendower?" + +"Yes. You know she has left me five thousand dollars in her will; and +she told me once that if the time came that I needed the money +desperately I should have it for the asking." + +"That is kind of her," was her husband's comment, "but it would be +kinder to let you get it at once in the natural way. The comfort about +a bequest is that you don't have to feel grateful to any live man for +it." + +His words were brutal enough, but there was a new lightness in his +tone. He caught instantly at this hope of relief, and he showed his +appreciation of his wife's cleverness in devising this scheme by +caressing the hand which lay upon his shoulder. + +"You can go to New York to-night," remarked Edith thoughtfully, +ignoring his words, "and be back by Saturday morning. If you didn't so +much dislike going to New York in the day time, you might get there in +time to see godmamma to-night." + +"To-morrow will be time enough," he answered. "You are a brick, Edith, +to help me out of this scrape, and the magnitude of the moral reforms +I'll institute in honor of my deliverance will astonish you." + +He sprang up as light-heartedly as a boy. The means of escaping the +annoyance of the present moment had been found, and his buoyant spirits +lifted him above the doubts and troubles of the future. + +They discussed together the details of his coming interview with Mrs. +Glendower, and the terms of the letter which Edith should write to her. +There was something most touching in the tender eagerness with which +Edith prolonged the talk and clung to the occasion which had brought +her and her husband, for the moment, together. She even forgot to +deplore the misfortune which had given rise to this confidence, and, in +her desire to be helpful to Arthur, she did not even remember that once +her pride would have risen in rebellion at the bare suggestion of +taking advantage of Mrs. Glendower's offer. All day long she went about +with a happier smile on her lips than had been there for many a long +day. The danger of impending ruin seemed to have brought her +consolation instead of grief; and in the prayers which she murmured in +her heart as she stood with her arms clasped about Caldwell, when +Fenton drove away that night, there was not a little thanksgiving +mingled with her supplications. + + + + +XXXIV + + WHAT TIME SHE CHANTED. + Hamlet; iv.--7. + +The stock report which caused Fenton such unpleasant sensations was +read that same morning by Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson with keen +satisfaction of a sort seldom known to the truly virtuous. Mrs. Sampson +was engaged in financial transactions of which the very magnitude +caused her naive satisfaction, while the possible results made her +bosom glow with unwonted emotion. Mrs. Sampson's affection for Alfred +Irons was neither deep nor tender in its nature, and in settling the +bill for services rendered in the railroad case there was no sentiment +likely to restrain her from making the best possible bargain. The +bargain she made was of a nature to send her about her flat singing +songs of triumph such as Deborah sang over the slaughter of the +unfortunate Sisera. + +The wily but impressible Erastus Snaffle, cheered by the widow's wine, +warmed by her smile, and smitten by her amiable conversation, had +bestowed upon her, merely as a tribute which mammon might pay to the +ever-womanly, three thousand shares of Princeton Platinum stock. He had +done this at a time when it seemed doubtful whether even his adroitness +could make the scheme a success; and it somewhat mars the lustre of his +generosity to record that he afterward regretted his impulsive +open-handedness. He had been able to prevent Mrs. Sampson from +realizing on her stock, very reasonably feeling that he was making +philanthropic endeavors to benefit an ungrateful world rather against +its will, and he did not mean that she should make a stumbling-block +for him of his own generosity by putting this gift on the market when +he wished to supply all buyers himself. + +When it was quoted at three, the high-water mark so far, he had +beguiled the widow with a cock-and-bull story about the formalities of +transferrence on the books of the company of stocks which had been +given away; and by the time Mrs. Sampson had cleared her mind from the +entanglements of this ingenious fiction the bottom had dropped out of +the market. + +In the midst of her disappointment in seeing what to her would have +been almost a fortune melting into thin air, the fertile brain of Mrs. +Sampson had given birth to what was nothing less than an inspiration, +She had gone to see Alfred Irons, and delicately but firmly insinuated +that it was high time she received substantial tokens of the gratitude +of the Wachusett Syndicate, for her efforts in their behalf with the +Hon. Thomas Greenfield. Mr. Irons had answered, as she had expected him +to, that she had presented no bill. To this her reply was ready. She +was prepared to state what would satisfy her. She explained that she +felt the delicacy of her position, since, if any consideration passed +to her directly from the corporation, it was sure to be known, and +unpleasant comment made. She had in her possession, she continued, +certain stock, of which the market value was somewhere between two and +two and a half, which, it struck her, might serve admirably to veil the +generosity which had been promised her. Her proposition, in brief, was +that Irons should take her three thousand shares of stock at four +dollars, the difference between this and the market value, of course, +being refunded to him by the company. + +"By Gad! you're a cheeky one!" had been Iron's comment, more expressive +than elegant, when the widow had laid her scheme wholly before him. + +The railroad matter had, however, been settled to the satisfaction of +the syndicate. Mr. Greenfield's support of the Wachusett scheme at the +hearing had been of the utmost importance, especially as Mrs. Sampson +had been able to persuade "Honest Tom" that a perfectly fair +proposition made to him by Mr. Staggchase was in the nature of a +high-handed bribe. This proposition had been presented in a somewhat +scandalous light, and in the face of it Hubbard had induced his +associates to throw up the whole Feltonville scheme. The Railroad +Commissioners had issued the coveted certificate for the Wachusett +route, and the rest was easy. Irons was therefore grateful to the +widow, and he at length agreed to consult his associates, and he did +not deny Mrs. Sampson's observation that it was as much for the benefit +of the corporation as of herself that money passing between them should +be covered by some such disguise as that of this stock operation. + +The widow had returned home not over sanguine, and her astonishment was +scarcely less than her pleasure when, on Wednesday afternoon, she +received a note from Irons, assenting to her proposition with the +modification that the purchasing figure should be three dollars instead +of four. It was a fact as far beyond the limits of the widow's +knowledge as it was beyond that of his colleagues, that Irons meant to +make this transaction the means of increasing a revenge which he +already had in train. That gentleman had never forgiven Fenton for +burning the order for railroad bonds, and when accident threw the +Princeton Platinum stock into his hands he determined to make it the +means of the artist's discomfiture. It was only the day after he had +offered Fenton his four thousand shares that Mrs. Sampson appeared with +her offer of three thousand more. He had no doubt of his ability to +entrap Fenton into buying, the one weak spot in his plan being the +fact, of which he was in complete ignorance, that Fenton already held +stock and had nothing whatever with which to buy more. He was willing +to let the widow's bribe pass to her under so plausible a disguise, and +he said to himself with a chuckle that he had far rather sell Fenton +the seven thousand shares than four. + +If he were unable to sell to Fenton it appeared to Irons as on the +whole highly probable that he could dispose of the stock for the +corporation at a price which would materially lessen the amount of +their bonus to the widow; or if the market should chance to look +promising, he might find it worth while to buy it from his colleagues +with a view to realizing something on it himself. + +Perhaps it was because he was doing business with a woman, perhaps it +was the consciousness of the bribe which the bargain covered and a +desire to leave as little record of it as possible, perhaps it was only +the carelessness of extreme haste, that caused Irons to send to the +widow so ambiguous and dangerous a note as the following,-- + +"DEAR MRS. SAMPSON,--I am suddenly called to New York, and leave +to-night. I will take all your Princeton Platinum stock at three +dollars. Please deliver it at my office to-morrow with this note as a +voucher." Yours truly, +"ALFRED IRONS." + +It was the misfortune of Alfred Irons that Mrs. Sampson took an extra +cup of coffee that evening and could not sleep; and in the watches of +the night, either the devil or her own soul--the inspirations of the +two being too similar for one rashly to venture to discriminate between +them--said to her, "Amanda! Now is your chance." Thereafter, no fumes +of coffee were necessary to keep the widow awake for the remainder of +the night; and on Thursday morning before she presented herself at +Irons's office she had an interesting interview with no less a +personage than Mr. Erastus Snaffle himself. + +Mrs. Sampson began by declaring that she wished to purchase a certain +amount of Princeton Platinum stock, but before long the need she felt +of having her feminine guile supported by masculine intelligence had +led her to make a clean breast of the situation. She showed Mr. Snaffle +Mr. Irons's note, calling his attention particularly to the ill-chosen +word "all" which seemed to her to afford the means of unloading +indefinitely at the expense of the absent financier. Her enthusiasm +received a cruel shock when Snaffle retorted with a burst of ill-bred +laughter,-- + +"Oh Lord! You must think Irons is a dog-goned fool!" + +"But," the widow persisted, "it says 'all' the stock, doesn't it?" + +"Do you think you could make his firm buy up all the Princeton on that +flimsy dodge?" retorted Snaffle contemptuously. + +"We'll see," Amanda declared, nodding her head determinedly. "The +question is how much do you think they will stand? A man ought to know +that better than a woman." + +A new look of cunning came into the fat face of the speculator, and his +numerous superfluous chins began to be agitated as if with excitement. + +"Well," he said, "if you can stick them for any I don't see why you +can't for a lot. I've just four thousand shares left, and you might as +well run them all in on the old man." + +The widow laughed with malicious glee. + +"I don't know," she replied, "how this will turn out, but if I wasn't +going to get a cent from it, I'd try it just for the sake of getting +even with Al Irons." + +"Oh, its your opportunity," he said, with agile change of base, "and as +for getting ahead of him, I'm blessed if I wouldn't bet on you every +time. Seven thousand shares isn't much for a house like theirs. We put +the stock at ten dollars on purpose so folks could handle a lot of it +and talk big without having much money in. Come, you just clear out the +whole thing for me, and I'll let you have it at two and a half, just +for your good looks." + +"Thank you for nothing," was the reply of the redoubtable widow. "I +took the trouble to find out the market price on my way down here and +anybody can buy plenty of it for two and an eighth, without being good +looking at all." + +Erastus chuckled, rubbing his fat hands together in delighted +appreciation of his companion's wit. + +"Come," he pleaded, "when you get to making eyes at that clerk, he'll +buy anything you offer, no matter what Irons told him. I wouldn't give +much for the man that would let a little memorandum stand in the way of +obliging a lady." + +Amanda did not have good blood in her veins without appreciating the +coarse vulgarity of Snaffle; but neither had she associated for years +with his kind without having the edge of her distaste worn away. She +was, besides, a woman and a vain one, and the undisguised admiration +with which he regarded her put her in excellent humor. It confirmed the +verdict of her mirror that the care with which she had arrayed herself +for this expedition had not been wasted. She smiled as she answered +him, tapping her chin with her well-gloved forefinger. + +"But, of course," she observed, dispassionately, "if I bought of you at +all I should buy conditionally. I'll give you two for the stock, and +take it if I can sell it to Irons." + +"Oh, don't rob yourself," Snaffle returned, with good-natured sarcasm. +"What's to hinder my selling it for two and an eighth myself?" + +"Two and an eighth asked and no buyers is what they told me!" retorted +the widow imperturbably. "I don't know much about stocks, but I know +that if you could have sold for almost any price you'd have done it +long ago." + +"Right you are," admitted Snaffle, good-naturedly, "if I'd nobody to +consider but myself; but just the same, I sha'n't kick the bottom out +of the market before it falls out of itself." + +"Then I understand," said the widow, with an air, gathering herself +together as if to depart, "that you won't take my offer." + +"Oh, come now," protested Snaffle, "why don't you ask me to give it to +you as I did the other?" + +"So delicate of him," murmured the widow, confidentially to the +universe at large, "to fling that at me." + +"I ain't flinging it at you," Snaffle returned, unabashed. "But, come +now, let's talk business. If I give you an option on this, so long as +you are going to sell it at three dollars, of course you ought to pay +me more than the market price. I'll be d'ed if I let you have it less +than two and a half." + +"One doesn't know which to admire most, Mr. Snaffle, your politeness to +ladies or your generosity." + +"Oh, don't mention it," was the speculator's grinning reply. "Come, +now, don't be a pig. Twenty per cent profit ought to satisfy anybody." + +"I'll give you two," said Mrs. Sampson, with feminine persistency. + +Snaffle turned on his heel with a word seldom spoken in the presence of +ladies. + +"Well, you might as well get out of this, then," he remarked, +brusquely. "You're a beauty, but you don't know anything about +business." + +Amanda regarded him with an inscrutable glance for an instant, +evidently making up her mind that he meant what he said. + +"Well," she observed; "if you want to rob me, I'm only a woman with +nobody to take my part, and I shall have to give you what you ask." + +"Gad!" he ejaculated. "If one man in ten was as well able to take his +own part as you are, things 'd be some different from what they are +now." + +And the smile of Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson indicated that even so +high-flavored a compliment as this was not wholly displeasing to her. +The certificates of stock were produced and duly endorsed, and, tucking +them into her handbag, the widow went on her way attended by wishes for +her success which were probably the more genuine because the +transaction was only conditional. + +"Well," Snaffle communed with himself after she had departed; "there +ain't no flies on the widow, and I guess she'll manage that clerk. +She's a clever one, but if she'd been a little cleverer, so as to +appreciate that I couldn't put that amount of stock on the market +without sending the price down to bed rock, she might have had the lot +at her own figure. I'd have been glad to take one fifty for it." + +Meanwhile the widow had pursued her scheming way toward State Street. +The moral support of Snaffle's testimony to her ability and his +admiration for her personal appearance probably upheld her during her +interview with Mr. Iron's clerk. That young man, an exquisite creature, +who had the appearance of giving his mind largely to his collars, was +overwhelmed by the amount of stock which Mrs. Sampson produced. He +explained with some confusion that in the hurry incident upon Mr. +Iron's unexpected departure, he had neglected to make a memorandum, but +that he understood that he was to receive three thousand shares of +Princeton Platinum with Mr. Iron's letter as a voucher. + +"I may have been mistaken," he observed, apologetically. "Mr. Irons was +called away in a great hurry, and I did get some of his directions +confused. It's singular that he didn't name the amount in the letter." + +"I'm very sorry he didn't," returned the widow, with an engaging air of +appealing to the other's generosity. "It puts me in a very awkward +position, just as if I were trying to impose on you. Mr. Irons knew +just what I had and said he'd take it all." + +"Oh, I didn't mean for an instant," the clerk protested, blushing with +confusion, "that you were trying to impose on us." + +The clerk was young and susceptible, the widow was mature and adroit; +he was confused and uncertain, she was definite and determined. Mr. +Irons had, moreover, given the young man to understand that the +transaction was a confidential and personal one, which involved more +than appeared on the surface. Confronted by the phraseology of Mr. +Iron's note, backed by Mrs. Sampson's insinuating manner and unblushing +statements, the clerk laid aside his discretion, and in the end allowed +himself to fall a victim to the wiles of the astute widow, who walked +away considerably richer than she came, besides being able to bring joy +to the heart of Erastus Snaffle by a neat sum of ready cash, which she +delivered after another prolonged discussion over the price she should +pay him for the stock. + +And on the following morning when she read in the stock reports that +Princeton Platinum had fallen to one and a half, she remembered her +stroke of yesterday with a conscience which if not wholly clear was +thoroughly satisfied. + + + + +XXXV + + HEARTSICK WITH THOUGHT. + Two Gentlemen of Verona; i.--1. + +Fenton's forenoon at his studio was broken by a visit from Ninitta. His +mind full of his trip to New York, and of speculations concerning his +interview with Mrs. Glendower, he had let the whole question of the +_Fatima_ and his entanglement with its model slip from his mind, and +when he opened the door to find Mrs. Herman standing there, the shock +of his surprise was a most painful one. Ninitta's eyes were swollen +with weeping, and the sleepless night had made her plain face haggard +and ugly. With a quick, irritated gesture, the artist put his hand upon +her arm and drew her impatiently into the studio. Closing the door, he +stood confronting her a moment, studying her expression, as if to +discover the cause of her disturbance. + +"Well," at length he said, harshly, "have you betrayed me?" + +Ninitta answered his look with one of helpless and confused despair. +The anguish of the long hours during which she had been making up her +mind what to do in the emergency that had arisen, had stupefied her so +that she could not think clearly. She still suffered, and Fenton's +brutal manner brought tears to her eyes, but she was benumbed and +dazed, and could neither think nor feel clearly. + +"Grant found out himself," she said, "that I posed." + +"Well?" Fenton demanded, with an intensity that made his smooth voice +hoarse. + +"That's all," Ninitta responded dully. "I'm going away." + +"Going away?" echoed Fenton, the words arousing again his fears that +the worst might have been discovered. "Then Herman does know?" + +"He only knows that I posed," repeated Ninitta; "but he says Nino would +be ashamed, and I am going away." + +"But where are you going?" + +"Home; to Capri." + +The artist looked at her with an impatient feeling that it was idle to +reason with her, and that she had somehow passed beyond his control. He +moved away a few steps, and sat down in an old carved monkish chair, +while his visitor leaned, as if for support, against the casing of the +door. He looked at her curiously, wondering what her mental processes +were like, and saying to himself, with mingled chagrin and philosophy, +that it was impossible to deal with a creature so irrational, but that +fortunately he was not responsible for her movements His glance +wandered about the studio, noting with artistic appreciation the +pleasant coloring of a heap of cushions thrown carelessly on the divan. +He wondered if it would have been better had he arranged that blue one +in a fuller light, as a background for the beautiful shoulder of his +_Fatima_, yet reflected that on the whole the value he had chosen +better brought out the quality of the flesh-tones. What a splendid +picture the _Fatima_ was. It was worth some inconvenience to have +achieved such a success, and, after all, he would not be so foolish as +to begrudge the price he must pay for his triumph. + +And yet, and yet--He turned back with a movement of impatience toward +that sad, silent figure standing just inside his door. A wave of anger +rose within him. He felt that he had a right to consider himself +aggrieved by her persistent presence. Why must his will, his happiness, +his artistic powers be hampered and thwarted by this woman who was only +fit to serve his art and be laid aside, like his mahl-stick and palette. + +"It seems to me," he burst out, more harshly than ever, "that you might +have had the sense to keep away from here, at least until Herman gets +over his anger." + +"But I am going away," she said, "and I came to you for some money." + +He stared at her in fresh amazement an instant; then he burst into +derisive laughter. + +"Well," he said, "I like that. Why, I'm going to New York myself +to-night, to try to beg enough to keep me out of the poor-house." + +"But I can't ask Mr. Herman," Ninitta said, beseechingly. + +"In Heaven's name, Ninitta," exclaimed Fenton, "don't be an idiot. +There's no sense in running away. Besides, what are you afraid of?" + +"But it might hurt Nino if I stayed," returned poor Ninitta. + +Through the bitter watches of the night, she had been saying that over +and over to herself. With all her weakness and her sin, her mother-love +stood the supreme test. As she had been able to give up her Italian +friends when the boy was born, because, as she said, Nino was born a +gentleman and must not associate with them; now, when she was convinced +that he would be better without her, she was able to give him up, +although with a breaking heart. Many times she had been forced to +confess to herself that Nino's mother was not a lady like Mrs. Fenton +or Helen Greyson, or others of her husband's friends; and although she +had always comforted herself with the reflection that at least no boy +had a mother who loved him more than she did her son, the thought that +her child might be better without her had more than once forced itself +upon her mind. It was idle for Fenton to argue; Ninitta's decision had +passed beyond argument, and perhaps her understanding was, for the time +being, too benumbed by suffering clearly to follow her companion's +reasoning. + +"At least," she said at last, utterly ignoring his earnest endeavor to +shake her resolution, "if you cannot let me have any money, you will +write a note for me to tell Mr. Herman that I am gone, and to say +good-by to the _bambino._" + +"Good God, Ninitta! Are you mad?" Fenton cried, jumping up and coming +to confront her. "Why should you mix me up in this business? He knows +my writing, and think what he might suspect if I wrote such a note." + +His voice insensibly softened as he spoke. He could not but be touched +by the utter helplessness, the anguish, the baffled weakness so evident +in her face and manner. He was cruel only from selfishness and the +instinct of self-defence, and his pity was sharply aroused by Ninitta's +suffering and her miserable condition. + +"Come," he said gently, laying his hand on her arm, "you are tired and +frightened. There is no need for you to go away and, besides, you could +not live without the _bambino._ Think, you would have no letters; you +would never even hear from him." + +A spasm of pain contracted Ninitta's features. She pressed her hands +upon her bosom with interlaced fingers working convulsively. + +"Oh, Mother of God!" she moaned, in a voice of intensest agony, which +thrilled Fenton with a keen pang that yet did not prevent his +remembering how like was the cry to that of a great tragic actress as +he had heard it in _Phedre_. + +"Don't, Ninitta," he pleaded, unlocking her hands and taking them in +his. "I"-- + +"You will write me?" she interrupted eagerly. "You will tell me about +Nino? I shall find somebody to read it to me. Oh, you are good. That is +the best kindness you could do me." + +She pressed his hands eagerly, a divine yearning, a gleam of passionate +hope shone in her dark eyes. Fenton tried to smile, but despite himself +his lip trembled. He had hard work to control himself, but he reflected +that with him lay the responsibility of dissuading Ninitta from her mad +project. + +"But it will be better still," he urged, "to be with him. What can a +boy do without his mother?" + +She bent her head forward, gazing into his eyes as if she were trying +to read his very soul; then she threw it backward with a sharp moan, +shaking his hands from hers with a tragic gesture. + +"He would be ashamed," she said. "Now he is too young to know that he +is better without his mother." + +She looked around the familiar studio with a sweeping, panting glance; +then she turned again to Fenton, clasping both his hands with one of +hers. + +"Think of what I have done for you," she said; "and write me about him. +I shall die if you do not." + +And there shot through Fenton's mind a sense of the terrible tragedy +which lay in such an appeal for such an end. + +When she was gone, Fenton consoled himself with the reflection that the +lack of money would prevent Ninitta from carrying out her wild whim. +He, of course, could not know that soon after Nino's birth Herman had +started a fund for him in a savings bank, and to the mother's intense +gratification had the deposits made in her name as trustee. He had +taught Ninitta to sign her name; and great had been her pleasure in +watching the little fund grow. It indicated the desperateness of her +resolve, that now she broke into this cherished fund, drawing barely +enough money to take her back to Capri. She was going away for Nino's +sake she argued with herself, and that justified even this. + +All through the day she busied herself with preparations for departure. +She would take nothing but the barest necessities; only that the +hand-satchel into which she compressed her few belongings held Nino's +first baby socks, a lock of his hair, his picture, a broken toy, and +other dear trifles, each of which she packed wet with tears and covered +with kisses. + +Late in the afternoon she took Nino into her chamber alone to bid him +good-by. Her limbs failed her as the door closed and he stood looking +at her in innocent wonder. She sank into a chair, faint and trembling, +soul and body rent with an intolerable anguish so great that for a +moment she wondered if she were not dying. + +"What is the matter, mamma?" Nino cried out in his musical Italian, +running across the room to stand by her knee. + +He took one of her hands in his, stroking it softly and looking up into +her face with pity and wonder. + +"I am going away, Nino," she said, speaking with a mighty effort. "You +must be a good boy and always mind and love papa. And, oh!" she cried, +her self-control breaking down, "love me too, Nino; love me, love me." + +She clasped her arms convulsively about his neck, but she choked the +first sob that rose in her throat. She did not dare give way. She +instinctively knew that she needed all her strength to carry her +through what she had undertaken. She kissed the startled child with +burning fervor. She drew him into her lap and held him close to her. +Her very lips were white. + +"Nino," she said, "can you remember something to say to papa?" + +"Oh, yes," he answered. "I am quite old enough for that. Don't you +remember how I repeated",-- + + _"'Questo domanda del pan; + Questo dise, no ghe n'e; + Questo dise come faremo; + Quell' altro dise; rubaremo; + Il mignolo dise; chi ruba 'mpicca, 'mpicca!_'" + + +It was a folk rhyme she had taught him to say, telling off his chubby +fingers one by one; and she remembered how proud the boy had been when +he had repeated it to his father. Her mouth twitched convulsively, but +she went on steadily. + +"You remembered it beautifully, Nino," she said, "and you are to say to +papa, 'Mamma has gone away to Italy for my sake, and she leaves you her +love.' Say it over, Nino." + +"'Mamma has gone away to Italy for my sake,'" repeated the child. "But, +mamma," he broke in, "I don't want you to go." + +She embraced him as if in her death struggle the waters of the sea were +closing over her. + +"Say it, Nino," she repeated. "Say it all." + +The child did as she bade him. She knew she could not prolong this +interview, and still have strength to carry out her resolution. She +embraced and kissed her child so frantically that he became frightened +and began to cry. Then she soothed him and led him to the chamber door. +She put her hand on the latch. She looked at him, her Nino, her baby. +She tottered as she stood. But the force of character which had given +her strength to fight her way for ten years and across half the world +to seek Nino's father gave her power now. She opened the door and put +the boy out gently. She could not trust herself to kiss him again, or +even again to say good-by. + +But when the door was closed, she rolled upon the floor in agony, +stifling her moans lest they should be heard outside, beating her +breast and biting her arms like a mad creature. + +When Herman came home to dinner that night his wife was gone, and Nino +gave him her message. + + + + +XXXVI + + FAREWELL AT ONCE, FOR ONCE, FOR ALL AND EVER. + Richard II.; ii.--2. + +Fenton's reflections as he sat in the train that evening, bound for New +York, were varied rather than pleasing. There are crises in a man's +life when it is perhaps quite as wise that he should not attempt to +reason; he cannot do better than to keep his attention occupied with +indifferent subjects, trusting to that instinct or higher self, or +whatever it may be within us which works independently of our outer +consciousness, to settle all perplexities. Some idea of this sort was +in Arthur's mind as he sped along towards the Sound steamer. He could +not prevent himself from thinking more or less of the situation of his +affairs, but he made no attempt to consider them reasonably or in order. + +"It would have saved me an awkward interview," he reflected, "if Mrs. +Glendower could have taken herself opportunely out of the world. If we +may trust the usual form of mortuary resolutions, Divine Providence is +habitually pleased with the removal of mortals from this sublunary +sphere; and in this case I should share the sentiment." + +His musings took on a darker tone as time went on. He thought with +bitterness of the failure of his past, and he loathed himself for what +he was. The hateful mystery of life tormented him with its poisonous +uncertainty. He groaned inwardly at the curse that one day should still +follow another. Then the phrasing of his thought pleased him, and with +veering fancy he went on stringing epigrams in his brain. + +"After all," he thought, "what we call a fool in this world is a man +who has his own way at the expense of the wise. There's Candish, now; I +call him a fool and he goes ahead and is damned virtuous and stupid and +exasperating, and gets through life beautifully; while I, who wouldn't +be such an idiot for any money, am always in some confounded scrape or +other. I wonder, by the way, what's the connection between sanctity and +a waistcoat put on hind side before. Candish and Edith wouldn't make a +bad pair. She wouldn't mind his ugly mug in the least, and his idiocies +of temperament would be rather pleasing to her. Heaven knows it was an +ill day for her when she fell into my clutches. I can't say that it +seems to have been any great advantage to any woman to be fond of me. +Helen was awfully cut up when I went back on the Pagans, and as for +Ninitta, I've played the very dickens with her. Upon my word I have my +doubts if I could be really respectable without cutting my own +acquaintance." + +Fenton retired to his stateroom almost as soon as he went on board the +steamer. He was tired with the strain of the last weeks, he hated the +vulgar crowd one met in travelling, so that to sleep and avoid his +companions seemed the only course desirable under the circumstances. + +He was dimly conscious of the progress of the boat, the bustle in the +saloon, which gradually subsided as the evening wore on; and then his +slumber grew deeper. Even the frequent whistling which the +ever-increasing fog made necessary only caused him, now and then, to +turn uneasily in his berth. His stateroom was well aft, and in his +drowsy, half-waking moments, he was conscious that the sea was running +heavily. He remembered that the wind had been east all day, and that he +had seen the danger-signal floating that afternoon. + +Toward morning he grew more wakeful. The whistling of the fog-signal, +which had now become almost constant, vanquished at length his +inclination toward slumber. He found his watch, but it was too dark to +tell the time. He raised himself up in his berth, and, pulling open the +window blind, was able with difficulty to make out that it was almost +four o'clock. Outside, he saw a bank of fog, as impenetrable to the eye +as a wall. He pulled the blind to, with an impatient sigh. + +"This confounded fog," he thought, "will make us late, and I sha'n't +have time to see those pictures at the Academy." + +He lay back in his berth, broad awake, with an objurgation at the +whistle, which was shrieking furiously, and which, he suddenly became +aware, was being answered by the dull bellow of a fog horn blown near +at hand. At that moment the engines of the boat stopped, with that +cessation of the quivering jar which is so terrifying. Fenton could +feel the steamer losing its headway, and being more heavily tossed +about by the waves as it did so. He sat up in his berth with a startled +consciousness of danger, and at the same instant something struck the +steamer with a terrific crash which seemed powerful enough to rend +every timber apart. A tumult of sound broke forth, amid which a +piercing human shriek rang out with awful sharpness. Fenton was thrown +from his berth by the shock, and landed on the floor, bruised and +half-stunned, but otherwise unhurt. His valise was dashed against him, +but after the first concussion there was no further violent movement, +and, as soon as he was able to recover himself, he had no difficulty in +getting to his feet. The terrible cries which continued, reinforced by +a babel of screams and confused noises, seemed to him to come from some +stateroom near at hand. It was evident that some one had been seriously +hurt in the collision which must have occurred. The trampling of feet, +the voices of men and women and children, the sound of the wind and of +the water, and those formless noises which are the more terrifying +because it is impossible to tell whence they arise, filled the air on +every side, and told Fenton that some serious calamity had befallen the +steamer. + +He felt about in the darkness for his clothing, then pulled open the +shutter hastily, and dressed himself in the dim light as well as he was +able. He was excited but not panic-stricken, yet the time seemed long, +although in reality it was but a few moments before he was ready to +open his door into the saloon. As he came out he had a startled +impression of finding himself in an unexpected place, and then he +realized that the side of the boat had been broken in clean through the +range of staterooms, and that he was looking out into the heavy wall of +fog through a hole made by the collision. He could see dimly the shape +of a ship's prow, and the broken end of a bowsprit was not yet wholly +disentangled from the rent in the side of the steamer. The two vessels, +locked together like a pair of sea-monsters that had perished in the +death grapple of a desperate encounter, tossed up and down on the long +swell, swayed by the wind which seemed to be increasing in fury every +moment. + +On the floor of the saloon just before him, Fenton saw a wounded man, +ghastly with blood, and moaning terribly. Half-dressed people hovered +about him in utter bewilderment, while others continually hurried up +simply to hasten away again in frantic confusion. The wounded man was +in his night clothes, and a half-dressed old woman, her gray hair +straggling about her face, seemed to be attempting to stanch the blood +which was flowing freely. She was evidently a stranger, since from time +to time she appealed to those around to take her place, and let her go +and look after her own folk, but the kindly old creature plainly could +not bring herself, even in that hour of peril, to desert one hurt and +helpless. + +On every side were the evidences of panic. Stateroom doors were open, +people in all stages of disarray were hurrying wildly along, or +clinging frantically to each other. The hysterical sobs of women, +piercing cries from the thin voices of children, deep-toned curses and +wild ejaculations from men sounded on every hand. People were donning +life-preservers, some putting on two or three in their eagerness and +fear; and here and there fighting for the possession of an extra one in +a mad fury. The whole saloon was filled with a wild and terrifying +tumult. It was a frenzied scene of fear and awful bewilderment. + +However great his mental pluck, Fenton was physically a coward, and he +knew it. The New England climate and life have given to most of her +children, of any degree of cultivation, a nervous organization too +acutely sensitive to pain for them to be physically brave; but to this +disposition the New England training, the inherited manliness of sturdy +ancestors, has added a splendid moral energy to overcome this weakness. + +In the first terrible shock of fear which followed his discovery that +the steamer had been run down, Fenton's body trembled with terror. He +felt a wild and dizzy impulse to rush somewhere madly; but in a moment +his will reasserted itself. He was intensely frightened, but he beat +down his fear with the lash of self-scorn, as he would have whipped a +hound that refused to do his bidding. He steadied himself for a moment +against the doorway with tense muscles, setting his teeth together. He +drew a deep breath, turned back into his stateroom, and put on a cork +jacket. He was cool enough. Before he buckled it he transferred his +wallet and papers from the pocket of his coat to that on the inside of +his waistcoat. Then he hurried out through the saloon on to the +afterdeck. The place was crowded, and the confusion was indescribable. +Fenton's first impulse was to put his hands over his ears, to shut out +the horrible din. The officers were shouting orders and getting the +boats manned, for even in this short time the steamer was settling. The +hissing swash of the waves beating into the breach, the prayers, the +imprecations, the hysterical sobs, the agonized cries of the struggling +passengers, the darkness, the terror, the yawning abyss of death +beneath them,--combined to sweep away all human feelings save the +instinct of self-preservation. The brute side of human nature revealed +itself with a hideousness more horrible than the terror of the night +and the sea. Unprotected women were crushed and trampled, and as the +boats were lowered a fierce hand-to-hand conflict ensued, men fighting +like wild cats to force their way into them. The officers beat them +back, and made way for the women as well as they could, struggling at +the same time with the difficult task of maintaining discipline among +the crew. + +Shrill amid the uproar, a child's cry smote Fenton's ear as he came out +upon the deck. Directly before him a man was trying to pull a +life-preserver off from a boy, while a woman fought with him in a +desperate endeavor to shield her child. The lad was about the size of +Caldwell and in the confused light not wholly unlike him. With a sob +and a curse, Fenton struck the man full in the face with all his force, +sending the brute reeling backward into the crowd which was too dense +to allow of his falling. The mother hurriedly pulled the child into the +dense stream of people crowding toward the boats, and Fenton saw the +pair disappear over the side of the steamer, helped by one of the +officers. + +There ran through his mind a momentary speculation of their chances of +escape, and the thought brought him back to the consideration of his +own situation. A sudden unreasonable disgust of the conditions which +made his salvation so improbable seized upon him. He reflected that he +might still baffle fate by taking his own life, and for an instant the +idea of thus escaping from all the vexations which surrounded him +presented itself to his mind in alluring colors. The idea of +self-destruction was one with which he had played so often that he +entertained it without a shock; and he realized now, almost with a +conviction that the fact forced him to suicide for the sake of +consistency, that his death under these circumstances would surely be +attributed to accident. He even began to fumble with the buckles of his +life-preserver; then with a smile of bitter scorn he looked down at his +hands, of which the fingers were trembling with nervous fear. + +"Bah," he said to himself, "why should I pose to myself? Fate is too +much for me; if a gentle and beneficent Providence intends to make away +with me, so be it. I haven't the nerve to anticipate it." + +He started toward the boats, and at that instant he caught sight of the +face of Ninitta. She was standing perfectly quiet, with her arm around +one of the small pillars supporting the covering to the deck. She was +fully dressed, though her head was uncovered and the rings of hair +clung about her face. Fenton forgot everything else at sight of her. In +a moment of supreme egotism there flashed through his mind the +consequences of Ninitta's being here. The consciousness of all that lay +between them made him keenly alive to the evil construction which might +be placed upon her having fled from home on the same boat which carried +him. He realized, with a profound feeling of impotence, that if they +were lost together he should be forever unable to explain or to dispel +the suspicion to which her presence might give rise; he felt with keen +bitterness how useless would be all his cleverness, and his heart +swelled with rage at the thought that his adroitness would be wasted +for lack of opportunity. + +He forgot the danger, the terror of the wreck, the shrieking of the +women, the brutality of the men, and, for the moment, felt with the +keen desperation of enormous vanity the danger to his reputation. He +forced his way madly across the deck and confronted her in the ghastly +light of the swinging lantern and the gray foregleams of the coming +dawn. + +"You followed me!" he cried with bitter harshness. + +She looked at him in a calm, stunned way, as if she were past suffering +and almost past feeling. The recognition in her eyes came slowly, as if +she were dazed or as if some powerful mental stress held her attention. + +"Now," he began, "your boy"--He was going to add, "will grow up to +believe you ran away with me;" but his manliness asserted itself and he +could not continue. It was like striking a woman, and the brutal words +died on his lip. + +At the mention of her boy a sudden passion flamed in her eyes. She +loosed her hold upon the pillar and a sudden lurch of the sinking ship +threw her into Fenton's arms. She clung to him frantically. + +"My boy!" she moaned. "My boy!" + +Like quickly shifting pictures, there ran through Fenton's mind the +images of Nino, of the boy whose life-preserver he had saved, and of +his own son, asleep in safety in his nursery at home. With a quick +revulsion of feeling came the desire to save Ninitta, and with +instinctive quickness he hit upon a possible means of escape. As he +came through the saloon he had seen a man, a dim shape in the fog, +clambering through the shattered staterooms to climb over the broken +bowsprit into the vessel that had run them down. Hastily drawing +Ninitta along, he forced his way back into the saloon. The body of the +man who had been hurt in the collision lay dead and deserted on the +floor. He lifted his companion over it and made his way to the side of +the steamer. Others had discovered this road to safety and he had to +fight for his foothold amid the waves that now washed over his feet. +The men on the stranger vessel were sawing off the broken spar which +was entangled under the steamer's upper deck, lest their craft should +be dragged down by the sinking boat. He urged Ninitta forward, swinging +her by main force up into the tangled rigging. + +"No, no," she cried, endeavoring to throw herself back. "I do not want +to go. It will be better for Nino." + +The sublimity of her self-sacrifice smote him like a lash. He could not +stop to argue, but he forced her forward, and one of the men above, +feeling himself in safety, caught her by the arm to drag her up. But at +that instant the spar, cut nearly through, broke with a sharp crack +like the sound of a gun. The end fell, and with it the wretched woman +was carried down. She shrieked as she went, the water cutting short her +cry of mortal anguish. Fenton saw her face an instant, and then in the +fog and the darkness the lapping water closed over her. + +An awful sickening shudder ran through him, a fear too great to be +resisted. There rose from his heart a despairing prayer; and the +unbeliever has sounded the depth of agony when he calls upon God. + +At that instant a beam loosened from the upper deck, dragged downward +by the ropes of the falling bowsprit, fell with a crash, dashing him +downward into the gulf below. He felt the awful stinging pain of the +blow, like the thrust of a spear; a mighty wave seemed to mount upward +to meet and to engulf him. Then he lost all perception of what he was +doing or of what happened to him; and it might to his consciousness +have been either moments or hours before he found himself struggling in +the icy water. He swam instinctively, and he even remembered to try to +increase his distance from the steamer, that he might not be caught in +the eddy when it went down. He heard still the cries and shrieks, but +the noise of the sea at his ears was like a mighty uproar confusing +all. He could not tell in which direction lay the vessel; a mighty +pressure crushed his chest, and innumerable lights twinkling against a +background of intensest black seemed to shine before his eyes. He was +past thinking clearly. His memory was like a broken mirror whose +shattered fragments reflected a thousand bits from his past life, +confused, detached, and meaningless. + + Then with a last supreme effort his strong will asserted itself in a +command upon his consciousness. For one intense instant, briefer than +the flash of the tiniest spark, he realized everything, save that the +blow or the nearness of death seemed to have dulled all sense of fear. +The most vivid thought of all was the reflection that he might have +been saved but for his efforts to help Ninitta. The grim humor of the +situation tickled his fancy, and in the very flood of death he faintly +smiled at the irony of fate which thus balanced accounts. And this +flash of cynical amusement was the last gleam of his earthly +consciousness. + + + + +XXXVII + + A SYMPATHY OF WOE. + Titus Andronicus; iii.--1. + +Fortunately Ninitta had made no secret of her departure except to +conceal it from her husband. She had been to see some Italian friends +of former days to ask about people she had known in Italy, and from +them her husband learned pretty nearly what her plans had been. Fenton +might have spared himself his fears lest she be suspected of going with +him. Such a thought did not for an instant enter into Herman's mind. +The sculptor found himself appreciating better than ever before the +strength of his wife's character. The knowledge of Ninitta's faults +died with her, and her memory was transmitted to her son enriched with +the halo of a martyr who has died in the path of supreme +self-sacrifice. Nine's father understood fairly well the train of +reasoning which had led his wife to the tragic resolve to leave their +boy. Ignorant of her fault, he blamed himself for the reproach by which +he feared he had forced her to believe that it were better for her son +to be freed from her presence. + +His generous nature forgot, too, all anger against Fenton. To the noble +soul, death, by a reasoning which is above logic, seems to settle all +accounts. He remembered the artist's brightness, his quick sympathy, +his keen imagination, and his ready adaptability. The flippancy that +had often shocked him, the treachery to principles which he held sacred +that had wounded him, his kind memory put out of sight, as one wipes +the stains from a crystal; and in the mind of the man he had wronged, +the remembrance of Arthur Fenton remained fair and gracious, and nobler +than the nature whose monument it was. + +He went to see Mrs. Fenton, but when he met her he at first could say +nothing. He stammered brokenly, tears choking his voice, holding her +hand in his, and vainly striving to put into words the sympathy he +felt. Then he stooped suddenly and kissed her hand. + +"Our boys,"--he said, with awkward phrasing, but with an instinct which +reached to the ground of their deepest sympathy. "It might comfort them +a little to play together." + +The widow clung with both her small hands to the large strong one which +had clasped hers; and bending down over it she burst into convulsive +sobs. He stood silent a moment, his lip trembling then with grave +kindness, he said,-- + +"I know how hard it is; but you have the comfort of being able to tell +the boy that his father was a genius and a noble man. Do you know that +a woman who was rescued says that your husband saved her boy, a little +lad like Caldwell. Arthur knocked down the man that was trying to rob +him of his life-preserver. The Captain told her afterward who it was." + +He was perfectly sincere in what he said. It was difficult for him to +think evil of the living; of the dead it was impossible. + +After he had gone, Edith took Caldwell on her knee and told him the +story. It was the brightest ray of comfort in all that sad time to be +able thus to glorify his father in the eyes of her son. The incident +dwelt in her mind, and her loving fancy added to it a hundred details +and drew from it numberless deductions with which to enrich the memory +of her dead. It came in time to be the most prominent thing in her +remembrance of her husband. It was the fact which she could recall with +the most unmixed satisfaction, which needed no evasions, no mental +reservations, no warpings of belief, to appear wholly noble. In the +light of this deed, the impulse of a moment, Fenton stood in her memory +as a hero; and in viewing him thus, she was able to lose sight of +everything which she must forgive, of everything which she wished to +forget. + +Edith was happily spared the harassing complications of financial +difficulty which it had seemed must inevitably result from the +condition in which her husband's affairs were left. + +On Mr. Irons's return from New York, he had been astounded and enraged +to find that he had been outwitted by the combined cleverness of Mrs. +Sampson and the stupidity of his clerk, and that he was in possession +of eleven thousand shares of Princeton Platinum stock. For seven +thousand shares he had paid at the rate of three dollars, and the stock +was now quoted at one and three eighths asked, with no particular +reason for supposing that the putting of even half his shares on the +market would not reduce it to zero. Irons blasphemed prodigiously and +emphatically, discharged his clerk, and went to call on Mrs. Sampson, +whom he threatened with all sorts of condign punishments if she did not +disgorge her ill-gotten gains. The widow received him affably, and +laughed in his face at this proposal, a course of action which won his +respect more fully than any other which she could have chosen. There +was evidently nothing left but to do what he could with the market, and +by methods best known to himself he succeeded in bulling the stock so +that he was able to unload at three dollars and a half. + +The brokers in whose hands Fenton had left his stock had been watching +their opportunity, and closed it out at the top of the market, a +consummation for which Fenton had so devoutly longed that it seemed +cruel he could not have lived to see it. The returns from this and from +her husband's life insurance secured to Edith and her son a small +income, which was considerably increased by the sale of Fenton's +pictures which was soon after organized by the artists of the St. +Filipe Club. + +It was about a month after Ninitta's death that Grant Herman went to +visit Helen. He had chosen to see her at her studio rather than at her +home. Poignant memories of the past were less likely to be aroused by +the unfamiliar appearance of this room which he had never before +entered. It was late in the afternoon, and Helen was standing by the +figure of a child upon which she had been working. She gave him her +hand impulsively, forgetting that the fingers were stained with clay. + +"I beg your pardon," she said. + +"It is no matter," he returned, and the commonplace phrases bridged the +awkwardness which belongs to the meeting of two people whose minds are +full of intense feeling which they are not prepared to speak. Helen led +him toward another modelling stand. + +"I want you to see this bust," she remarked. "It's quite in the manner +which you used to say was my best." + +He stood watching her with a swelling heart as she removed the damp +wrappings which kept the clay moist. Keen in the minds of both was the +knowledge that now there were no barriers between them; that the time +had come at last when they were free to love each other and to unite +their lives. The closeness of Ninitta's death kept this wholly from +their words, but it could not banish the exultation, so sharp as to be +almost pain, which would arise from the mere fact of their being +together. Both understood that however great the sorrow at her death +which he was too noble-hearted not to feel, he must rejoice in the +right to follow the dictates of his love at last. + +He forced himself to examine the bust critically, and to speak of it +calmly; but he soon turned away from it, and stood looking at her a +moment, as if trying to find speech in which to phrase what he had come +to say. She waited for him to speak, meeting his glance frankly. Her +head was thrown backward a little, and he noted with pitying eagerness +that she was paler than of old, and that there were dark circles +beneath her eyes. He thought of the years in which their lives had been +separated, and sorrow for her suffering made his heart swell. + +"Helen," he said, "I have come to ask a favor. I want you to look after +Nino a little. He has been given up to servants too much, and I am +perfectly helpless when it comes to managing his nurse. Is there any +way in which you can do anything for him?" + +"Of course there is," she answered. "I will come in and see him every +day and find out how things go with him; then, if anything is wrong, I +can let you know." + +"Thank you," he returned simply. "I was sure you would help me. But do +you think," he added, hesitating, "that it will be in any way awkward +for you?" + +She smiled on him and she could not keep out of her eyes the joy she +felt at being able to serve him. + +"Do you think," was her reply, "that I am likely to let that +consideration stand in my way? It is rather late in life for me to +begin to let conventionality interfere with what I think it right to +do. Besides," she continued, dropping her eyes, though without a shade +of self-consciousness, "I shall go when you are at the studio." + +"And it will not be too much trouble?" + +"I shall love to do what I can for Nino." + +"I thank you," he said again. + +Then without more words he held out his hand. + +"Good-night," he said. + +"Good-night," she repeated. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philistines, by Arlo Bates + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PHILISTINES *** + +***** This file should be named 8570.txt or 8570.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/5/7/8570/ + +Produced by Eric Eldred, Charlie Kirschner, Charles Franks, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Philistines + +Author: Arlo Bates + +Release Date: July, 2005 [EBook #8570] +[This file was first posted on July 24, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE PHILISTINES *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Eric Eldred, Charlie Kirschner, Charles Franks, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE PHILISTINES + +BY + +ARLO BATES + + + + + + + + The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together. + _All's Well that Ends Well_; iv.--3 + + + + +DEDICATION. + + + To my three friends who, by generously acting as amanuenses, + have made it possible that the book should be finished, I take + pleasure in gratefully dedicating + + + + + "This is no square temple to the gate of which thou canst + arrive precipitately; this is no mosque to which thou canst come + with tumult but without knowledge." + _Persian Religious Hymn_. + + + + + CONTENTS. +CHAPTER + + I. IN PLACE AND IN ACCOUNT NOTHING + II. SOME SPEECH OF MARRIAGE + III. IN WAY OF TASTE + IV. NOW HE IS FOR THE NUMBERS + V. 'TWAS WONDROUS PITIFUL + VI. THE INLY TOUCH OF LOVE + VII. THIS DEED UNSHAPES ME + VIII. A NECESSARY EVIL + IX. THIS IS NOT A BOON + X. THE BITTER PAST + XI. THE GREAT ASSAY OF ART + XII. WHOM THE FATES HAVE MARKED + XIII. THIS "WOULD" CHANGES + XIV. THE SHOT OF ACCIDENT + XV. LIKE COVERED FIRE + XVI. WEIGHING DELIGHT AND DOLE + XVII. THE HEAVY MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT + XVIII. HE SPEAKS THE MERE CONTRARY + XIX. HOW CHANCES MOCK + XX. VOLUBLE AND SHARP DISCOURSE + XXI. A MINT OF PHRASES IN HIS BRAIN + XXII. HIS PURE HEART'S TRUTH + XXIII. AS FALSE AS STAIRS OF SAND + XXIV. THERE BEGINS CONFUSION + XXV. AFTER SUCH A PAGAN CUT + XXVI. O, WICKED WIT AND GIFT + XXVII. UPON A CHURCH BENCH + XXVIII. BEDECKING ORNAMENTS OF PRAISE + XXIX. CRUEL PROOF OF THIS MAN'S STRENGTH + XXX. THE WORLD IS STILL DECEIVED + XXXI. PARTED OUR FELLOWSHIP + XXXII. HEART-BURNING HEAT OF DUTY + XXXIII. A BOND OF AIR + XXXIV. WHAT TIME SHE CHANTED + XXXV. HEARTSICK WITH THOUGHT + XXXVI. FAREWELL AT ONCE, FOR ONCE, FOR ALL AND EVER + XXXVII. A SYMPATHY OF WOE + + + + +THE PHILISTINES + + +I + + + IN PLACE AND IN ACCOUNT NOTHING. + I Henry IV.; v.--I. + +When Arthur Fenton, the most outspoken of all that band of protesting +spirits who had been so well known in artistic Boston as the Pagans, +married Edith Caldwell, there had been in his mind a purpose, secret +but well defined, to turn to his own account his wife's connection with +the Philistine art patrons of the town. Miss Caldwell was a niece of +Peter Calvin, a wealthy and well-meaning man against whom but two grave +charges could be made,--that he supposed the growth of art in this +country to depend largely upon his patronage, and that he could never +be persuaded not to take himself seriously. Mr. Calvin was regarded by +Philistine circles in Boston as a sort of re-incarnation of Apollo, +clothed upon with modern enlightenment, and properly arrayed in +respectable raiment. Had it been pointed out that to make this theory +probable it was necessary to conceive of the god as having undergone +mentally much the same metamorphosis as that which had transformed his +flowing vestments into trousers, his admirers would have received the +remark as highly complimentary to Mr. Peter Calvin. To assume identity +between their idol and Apollo would be immensely flattering to the son +of Latona. + +Fenton understood perfectly the weight and extent of Calvin's +influence, yet, in determining to profit by it, he did not in the least +deceive himself as to the nature of his own course. + +"Honesty," he afterward confessed to his friend Helen Greyson, who +scorned him for the admission, "is doubtless a charming thing for +digestive purposes, but it is a luxury too expensive for me. The gods +in this country bid for shams, and shams I purpose giving them." + +So well did he carry out his intention, that in a few years he came to +be the fashionable portrait-painter of the town; the artist to whom +people went who rated the worth of a picture by the amount they were +required to pay for it, and the reputation of the painter in +conventional circles; the man to whom a Boston society woman inevitably +turned when she wished the likeness of her charms preserved on canvas, +and when no foreigner was for the moment in vogue and on hand. + +The steps by which Fenton attained to this proud eminence were obvious +enough. In the first place, he persuaded Mr. Calvin to sit to him. Mr. +Calvin always sat to the portrait painters whom he endorsed. This was a +sort of official recognition, and the results, as seen in the +needlessly numerous likenesses of the gentleman which adorned his +Beacon Hill mansion, would have afforded a cynic some amusement, and +not a little food for reflection. Once launched under distinguished +patronage, Fenton was clever enough to make his way. He really was able +to paint well when he chose, a fact which was, on the whole, of less +importance in his artistic career than were the adroitness of his +address, and his ready and persuasive sympathy. The qualifications of a +fashionable doctor, a fashionable clergyman, and a fashionable +portrait-painter are much the same; it is only in the man-milliner that +skill is demanded in addition to the art of pleasing. + +As usually happens in such a case, Fenton's old friends avoided him, or +found themselves left in the distance by his rapid strides toward fame +and fortune. Then such of them as still came in contact with him made +his acquaintance in a new character, and learned to accept him as a +wholly different man from the one they had supposed themselves to know +in the days when he was never weary of pouring forth tirades against +the Philistinism he had now embraced. They admired the skill with which +he painted stuffs and gowns, but among themselves they agreed that the +old-time vigor and sincerity were painfully lacking in his work; and if +they grumbled sometimes at the prices he got, it is only just to +believe that it was seldom with any real willingness to pay, in the +sacrifice of convictions and ideals, the equivalent which he had given +for his popularity. + +Fenton was one morning painting, in his luxuriously appointed studio, +the portrait of a man who was in the prime of life, and over whom +vulgar prosperity had, in forming him, left everywhere her finger marks +plainly to be seen. He was tall and robust, with light eyes and blonde +whiskers, and a general air of insisting upon his immense superiority +to all the world. That he secretly felt some doubts of the perfection +of his social knowledge, there were indications in his manner, but on +the whole the complacency of a portly bank account overcame all +misgivings of this sort. His character might have been easily inferred +from the manner in which he now set his broad shoulders expansively +back in the armchair in which he was posing, and regarded the artist +with a patronizing air of condescending to be wonderfully entertained +by his conversation. + +"You are the frankest fellow I ever saw," he said, smiling broadly. + +"Oh, frank," Fenton responded; "I am too frank. It will be the ruin of +me sooner or later. It all comes of being born with a habit of being +too honest with myself." + +"Honesty with yourself is generally held up as a cardinal virtue." + +"Nonsense. A man is a fool who is too frank with himself; he is always +sure to end by being too frank with everybody else, just from mere +habit." + +Mr. Irons smiled more broadly still. He by no means followed all +Fenton's vagaries of thought, but they tickled his mental cuticle +agreeably. The artist had the name of being a clever talker, and with +such a listener this was more than half the battle. The men who can +distinguish the real quality of talk are few and far to seek; most +people receive what is said as wit and wisdom, or the reverse, simply +because they are assured it is the one or the other; and Alfred Irons +was of the majority in this. + +Fenton painted in silence a moment, inwardly possessed of a desire to +caricature, or even to paint in all its ugliness, the vulgar mouth upon +which he was working. The desire, however, was not sufficiently strong +to restrain him from the judicious flattery of cleverly softening and +refining the coarse lips, and he was conscious of a faint amusement at +the incongruity between his thought and his action. + +"And there is the added disadvantage," he continued the conversation as +he glanced up and saw that his sitter's face was quickly, in the +silence, falling into a heavy repose, "that frankness begets frankness. +My sitters are always telling me things which I do not want to know, +just because I am so beastly outspoken and sympathetic." + +"You must have an excellent chance to get pointers," responded the +sitter, his pale eyes kindling with animation. "You've painted two or +three men this winter that could have put you up to a good thing." + +"That isn't the sort of line chat takes in a studio," Fenton returned, +with a slight shrug. "It isn't business that men talk in a studio. That +would be too incongruous." + +Irons sneered and laughed, with an air of consequence and superiority. + +"I don't suppose many of you artist fellows would make much of a fist +at business," he observed. + +"Modern business," laughed the other, amused by his own epigram, "is +chiefly the art of transposing one's debts. The thing to learn is how +to pass the burden of your obligations from one man's shoulders to +those of another often enough so that nobody who has them gets tired +out, and drops them with a crash." + +His sitter grinned appreciatively. + +"And they don't tell you how to do this?" + +"Oh, no. The things my sitters tell me about are of a very different +sort. They make to me confidences they want to get rid of; things you'd +rather not hear. Heavens! I have all I can do to keep some men from +treating me like a priest and confessing all their sins to me." + +Mr. Irons regarded the artist closely, with a curious narrowing of the +eyes. + +"That must give you a hold over a good many of them," he said. "I shall +be careful what I say." + +Fenton laughed, with a delightful sense of superiority. It amused him +that his sitter should be betraying his nature at the very moment when +he fancied himself particularly on his guard. + +"You certainly have no crimes on your conscience that interfere with +your digestion," was his reply; "but in any case, you may make yourself +easy; I am not a blackmailer by profession." + +"Oh, I didn't mean that," Mr. Irons answered, easily; "only of course +you are a man who has his living to make. Every painter has to depend +on his wits, and when you come in contact with men of another class +professionally it would be natural enough to suppose you would take +advantage of it." + +The "lady's finger" in Fenton's cheek stood out white amid the sudden +red, and his eyes flashed. + +"Of course a sitter," he said in an even voice, which had somehow lost +all its smooth sweetness, "is in a manner my guest, and the fact that +his class was not up to mine, or that he wasn't a gentleman even, +wouldn't excuse my taking advantage of him." + +The other flushed in his turn. He felt the keenness of the retort, but +he was not dexterous enough to parry it, and he took refuge in coarse +bullying. + +"Come, now, Fenton," he cried with a short, explosive laugh, "you talk +like a gentleman." + +But the artist, knowing himself to have the better of the other, and +not unmindful, moreover, of the fact that to offend Alfred Irons might +mean a serious loss to his own pocket, declined to take offence. + +"Of course," he answered lightly, and with the air of one who +appreciates an intended jest so subtile that only cleverness would have +comprehended it, "that is one of the advantages I have always found in +being one. I think I needn't keep you tied down to that chair any +longer to-day. Come here and see how you think we are getting on." + +And the sitter forgot quickly that he had been on the very verge of a +quarrel. + + + + +II + + SOME SPEECH OF MARRIAGE. + Measure for Measure; v.--I. + +When dinner was announced that night, Mrs. Arthur Fenton had not +appeared, but presently she came into the room with that guilty and +anxious look which marks the consciousness of social misdemeanors. She +was dressed in a gown of warm primrose plush, softened by draperies of +silver-gray net. It was a costume which her husband had designed for +her, and which set off beautifully her brown hair and creamy white +skin. + +"I hope I have not kept you waiting long," she said, "but I wanted to +dress for Mrs. Frostwinch's before dinner, and I was late about getting +home." + +There was a certain wistfulness in her manner which betrayed her +anxiety lest he should be vexed at the trifling delay. Arthur Fenton +was too well bred to be often openly unkind to anybody, but none the +less was his wife afraid of his displeasure. He was one of those men +who have the power of making their disapproval felt from the simple +fact that they feel it so strongly themselves. The most oppressive of +domestic tyrants are by no means those who vent their ill-nature in +open words. The man who strenuously insists to himself upon his will, +and cherishes in silence his dislike of whatever is contrary to it, is +oftener a harder man to live with than one who is violently outspoken. +Fenton was hardly conscious of the absolute despotism with which he +ruled his home, but his wife was too susceptible to his moods not to +feel keenly the unspoken protest with which he met any infringement +upon his wishes or his pleasure. Tonight he was in good humor, and his +sense of beauty was touched by the loveliness of her appearance. + +"Oh, it is no matter," he answered lightly. "How stunning you look. +That topaz," he continued, walking toward her, and laying his finger +upon the single jewel she wore fastened at the edge of the square-cut +corsage of her gown, "is exactly right. It is so deep in color that it +gives the one touch you need. It was uncommonly nice of your Uncle +Peter to give it to you." + +"And of you to design a dress to set it off," returned she, smiling +with pleasure. "I am glad you like me in it." + +"You are stunning," her husband repeated, kissing her with a faint +shade of patronage in his manner. "Now come on before the dinner is as +cold as a stone. A cold dinner is like a warmed-over love affair; you +accept it from a sense of duty, but there is no enjoyment in it." + +Mrs. Fenton smiled, more from pleasure at his evident good nature than +from any especial amusement, and they went together into the pretty +dining-room. + +Fenton acknowledged himself fond of the refinements of life, and his +sensitive, sensuous nature lost none of the delights of a well- +appointed home. He lived in a quiet and elegant luxury which would have +been beyond the attainment of most artists, and which indeed not +infrequently taxed his resources to the utmost. + +The table at which the pair sat down was laid with exquisite damask and +china, the dinner admirable and well served. The dishes came in hot, +the maid was deft and comely in appearance, and the master of the +house, who always kept watch, in a sort of involuntary self- +consciousness, of all that went on about him, was pleasantly aware that +the most fastidious of his friends could have found nothing amiss in +the appointment or the service of his table. How much the perfect +arrangement of domestic affairs demanded from his wife, Fenton found it +more easy and comfortable not to inquire, but he at least appreciated +the results of her management. He never came to accept the smallest +trifles of life without emotion. His pleasure or annoyance depended +upon minute details, and things which people in general passed without +notice were to him the most important facts of daily life. The +responsibility for the comfort of so highly organized a creature, Edith +had found to be anything but a light burden. Only a wife could have +appreciated the pleasure she had in having the most delicate shades in +her domestic management noted and enjoyed; or the discomfort which +arose from the same source. It was delightful to have her husband +pleased by the smallest pains she took for his comfort; to know that +his eye never failed to discover the little refinements of dress or +cookery or household adornment; but wearing was the burden of +understanding, too, that no flaw was too small to escape his sight. +Mrs. Fenton's friends rallied her upon being a slave to her +housekeeping; few of them were astute enough to understand that, kind +as was always his manner toward her, she was instead the slave of her +husband. + +The room in which they were dining was one in which the artist took +especial pleasure. He had panelled it with stamped leather, which he +had picked up somewhere in Spain; while the ceiling was covered with a +novel and artistic arrangement of gilded matting. Among Edith's wedding +gifts had been some exquisite jars of Moorish pottery, and these, with +a few pieces of Algerian armor, were the only ornaments which the +artist had admitted to the room. The simplicity and richness of the +whole made an admirable setting for the dinner table, and as the host +when he entertained was willing to take the trouble of overlooking his +wife's arrangements, the Fentons' dinner parties were among the most +picturesquely effective in Boston. + +"I have two big pieces of news for you," Mrs. Fenton said, when the +soup had been removed. "I have been to call on Mrs. Stewart Hubbard +this afternoon, and Mr. Hubbard is going to have you paint him. Isn't +that good?" + +Her husband looked up in evident pleasure. + +"That isn't so bad," was his reply. "He'll make a stunning picture, and +the Hubbards are precisely the sort of people one likes to have +dealings with. Is he going at it soon?" + +"He is coming to see you to-morrow, Mrs. Hubbard said. The picture is +to be her birthday present. I told her you were so busy I didn't know +when you could begin." + +"I would stretch a point to please Mr. Hubbard. I am almost done with +Irons, vulgar old cad. I wish I dared paint him as bad as he really +looks." + +"But your artistic conscience won't let you?" she queried, smiling. "He +is a dreadful old creature; but he means well." + +"People who mean well are always worse than those who don't mean +anything; but I can make it up with Hubbard. He looks like Rubens' St. +Simeon. I wish he wore the same sort of clothes." + +"You might persuade him to, for the picture. But my second piece of +news is almost as good. Helen is coming home." + +"Helen Greyson?" + +"Helen Greyson. I had a letter from her today, written in Paris. She +had already got so far, and she ought to be here very soon." + +"How long has she been in Rome?" Fenton asked. + +He had suddenly become graver. He had been intimate with Mrs. Greyson, +a sculptor of no mean talent, in the days when he had been a fervid +opponent of people and of principles with whom he had later joined +alliance, and the idea of her return brought up vividly his parting +from her, when she had scornfully upbraided him for his apostasy from +convictions which he had again and again declared to be dearer to him +than life. + +"It is six years," Mrs. Fenton answered. "Caldwell was born the March +after she went, and he will be six in three weeks. Time goes fast. We +are getting to be old people." + +Fenton stared at his plate absently, his thoughts busy with the past. + +"Has Grant Herman been married six years?" he asked, after a moment. + +"Grant Herman? Yes; he was married just before she sailed; but what of +it?" + +Fenton laid down the fork with which he had been poking the bits of +fish about on his plate. He folded his arms on the edge of the table, +and regarded his wife. + +"It is astonishing, Edith," he observed, "how well one may know a woman +and yet be mistaken in her. For six years I have supposed you to be +religiously avoiding any allusion to Helen's love for Grant Herman, and +it seems you never knew it at all." + +It was Mrs. Fenton's turn to look up in surprise. + +"What do you mean?" she asked. + +Her husband laughed lightly, yet not very joyously. + +"Nothing, if you will. Nobody ever told me they were in love with each +other, but I am as sure that Helen made Herman marry Ninitta as if I +had been on hand to see the operation." + +"Made him marry her? Why should he marry her if he didn't want to?" + +"Oh, well, I don't know anything about it. I know Ninitta followed +Herman to America, for she told me so; and I am sure he had no idea of +marrying her when she got here. Anybody can put two and two together, I +suppose, especially if you know what infernally Puritanical notions +Helen had." + +"Puritanical?" + +The artist leaned back in his chair and smiled at his wife in his +superior and tantalizing fashion. + +"She thought she'd outgrown Puritanism," he returned, "but really she +was, in her way, as much of a Puritan as you are. The country is full +of people who don't understand that the essence of Puritanism is a +slavish adherence to what they call principle, and who think because +they have got rid of a certain set of dogmas they are free from their +theologic heritage. There never was greater rubbish than such an idea." + +Mrs. Fenton was silent. She had long ago learned the futility of +attempting any argument in ethics with Arthur, and she received in +silence whatever flings at her beliefs he chose to indulge in. She had +even come hardly to heed words which in the early days of her married +life would have wounded her to the quick. She had readjusted her +conception of her husband's character, and if she still cherished +illusions in regard to him, she no longer believed in the possibility +of changing his opinions by opposing them. + +Her thoughts were now, moreover, occupied with the personal problem +which would in any case have appealed more strongly to the feminine +mind than abstract theories, and she was considering what he had told +her of Mrs. Greyson and Grant Herman, a sculptor for whom she had a +warm admiration, and a no less strong liking. + +However we busy ourselves with high aims, with learning, or art, or +wisdom, or ethics, personal human interests appeal to us more strongly +than anything else. Human emotions respond instinctively and quickly to +any hint of the emotional life of others. Nothing more strikingly shows +the essential unity of the race than the readiness with which all minds +lay aside all concerns and ideas which they are accustomed to consider +higher, to give attention to the trifling details of the intimate +history of their fellows. Quite unconsciously, Edith had gathered up +many facts, insignificant in themselves, concerning the relations of +Mrs. Greyson and Herman, and she now found herself suddenly called upon +to reconsider whatever conclusions they had led her to in the light of +this new development. The sculptor's marriage with an ex-model had +always been a mystery to her, and she now endeavored to decide in her +mind whether it were possible that her husband could be right in +putting the responsibility upon Helen Greyson. The form of his remark +seemed to her to hint that the Italian's claim upon Herman had been of +so grave a nature as to imply serious complications in their former +relations; but she strenuously rejected any suspicion of evil in the +sculptor's conduct. + +"I am sure, Arthur," she said, hesitatingly, "there can have been +nothing wrong between Mr. Herman and Ninitta. I have too much faith in +him." + +"To put faith in man," was his answer, "is only less foolish than to +believe in woman. I didn't, however, mean to imply anything very +dreadful. The facts are enough, without speculating on what is nobody's +business but theirs. I wonder how he and Helen will get on together, +now she is coming home? Mrs. Herman is a jealous little thing, and +could easily be roused up to do mischief." + +"I do not believe Helen had anything to do with their marriage," Edith +said, with conviction. "It was a mistake from the outset." + +"Granted. That is what makes it so probable that Helen did it. Grant +isn't the man to make a fool of himself without outside pressure, and +in the end a sacrifice to principle is always some ridiculous +tomfoolery that can't be come at in any other way. However, we shall +see what we shall see. What time are you going to Mrs. Frostwinch's?" + +"I am going to the Browning Club at Mrs. Gore's first. Will you come?" + +"Thank you, no. I have too much respect for Browning to assist at his +dismemberment. I'll meet you at Mrs. Frostwinch's about ten." + + + + +III + + IN WAY OF TASTE. + Troilus and Cressida; iii.--3. + +One of the most curious of modern whims in Boston has been the study of +the poems of Robert Browning. All at once there sprang up on every hand +strange societies called Browning Clubs, and the libraries were +ransacked for Browning's works, and for the books of whoever has had +the conceit or the hardihood to write about the great poet. Lovely +girls at afternoon receptions propounded to each other abstruse +conundrums concerning what they were pleased to regard as obscure +passages, while little coteries gathered, with airs of supernatural +gravity, to read and discuss whatever bore his signature. + +A genuine, serious Boston Browning Club is as deliciously droll as any +form of entertainment ever devised, provided one's sense of the +ludicrous be strong enough to overcome the natural indignation aroused +by seeing genuine poetry, the high gift of the gods, thus abused. The +clubs meet in richly furnished parlors, of which the chief fault is +usually an over-abundance of bric-a-brac. The house of Mrs. Gore, for +instance, where Edith was going this evening, was all that money could +make it; and in passing it may be noted that Boston clubs are seldom of +constitutions sufficiently vigorous to endure unpleasant surroundings. +The fair sex predominates at all these gatherings, and over them hangs +an air of expectant solemnity, as if the celebration of some sacred +mystery were forward. Conversation is carried on in subdued tones; even +the laughter is softened, and when the reader takes his seat, there +falls upon the little company a hush so deep as to render distinctly +audible the frou-frou of silken folds, and the tinkle of jet fringes, +stirred by the swelling of ardent and aspiring bosoms. + +The reading is not infrequently a little dull, especially to the +uninitiated, and there have not been wanting certain sinister +suggestions that now and then, during the monotonous delivery of some +of the longer poems, elderly and corpulent devotees listen only with +the spiritual ear, the physical sense being obscured by an abstraction +not to be distinguished by an ordinary observer from slumber. The +reader, however, is bound to assume that all are listening, and if some +sleep and others consider their worldly concerns or speculate upon the +affairs of their neighbors, it interrupts not at all the steady flow of +the reading. + +Once this is finished, there is an end also of inattention, for the +discussion begins. The central and vital principle of all these clubs +is that a poem by Robert Browning is a sort of prize enigma, of which +the solution is to be reached rather by wild and daring guessing than +by any commonplace process of reasoning. Although to an ordinary and +uninspired intellect it may appear perfectly obvious that a lyric means +simply and clearly what it says, the true Browningite is better +informed. He is deeply aware that if the poet seems to say one thing, +this is proof indisputable that another is intended. To take a work in +straightforward fashion would at once rob the Browning Club of all +excuse for existence, and while parlor chairs are easy, the air warm +and perfumed, and it is the fashion for idle minds to concern +themselves with that rococo humbug Philistines call culture, societies +of this sort must continue. + +Once it is agreed that a poem means something not apparent, it is easy +to make it mean anything and everything, especially if the discussion, +as is usually the case, be interspersed with discursions of which the +chief use is to give some clever person or other a chance to say smart +things. When all else fails, moreover, the club can always fall back +upon allegory. Commentators on the poets have always found much field +for ingenious quibbling and sounding speculation in the line of +allegory. Let a poem be but considered an allegory, and there is no +limit to the changes which may be rung upon it, not even Mrs. +Malaprop's banks of the Nile restraining the creature's headstrong +ranging. Only a failure of the fancy of the interpreter can afford a +check, and as everybody reads fiction nowadays, few people are without +a goodly supply of fancies, either original or acquired. + +Although Fenton had declined to go to Mrs. Gore's with his wife, he had +finished his cigar when the carriage was announced, and decided to +accompany her, after all. The parlors were filling when they arrived, +and Arthur, who knew how to select good company, managed to secure a +seat between Miss Elsie Dimmont, a young and rather gay society girl, +and Mrs. Frederick Staggchase, a descendant of an old Boston family, +who was called one of the cleverest women of her set. + +"Is Mr. Fenwick going to read?" he asked of the latter, glancing about +to see who was present. + +"Yes," Mrs. Staggchase answered, turning toward him with her +distinguished motion of the head and high-bred smile. "Don't you like +him?" + +"I never had the misfortune to hear him. I know he detests me, but then +I fear, that like olives and caviare, I have to be an acquired taste." + +"Acquired tastes," she responded, with that air of being amused by +herself which always entertained Fenton, "are always the strongest." + +"And generally least to a man's credit," he retorted quickly. "What is +he going to inflict upon us?" + +"Really, I don't know. I seldom come to this sort of thing. I don't +think it pays." + +"Oh, nothing pays, of course," was Fenton's reply, "but it is more or +less amusing to see people make fools of themselves." + +The president of the club, at this moment, called the assembly to +order, and announced that Mr. Fenwick had kindly consented--"Readers +always kindly consent," muttered Fenton aside to Mrs. Staggchase--to +read, _Bishop Blougram's Apology_, to which they would now listen. +There was a rustle of people settling back into their chairs; the +reader brushed a lank black lock from his sallow brow, and with a tone +of sepulchral earnestness began: + + "'No more wine? then we'll push back chairs, and talk.'" + +For something over an hour, the monotonous voice of the reader went +dully on. Fenton drew out his tablets and amused himself and Miss +Dimmont by drawing caricatures of the company, ending with a sketch of +a handsome old dowager, who went so soundly to sleep that her jaw fell. +Over this his companion laughed so heartily that Mrs. Staggchase leaned +forward smilingly, and took his tablets away from him; whereat he +produced an envelope from his pocket and was about to begin another +sketch, when suddenly, and apparently somewhat to the surprise of the +reader, the poem came to an end. + +There was a joyful stir. The dowager awoke, and there was a perfunctory +clapping of hands when Mr. Fenwick laid down his volume, and people +were assured that there was no mistake about his being really quite +through. A few murmurs of admiration were heard, and then there was an +awful pause, while the president, as usual, waited in the never- +fulfilled hope that the discussion would start itself without help on +his part. + +"How cleverly you do sketch," Miss Dimmont said, under her breath; "but +it was horrid of you to make me laugh." + +"You are grateful," Fenton returned, in the same tone. "You know I kept +you from being bored to death." + +"I have a cousin, Miss Wainwright," pursued Miss Dimmont, "whose +picture we want you to paint." + +"If she is as good a subject as _her_ cousin," Fenton answered, "I +shall be delighted to do it." + +The president had, meantime, got somewhat ponderously upon his feet, +half a century of good living not having tended to increase his natural +agility, and remarked that the company were, he was sure, extremely +grateful to Mr. Fenwick, for his very intelligent interpretation of the +poem read. + +"Did he interpret it?" Fenton whispered to Mrs. Staggchase. "Why wasn't +I told?" "Hush!" she answered, "I will never let you sit by me again if +you do not behave better." + +"Sitting isn't my _metier_, you know," he retorted. + +The president went on to say that the lines of thought opened by the +poem were so various and so wide that they could scarcely hope to +explore them all in one evening, but that he was sure there must be +many who had thoughts or questions they wished to express, and to start +the discussion he would call upon a gentleman whom he had observed +taking notes during the reading, Mr. Fenton. + +"The old scaramouch!" Fenton muttered, under his breath. "I'll paint +his portrait and send it to _Punch_." + +Then with perfect coolness he got upon his feet and looked about the +parlor. + +"I am so seldom able to come to these meetings," he said, "that I am +not at all familiar with your methods, and I certainly had no idea of +saying anything; I was merely jotting down a few things to think over +at home, and not making notes for a speech, as you would see if you +examined the paper." + +At this point Miss Dimmont gave a cough which had a sound strangely +like a laugh strangled at its birth. + +"The poem is one so subtile," Fenton continued, unmoved; "it is so +clever in its knowledge of human nature, that I always have to take a +certain time after reading it to get myself out of the mood of merely +admiring its technique, before I can think of it critically at all. Of +course the bit about 'an artist whose religion is his art' touches me +keenly, for I have long held to the heresy that art is the highest +thing in the world, and, as a matter of fact, the only thing one can +depend upon. The clever sophistry of Bishop Blougram shows well enough +how one can juggle with theology; and, after all, theology is chiefly +some one man's insistence that everybody else shall make the same +mistakes that he does." + +Fenton felt that he was not taking the right direction in his talk, and +that in his anxiety to extricate himself from a slight awkwardness he +was rapidly getting himself into a worse one. It was one of those odd +whimsicalities which always came as a surprise when committed by a man +who usually displayed so much mental dexterity, that now, instead of +endeavoring to get upon the right track, he simply broke off abruptly +and sat down. + +His words had, however, the effect of calling out instantly a protest +from the Rev. De Lancy Candish. Mr. Candish was the rector of the +Church of the Nativity, the exceedingly ritualistic organization with +which Mrs. Fenton was connected. He was a tall and bony young man, with +abundant auburn hair and freckles, the most ungainly feet and hands, +and eyes of eager enthusiasm, which showed how the result of New +England Puritanism had been to implant in his soul the true martyr +spirit. Fenton was never weary of jeering at Mr. Candish's uncouthness, +his jests serving as an outlet, not only for the irritation physical +ugliness always begot in him, but for his feeling of opposition to his +wife's orthodoxy, in which he regarded the clergyman as upholding her. +The rector's self-sacrificing devotion to truth, moreover, awakened in +the artist a certain inner discomfort. To the keenly sensitive mind +there is no rebuke more galling than the unconscious reproof of a +character which holds steadfastly to ideals which it has basely +forsaken. Arthur said to himself that he hated Candish for his ungainly +person. "He is so out of drawing," he once told his wife, "that I +always have a strong inclination to rub him out and make him over +again." In that inmost chamber of his consciousness where he allowed +himself the luxury of absolute frankness, however, the artist confessed +that his animosity to the young rector had other causes. + +As Fenton sank into his seat, Mrs. Staggchase leaned over to quote from +the poem,-- + + "'For Blougram, he believed, say, half he spoke.'" + +The artist turned upon her a glance of comprehension and amusement, but +before he could reply, the rough, rather loud voice of Mr. Candish +arrested his attention. + +"If the poem teaches anything," Mr. Candish said, speaking according to +his custom, somewhat too warmly, "it seems to me it is the sophistry of +the sort of talk which puts art above religion. The thing that offends +an honest man in Bishop Blougram is the fact that he looks at religion +as if it were an art, and not a vital and eternal necessity,--a living +truth that cannot be trifled with." + +"Ah," Fenton's smooth and beautiful voice rejoined, "that is to +confound art with the artificial, which is an obvious error. Art is a +passion, an utter devotion to an ideal, an absolute lifting of man out +of himself into that essential truth which is the only lasting bond by +which mankind is united." + +Fenton's coolness always had a confusing and irritating effect upon Mr. +Candish, who was too thoroughly honest and earnest to quibble, and far +from possessing the dexterity needed to fence with the artist. He began +confusedly to speak, but with the first word became aware that Mrs. +Fenton had come to the rescue. Edith never saw a contest between her +husband and the clergyman without interfering if she could, and now she +instinctively spoke, without stopping to consider where she was. + +"It is precisely for that reason," she said, "that art seems to me to +fall below religion. Art can make man contented with life only by +keeping his attention fixed upon an ideal, while religion reconciles us +to life as it really is." + +A murmur of assent showed Arthur how much against the feeling of those +around him were the views he was advancing. + +"Oh, well," he said, in a droll _sotto voce_, "if it is coming down to +a family difference we will continue it in private." + +And he abandoned the discussion. + +"It seems to me," pursued Mr. Candish, only half conscious that Mrs. +Fenton had come to his aid, "that Bishop Blougram represents the most +dangerous spirit of the age. His paltering with truth is a form of +casuistry of which we see altogether too much nowadays." + +"Do you think," asked a timid feminine voice, "that Blougram was +_quite_ serious? That he really meant all he said, I mean?" + +The president looked at the speaker with despair in his glance; but she +was adorably pretty and of excellent social position, so that snubbing +was not to be thought of. Moreover, he was thoroughly well trained in +keeping his temper under the severest provocation, so he expressed his +feelings merely by a deprecatory smile. + +"We have the poet's authority," he responded, in a softly patient +voice, "for saying that he believed only half." + +There was a little rustle of leaves, as if people were looking over +their books, in order to find the passage to which he alluded. Then a +young girl in the front row of chairs, a pretty creature, just on the +edge of womanhood, looked up earnestly, her finger at a line on the +page before her. + +"I can't make out what this means," she announced, knitting her girlish +brow,-- + + "'Here, we've got callous to the Virgin's winks + That used to puzzle people wholesomely.'" + +"Of course he can't mean that the Madonna winks; that would be too +irreverent." + +There were little murmurs of satisfaction that the question had been +asked, confusing explanations which evidently puzzled some who had not +thought of being confused before; and then another girl, ignoring the +fact that the first difficulty had not been disposed of, propounded +another. + +"Isn't the phrase rather bold," she asked, "where he speaks of 'blessed +evil?'" + +"Where is that?" some one asked. + +"On page 106, in my edition," was the reply; and a couple of moments +were given to finding the place in the various books. + +"Oh, I see the line," said an old lady, at last. "It's one--two--three-- +five lines from the bottom of the page:" + + "'And that's what all the blessed evil's for.'" + +"You don't think," queried the first speaker, appealing personally to +the president, "that Mr. Browning can really have meant that evil is +blessed, do you?" + +The president regarded her with an affectionate and fatherly smile. + +"I think," he said, with an air of settling everything, "that the +explanation of his meaning is to be found in the line which follows,-- + + "'It's use in Time is to environ us.'" + +"Heavens!" whispered Fenton to Mrs. Staggchase; "fancy that incarnate +respectability environed by 'blessed evil!'" + +"For my part," she returned, in the same tone, "I feel as if I were +visiting a lunatic asylum." "Yes, that line does make it beautifully +clear," observed the voice of Miss Catherine Penwick; "and I think +that's so beautiful about the exposed brain, and lidless eyes, and +disemprisoned heart. The image is so exquisite when he speaks of their +withering up at once." + +Fenton made a droll grimace for the benefit of his neighbor, and then +observed with great apparent seriousness,-- + +"The poem is most remarkable for the intimate knowledge it shows of +human nature. Take a line like:" + + 'Men have outgrown the shame of being fools;' + +"We can see such striking instances of its truth all about us." + +"How can you?" exclaimed Elsie Dimmont, under her breath. + +Fenton had not been able wholly to keep out of his tone the mockery +which he intended, and several people looked at him askance. +Fortunately for him, a nice old gentleman who, being rather hard of +hearing, had not caught what was said, now broke in with the inevitable +question, which, sooner or later, was sure to come into every +discussion of the club: + +"Isn't this poem to be most satisfactorily understood when it is +regarded as an allegory?" + +The members, however, did not take kindly to this suggestion in the +present instance. The question passed unnoticed, while a severe-faced +woman inquired, with an air of vast superiority,-- + +"I have understood that Bishop Blougram is intended as a portrait of +Cardinal Wiseman; can any one tell me if Gigadibs is also a portrait?" + +"Oh, Lord!" muttered Fenton, half audibly. "I can't stand any more of +this." + +And at that moment a servant came to tell him that his carriage was +waiting. + + + + +IV + + NOW HE IS FOR THE NUMBERS. + Romeo and Juliet; ii.----4. + +When Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were in the carriage, driving from Mrs. Gore's +to Mrs. Frostwinch's, Arthur broke into a pleasant little laugh, as if +a sudden thought had amused him. + +"Why in the world, Edith," he asked, "couldn't you let that moon-calf +Candish fight his own battle to-night? He would have tied himself all +up in two moments, with a little judicious help I should have been glad +to give him." + +"I knew it," was her answer, "and that is precisely why I wanted to +stop things. What possible amusement it can be to you to get the better +of a man who is so little a match for you in argument, I don't +understand." + +"I never begin," Fenton responded. "Of course if he starts it I have to +defend myself." + +The stopping of the carriage prevented further discussion, and the pair +were soon involved in the crowd of people struggling toward the hostess +across Mrs. Denton Frostwinch's handsome drawing-room. Mrs. Frostwinch +belonged, beyond the possibility of any cavilling doubt, to the most +exclusive circle of fashionable Boston society. Boston society is a +complex and enigmatical thing, full of anomalies, bounded by wavering +and uncertain lines, governed by no fixed standards, whether of wealth, +birth, or culture, but at times apparently leaning a little toward each +of these three great factors of American social standing. + +It is seldom wise to be sure that at any given Boston house whatever, +one will not find a more or less strong dash of democratic flavor in +general company, and there are those who discover in this fact +evidences of an agreeable and lofty republicanism. At Mrs. Frostwinch's +one was less likely than in most houses to encounter socially doubtful +characters, a fact which Arthur Fenton, who was secretly flattered to +be invited here, had once remarked to his wife was an explanation of +the dulness of these entertainments. + +For Mrs. Frostwinch's parties were apt to be anything but lively. One +was morally elevated by being able to look on the comely and high-bred +face of Mrs. Bodewin Ranger, but that fine old lady had a sort of +religious scruple against saying anything in particular in company, a +relic of the days of her girlhood, when cleverness was not the fashion +in her sex and when she had been obliged to suppress herself lest she +outshine the high-minded and courtly but dreadfully dull gentleman she +married. + +One had here the pleasure of shaking one of the white fingers of Mr. +Plant, the most exquisite _gourmet_ in Boston, whose only daughter had +made herself ridiculous by a romantic marriage with a country farmer. +The Stewart Hubbards, who were the finest and fiercest aristocrats in +town, and whose ancestors had been possessed not only of influence but +of wealth ever since early colonial days, were old and dear friends of +Mrs. Frostwinch and always decorated her parlors on gala nights with +their benign presence. Mr. Peter Calvin, the leader of art fashions, +high priest of Boston conservatism, and author of numerous laboriously +worthless books, seldom failed to diffuse the aroma of his patronizing +personality through the handsome parlors of this hospitable mansion +when there was any reasonable chance of his securing an audience to +admire him; and in general terms the company was what the newspapers +call select and distinguished. + +For Mrs. Frostwinch was entitled to a leading place in society upon +whichever of the three great principles it was based. She was descended +from one of the best of American families, while her good-tempered if +somewhat shadowy husband was of lineage quite as unexceptional as her +own. She was possessed of abundant wealth, while in cleverness and +culture she was the peer of any of the brilliant people who frequented +her house. She was moderately pretty, dressed beautifully, was sweet +tempered, and possessed all good gifts and graces except repose and +simplicity. She perhaps worked too hard to keep abreast of the times in +too many currents, and her mental weariness instead of showing itself +by an irritable temper found a less disagreeable outlet in a certain +nervous manner apt to seem artificial to those who did not know her +well. She was a clever, even a brilliant woman, who assembled clever +and brilliant people about her, although as has been intimated, the +result was by no means what might have been expected from such material +and such opportunities. The truth is that there seems to be a fatal +connection between exclusiveness and dulness. The people who assembled +in Mrs. Frostwinch's handsome parlors usually seemed to be +unconsciously laboring under the burden of their own respectability. +They apparently felt that they had fulfilled their whole duty by simply +being there; and while the list of people present at one of Mrs. +Frostwinch's evenings made those who were not there sigh with envy at +thought of the delights they had missed, the reality was far from being +as charming as their fancy. + +"I wish somebody would bring Amanda Welsh Sampson here," murmured +Arthur in his wife's ear, as the Fentons made their way toward their +hostess. "It would be too delicious to see how she'd stir things up, +and how shocked the old tabby dowagers would be." + +But there were some social topics which were too serious to Edith to be +jested upon. + +"Mrs. Sampson!" she returned, with an expression of being really +shocked. "That dreadful creature!" + +The rooms were well filled; the clatter of innumerable tongues speaking +English with that resonant dryness which reminds one of nothing else so +much as of the clack of a negro minstrel's clappers indefinitely +reduplicated, rang in the ears with confusing steadiness. An hour was +spent in fragmentary conversations, which somehow were always +interrupted at the instant the interesting point was reached. The men +bestirred themselves with more or less alacrity, making their way about +the room with a conscientious determination to speak to everybody whom +duty called upon them to address, or more selfishly devoting themselves +to finding out and chatting with the pretty girls. Fenton found time +for the latter method while being far too politic to neglect the +former. He was chatting in a corner with Ethel Mott, when Fred Rangely, +whose successful novel had made him vastly the fashion that winter, +joined them. + +"When wit and beauty get into a corner together," was Rangely's +salutation, "there is sure to be mischief brewing." + +"It isn't at all kind," Miss Mott retorted, "for you to emphasize the +fact that Mr. Fenton has all the wit and I not any." + +"It is as kind," Fenton said, "as his touching upon the plainness of my +personal appearance." + +"Your mutual modesty in appropriating wit and beauty," Rangely +returned, "goes well toward balancing the account." + +"One has to be modest when you appear, Mr. Rangely," Miss Mott +declared, saucily, "simply to keep up the average." + +"Come," Fenton said, "this will serve as an excellent beginning for a +quarrel. I will leave you to carry it on by yourselves. I have got too +old for that sort of amusement." + +Rangely looked after the artist as the latter took himself off to join +Mrs. Staggchase, who was holding court not far away. + +"You may follow if you want to," Ethel said, intercepting the glance. + +Rangely laughed, a trifle uneasily. + +"I don't want to," he replied, "if you will be good natured." + +"Good natured? I like that! I am always good natured. You had better go +than to stay and abuse me. But then, as you have been at Mrs. +Staggchase's all the afternoon, you ought to be pretty well talked +out." + +The young man turned toward her with an air of mingled surprise and +impatience. + +"Who said I had been there?" he demanded. + +"It was in the evening papers," she returned, teasingly. "All your +movements are chronicled now you have become a great man." + +"Humph! I am glad you were interested in my whereabouts." + +"But I wasn't in the least." + +"Are you sparring as usual, Miss Mott?" asked Mr. Stewart Hubbard, +joining them. "Good evening, Mr. Rangely." + +"Oh, Mr. Hubbard," Miss Mott said, ignoring the question, "I want to +know who is to make the statue of _America_. It is going to stand +opposite our house, so that it will be the first thing I shall see when +I look out of the window in the morning, and naturally I am +interested." + +"Mr. Herman is making a study, and Mr. Irons has been put up to asking +this new woman for a model. What is her name? The one whose _Galatea_ +made a stir last year." + +"Mrs. Greyson," Rangely answered. "I used to know her before she went +to Rome." + +"Is she clever?" demanded Miss Mott, with a sort of girlish +imperiousness which became her very well. "I can't have a statue put up +unless it is very good indeed." + +"She might take Miss Mott as a model," Mr. Hubbard suggested, smiling. + +"For America? Oh, I am too little, and altogether too civilized. I'd do +better for a model of Monaco, thank you." + +"There is always a good deal of chance about you," Rangely said in her +ear, as Mr. Staggchase spoke to Mr. Hubbard and drew his attention +away. + +Mr. Staggchase was a thin, wintry man, looking, as Fenton once said, +like the typical Yankee spoiled by civilization. He had always in a +scene of this sort the air of being somewhat out of place, but of +having brought his business with him, so that he was neither idle nor +bored. It was upon business that he now spoke to Hubbard. + +"Did you see Lincoln to-day?" he asked. "He has got an ultimatum from +those parties. They will sell all their rights for $70,000." + +"For $70,000," repeated Mr. Hubbard, thoughtfully. "We can afford to +give that if we are sure about the road; but I don't know that we are. +If Irons gets hold of any hint of what we are doing he can upset the +whole thing." + +"But he won't. There is no fear of that." + +A movement in the crowd brought Edith Fenton at this moment to the side +of Mr. Hubbard. She was radiant to-night in her primrose gown, and the +gentleman, with whom she was always a favorite, turned toward her with +evident pleasure. + +"Isn't it a jam," she said. "I have ceased to have any control over my +movements." + +"That is unkind, when I fancied you allowed yourself to give me the +pleasure of seeing you," returned he with elaborate courtesy. "Let me +take you in to the supper-room." + +"Thank you," Edith replied, taking his arm. "I do not object to an ice, +and I want to ask a favor. Haven't you some copying you can give a +_protegee_ of mine? She's a lovely girl, and she really writes very +nicely. I assure you she needs the work, or I wouldn't bother you." + +They made their way into the hall before he answered. Then he asked, +with some seriousness,-- + +"Are you sure she is absolutely to be trusted?" + +"Trusted? Why, of course. I'd trust her as absolutely as I would +myself." + +"I asked because I do happen to have some copying I want done; but it +is of the most serious importance that it be kept secret. It is the +prospectus of a big business scheme, and if a hint of it got on the air +it would all be ruined." + +Edith looked up into his face and smiled. + +"Her name," she said, "is Melissa Blake, and you will find her--Or, +wait; what time shall I send her to your office to-morrow?" + +Her companion smiled in turn. They had reached the door of the supper- +room, where the clatter of dishes, the popping of champagne corks, and +the rattle of silver were added to the babble of conversation which +filled the whole house. About the tables was going on a struggle which, +however well-bred, was at least sufficiently vigorous. + +"You take a good deal for granted," he said. "However, it will do no +harm for me to see the young woman. She may come at eleven. What shall +I bring you?" + + + + +V + + 'TWAS WONDROUS PITIFUL. + Othello; i.--3. + +"Dear John, I will give it up any day you say, and go back to +Feltonville and live on the farm; but you know"-- + +Melissa Blake broke off and left her chair to take a seat on the corner +of that on which her betrothed, John Stanton, was sitting, a proceeding +which made it necessary for him to put his arm about her trig waist to +support her. + +"Don't think I don't understand, dear," she said, nestling up to him, +"how hard it is, and what a long drag it has been, but we should +neither of us ever feel quite satisfied to give it up. We can hold on, +can't we, as long as we are together." + +He kissed her fondly, but with a certain air of distraction which +showed how full was his mind of the matter which troubled him. Two +years before, he had come to Boston, and obtained work as a carpenter, +determined to pay the debts left by his dead father, before he would +marry and settle down on the small farm which belonged to his +betrothed, and which, while it might be made to yield a living, could +by no means be looked to for more. For the sake of being near him, +Melissa had given up the school teaching of which she was fond, and +come to the city also, and although she had found the difficulty of +earning the means of support far greater than she had anticipated, she +had still clung to the fortunes of her lover, to whom her steadfastness +and unfailing cheer were of a value such as men realize only when it is +lost. + +"I got a letter to-day," John went on, while Melissa stroked his +fingers fondly, "about the meadows. The time for redeeming them is up +this month, and if I try to do it I can't pay anything on the debts +this winter. The truth is "-- + +Melissa sat up suddenly. + +"John!" she exclaimed. + +"Why, what--what is the matter?" + +She looked at him with wide open eyes, drawing in her under lip beneath +her white teeth, with the air of profound meditation. Then she freed +herself abruptly from his arms and went hastily to the table upon which +were her writing materials. She had been at work copying when her lover +came in, and her papers lay still open, with ink scarcely dry, where +she had stopped to welcome him. She took one sheet up and studied it +eagerly, and then turned toward him with shining eyes, her whole face +aglow. + +"Oh, John!" she exclaimed. + +He regarded her in puzzled silence. Then in an instant the glad light +faded from her eyes, and her lips lost their smile. An expression of +pain and almost of terror replaced the look of joy. There had suddenly +come to Melissa a sense of what she was doing. In the paper she held +was written the plan of the formation of a syndicate to purchase the +very range of meadows along the river in Feltonville of which those +mentioned by John formed a part. At Mrs. Fenton's direction, Melissa +had gone to see Mr. Hubbard, and had by him been employed to copy these +papers for use at a meeting of the proposed stockholders, which was to +take place in a few days. + +"Mrs. Fenton tells me," he had said, "that you are to be trusted. It is +absolutely essential that you do not mention these plans to any living +being. Perfect secrecy is expected from you, and it is only because +Mrs. Fenton is your guarantee that I run the risk of putting them into +your hands." + +"I think you can trust me," she had answered; "even if," she had added, +with the ghost of a smile, "there were anybody that I know who would be +at all likely to be interested." + +And now the temptation had come to her in a way of which she had never +dreamed. She had gone on with her copying, smiling to herself at the +coincidence which put into the hands of a Feltonville girl this plan +for the metamorphosis of the sleepy old village into a bustling +manufacturing town, but she had not considered that this scheme might +have important bearing upon the fortunes of her lover. She knew that +Stanton's father had owned meadows along the river where the new +factories were to lie, and she knew also that when old Mr. Stanton died +these had been sold with a condition of redemption, but until this +moment she had not connected the facts. She did not understand +business, and had been puzzling her brain as she wrote, to understand +what was meant by the statement that a certain company would sell a +"six months' option at seventy thousand dollars" on a water-power for +two thousand dollars. She did understand now, however, that were John +in possession of the secret of the syndicate's plans, he could redeem +his father's meadows with the money he had saved toward the payment of +the debts which had forced the old man into the bankruptcy that broke +his heart, and once he owned these lands lying in the midst of the +desirable tract, John could command his own price for them. She held in +her hand the secret which would free her lover from the heavy burden of +years, and bring quickly the wedding-day for which they had both waited +and longed so patiently. + +The blood bounded so hotly in Melissa's veins as she realized all this, +that she could scarcely breathe; but like a lightning flash a thought +followed which sent the tide surging back to her heart, and left her +cold and faint. She remembered that this knowledge was a trust. That +she had given her word not to betray it. With instant recoil, she +leaped to the thought that advising her lover to redeem these meadows +was not betraying the secret. Like a swift shuttle flew her mind +between argument and defence, between temptation and resistance, +between love and duty. + +"Why, what is it, Milly?" John demanded, starting up and coming to her. +"What in the world makes you act so funny? Are you sick? Why don't you +speak?" + +It is not easy to express the force of the struggle which went on in +poor Milly's mind. It seemed to her at that moment as if all the hopes +of her life were set against her honesty. The material issues in any +conflict between principle and inclination are of less importance than +the desire which they represent. The few thousand dollars involved in +the redemption of the Stanton meadows was little when compared to the +magnificent scheme of which this would be a mere trifling accident, but +the sum represented all the desires of Milly Blake's life, while over +against it stood all her faith, her honesty, and her religion. + +For an instant she wavered, standing as if by some spell suddenly +arrested, with arms half extended. Then she flung down the paper and +threw herself upon her lover's breast with a burst of tears. + +"Why, Milly," he said, soothingly. "Milly, Milly." + +He was unused to feminine vagaries. His betrothed was of the outwardly +quiet order of women, and an outburst like this was incomprehensible to +him. He could only hold the weeping girl in his strong embrace, +soothing her in helpless masculine fashion, awkward, but exactly what +she needed. + +"There, John," she cried at last, giving him a tumultuous hug, and +looking up into his face through her tears, "I always told you you were +engaged to a fool, and this is a new proof of it." + +"But what in the world," Stanton asked, looking down into her eyes with +mingled fondness and bewilderment, "is it all about? What is the +matter?" + +"It is nothing but my foolishness," she answered, leading him back to +the chair from which he had risen. "I was going to show you something +in a paper I am copying, and just in time I remembered that I had +particularly promised not to show it to anybody." + +He regarded her curiously. + +"But why," he asked, with a certain deliberateness which somehow made +her uneasy, "did you want to show it to me." + +"Because--because--" + +She could not equivocate, and her innocent soul had had little training +in the arts of evasion. + +"Because what?" + +Stanton leaned back in his chair, holding her by the shoulders as she +sat upon his knee, and searching her face with his strong brown eyes. +Milly's glance drooped. + +"Don't ask me, John," she responded, putting her hand against his +cheek, wistfully. "Don't you see I couldn't tell you without letting +you know what is in the paper, and that is precisely the thing I +promised not to do." + +There are few men in whom a woman's open refusal to yield a point, no +matter how trifling, does not arouse a tyrannous masculine impulse to +compel obedience. Stanton had really no great curiosity about the +secret, whatever it might be, but he instinctively felt that it was +right to demand the telling because his betrothed refused to speak. His +face grew more grave. The hands upon Milly's shoulders unconsciously +tightened their hold. The girl intuitively felt that a struggle was +coming, although even yet the signs were hardly tangible. She grew a +little paler, putting her hand beneath her lover's bearded chin, and +holding his face up so that she could look straight into his fearless, +honest eyes. + +"Dear John," she said, wistfully, "you know I never have a secret of my +own that I keep from you in all the world." + +"But why," demanded he, "can it do any harm for you to give me some +reason why you ever thought of telling me this; and just at a time, +too, when we were talking of business." + +"Because," she answered, thoughtlessly, "it was about business." + +A new light came into Stanton's face. His lips subtly changed their +expression. + +"It must have been a chance to make some money," he said. + +She grew deadly pale, but she did not answer him. He searched her face +an instant, and then he lifted her in his strong arms, rising from the +chair, and seating her in his place. He took a step forward, and +stretched out his hand to take the paper she had thrown upon the table. +With a cry of terror she sprang up and caught his arm. + +"John!" she exclaimed. "Oh, for pity's sake, don't look at it." + +He turned and regarded her with a more unkind glance than she had ever +seen upon his face. + +"Will you tell me?" he asked. + +"I can't, I can't!" she answered, half sobbing. + +He looked at the paper, and then at his sweetheart. Then with a rough +motion he shook off her fingers from his arm, and without a word went +abruptly from the room. + +Milly looked toward the door which had closed after him as if she could +not believe that he had really gone; then she sank down to the floor, +and, leaning her head upon a chair, she sobbed as if her heart were +broken. + + + + +VI + + THE INLY TOUCH OF LOVE. + Two Gentlemen of Verona; ii.--7. + +Grant Herman looked across the breakfast table at his Italian wife +thoughtfully a moment, considering, as he often did, what was likely to +be the effect of something he was about to say. In six years of married +life he had not learned how to adapt himself to the narrower mind and +more personal views of his wife. He perhaps fell into the error, so +common to strong natures, of being unable to comprehend that by far the +larger part of the principles which influence broad minds do not for +narrow ones exist at all. He continually tried to discover what process +of reasoning led Ninitta to given results, but he was never able to +appreciate the fact that often it was by no chain of logic whatever +that certain conclusions had been arrived at. A mental habit of +catching up opinions at haphazard, of acting simply from emotions, +however transient, instead of from convictions, was wholly outside his +mental experience, and equally unrealized in his comprehension. + +He regarded Ninitta, whose foreign face and beautiful figure looked as +much out of place behind the coffee urn as would the faun of Praxiteles +at an afternoon reception, and a smothered sigh rose to his lips with +the thought how utterly he was at a loss to comprehend her. It happened +in the present case, as it often did, that his failure to understand +arose chiefly from the fact that there was nothing in particular to +understand, and, when he spoke, Ninitta received his remark quite +simply. + +"Mrs. Greyson is at home again," he said. + +"Mrs. Greyson," she echoed, her dark eyes lighting up with genuine +pleasure. "Oh, that is indeed good. Where is she? Have you seen her?" + +There shot through Herman's mind the reflection that since his wife +could not know that he married her out of love not for herself but for +Helen Greyson, it was absurd to have fancied that Ninitta would be +jealously displeased at Helen's return; and the inevitable twinge of +conscience at his wife's trusting ignorance followed. + +"I haven't seen her," he answered; "she only arrived yesterday. Mrs. +Fenton told me when I met her at the Paint and Clay Exhibition last +night." + +Ninitta folded her hands on the edge of the table, with a gesture of +childish pleasure. + +"I wonder what she will say to Nino," she said musingly, her voice +taking a new softness. + +A sudden spasm contracted the sculptor's throat. His whole being was +shaken by the return of the woman to whom all the passionate devotion +of his manhood was given, and he never heard that soft, maternal note +with which his wife spoke of his boy without emotion. + +"She may say that the young rascal ought to be out of his bed in time +for breakfast," he retorted with affected brusqueness. "He has all the +Italian laziness in him." + +He pushed back his chair as he spoke, and rose from the table. He +hesitated a moment, as if some sudden thought absorbed him, then he +went to his wife and kissed her forehead. + +"Good-by," he said. "I sha'n't come up for lunch. Don't coddle the boy +too much." + +"But when," his wife persisted, as he turned away, "shall I see Mrs. +Greyson? I want to show her the _bambino_." + +She always spoke in Italian to her husband and her child, and indeed +her English had never been of the most fluent. + +"The _bambino_" the father repeated, smiling. "He will be a _bambino_ +to you when he is as big as I am, I suppose. I do not know about Mrs. +Greyson, but I will find out, if I can." + +He left the room and went to the chamber where his swarthy boy of five +lay still luxuriously in his crib, although he was fully awake. Nino +gave a soft cry of joy at the sight of his father, and greeted him +rapturously. + +"Papa," he asked in Italian, "does the kitty know how much she hurts +when she scratches? she made a long place on my arm, and it hurt like +fire." + +"Do you know how much you hurt her to make her do it?" his father +returned, smiling fondly. + +"Oh, but she is so soft and so little, of course I don't hurt her," +Nino answered, with boyish logic. "Anyway, she ought not to hurt me. I +don't like to be hurt." + +The foolish, childish words came back to Herman's mind a couple of +hours later, as he waited in the boarding-house parlor for Helen +Greyson. He smiled with bitterness to think how perfectly they +represented his own state of mind. He said to himself that he was tired +of being hurt, and rose at the moment to take in both his hands the +hands of a beautiful woman, to his eyes no older and no less fair than +when he had said good-by to her on his wedding morning, six years +before. He tried to speak, but tears came instead of words; choked and +blinded, he turned away abruptly, struggling to regain his composure. + +The meeting after long years of those who have loved and been +separated, may, for the moment, carry them back to the time of their +parting so completely that all that lies between seems annihilated. The +old emotion reasserts itself so strongly, the past lives again so +vividly, that there seems to have been no break in feeling, and they +stand in relation to one another as if the parting were yet to come. +When they had been together a little, the time which lay between them +would once more become a reality; but at the first touch of their hands +those bitter days of loneliness ceased to exist, and they seemed to +stand together again, as when they were saying good-by six years +before. + +With her old time self-control, it was Helen who spoke first, and her +words recalled him from the past and its passion, to the present and +its duty. + +"Tell me how Ninitta is," she said, "and the boy. I do so want to see +that wonderful boy." + +The sculptor commanded his voice by a powerful effort. + +"They are both well," he answered. "The boy is a wonderful little +fellow, although perhaps I am not an unprejudiced judge. Ninitta is +crazy to show him to you. She has pretty nearly effaced herself since +he came, and only lives for his benefit." + +"She is a happy woman," Helen said, assuming that air of cheerfulness +which is one of the first accomplishments that women are forced by life +to learn. "I should know she would be devoted to her children." + +There were a few moments of silence. Both cast down their eyes, and +then each raised them to study whatever changes time might have made in +the years that lay between them. Helen's heart was beating painfully, +but she was determined not to lose her self-control. She knew of old +how completely she could rule the mood of her companion, and she felt +that upon her calmness depended his. She had been schooling herself for +this interview from the moment she began to consider whether she might +return to America, and she was therefore less unprepared than was +Herman for the trying situation in which she now found herself; yet it +required all her strength of mind and of will not to give way to the +tide of love and emotion which surged within her breast. + +Herman fixed his eyes resolutely on an ungainly group in pinkish clay +which represented an American commercial sculptor's idea of Romeo and +Juliet at the moment when the Nurse separates them with a message from +Lady Capulet. With artistic instinct he noted the stupidity of the +composition, the vulgarity of the lines, the cheap ugliness of the +group. In that singular abstraction which comes so frequently in +moments of high emotion, he let his glance wander to the pictures on +the wall, the enormities in embroidery which adorned the chair backs, +the garish hues of the rug lying before the open grate. Then it +occurred to him, with a vague sense of amusement, how great was the +incongruity between such a setting as this vulgar boarding-house +reception-room, and the woman before him. The idea brought to his mind +the contrast between the life to which Helen had come, and the life at +Rome, artistic, rich, and full of possibilities, which she had left. + +The thought of Rome recalled instantly the old days there, almost a +score of years ago, when he had first known Ninitta. So vivid were the +memories which awakened, that he seemed to see again the Roman studio, +the fat old aunt, voluble and sharp eyed, who always accompanied her +niece when the girl posed; and most clearly of all did his inner vision +perceive the fresh, silent maiden whose exquisite figure was at once +the admiration and the despair of all the young artists in Rome. He +remembered how Hoffmeir had discovered the girl drawing water from an +old broken fountain he had gone out to sketch; and the difficulties +that had to be overcome before she could be persuaded to pose. The +Capri maidens are brought up to be averse to posing, and Ninitta had +not long enough breathed the air of Rome to have overcome the +prejudices of her youth. He reflected, with a bitterness rendered vague +by a certain strange impersonality of his mood, how different would +have been his life had Hoffmeir been unable to overcome the girl's +scruples. He wondered whether the fat old aunt, and the greasy, good- +natured little priest with whom she had taken counsel, would have urged +Ninitta to take up the life of a model, could they have foreseen all +the results to which this course was to lead in the end. + +Then, with a sudden stinging consciousness, the thought came of all +that her decision had meant to his life. The old question whether he +had done right in marrying Ninitta forced itself upon him as if it were +some enemy springing up from ambush. He raised his eyes, and his glance +met that of Mrs. Greyson. + +"It is no use, Helen," he broke out, impulsively, "we must talk +frankly. It is idle to suppose that we can go on in an artificial +pretence that we have nothing to say." + +She put up her hand appealingly. + +"Only do not drive me away again," she pleaded. "Don't say things that +I have no right to hear!" + +A dark red stained Herman's cheek, and the tears came into his eyes. + +"No," he returned. "If any one is to be driven away it shall not be +you." + +"But why need we trouble the things that are past," she went on, with +wistful eagerness. "Why cannot we accept it all in silence, and be +friends." + +He looked at her with a passionate, penetrating glance. She felt a wild +and foolish longing to fling herself upon the floor and embrace his +feet; but the old Puritan training, the resistant fibre inherited from +sturdy ancestors, still did not fail her. + +"You have your wife," she hurried on, "your home, your boy. That is +enough. That"-- + +"That is not enough," he interrupted, with an emphasis, which seemed +stern. "Helen, I shall not talk love to you. I am another woman's +husband. I made a ghastly mistake when I married Ninitta, but it is +done. She loves me; she is happy, and I love"--his voice faltered into +a wonderful softness more eloquent than words,--"I love Nino." + +She would not let him go on. She sprang up and ran to him, taking his +hands in hers with a touch that made his blood rush tingling through +his veins. + +"Yes," she cried, "you love Nino! Think of that! Think most of all that +whatever you are, good or bad, you are for your son, for Nino! Come! +There is safety for us in that. We will go and talk with Nino between +us. Then we shall say nothing of which we can be ashamed or regret." + +There came to Herman a vision of his boy clasped in Helen's arms which +made him feel as if suffocating with the excess of his emotion. He rose +blindly, only half conscious of what he was doing; and without giving +time for objections Helen hastened to dress herself for the street, and +in a few moments they were walking together toward the sculptor's +house. + +To Herman's surprise, his wife was absent when he reached home. The +maid did not know where she had gone. She often went out in the morning +without saying where she was going, and of course the servant did not +ask. + +"That is odd," Herman said; "but she has probably gone shopping or +something of the sort. It is too bad, she had so set her heart on +showing you the _bambino_, as she calls him, herself." + +But it proved that Nino also was out, having been taken for a walk; and +so Helen, who returned home at once, saw neither of them. + + + + +VII + + THIS DEED UNSHAPES ME. + Measure for Measure; iv.--4. + +Ninitta had not gone shopping. She was posing for Arthur Fenton, at his +studio. Even the presence of her boy could not wholly make up to the +Italian for the loss of all the old interest and excitement of her life +as a model. The boy was with his nurse or at the kindergarten for long +hours during which Ninitta, who had few of the resources with which an +educated woman would have filled her time, mingled longings for her old +life with blissful gloatings over Nino's beauty and cleverness. Her +husband was always kind, but since his marriage delicacy of sentiment +had made him shrink from having his wife pose even for himself, while +naturally no thought of her doing so for another would have been +entertained for a moment. + +Ninitta had been so long in the life, to pose had been so large a part +of her very existence, that she hardly knew how to do without the old- +time flavor. Mrs. Fenton had perceived something of this without at all +appreciating the strength of the feeling of the sculptor's wife, and +she had at one time tried to interest Ninitta in what might perhaps be +called missionary work among the models of Boston, a class of whose +calling Edith held views which her husband was not wholly wrong in +calling absurdly narrow. She was met at once by the difficulty that it +was impossible to make Ninitta see that missionary work was needed +among the models, and the effort resulted in nothing except to convince +Mrs. Fenton that she could do little with the Italian. + +Just how Arthur Fenton had persuaded her to pose without her husband's +knowledge, Ninitta could not have told; and the artist himself would +have assured any investigator, even that speculative spirit which held +the place left vacant by the dismissal of his conscience, that he had +never deliberately tried to entice her. He had talked to her of the +picture he was painting for a national competitive exhibition, it is +true, and dwelt upon the difficulty of procuring a proper model; he had +met her on the street one day and taken her into his studio to see it; +he had regretted that it was impossible to ask her; and of a hundred +apparently blameless and trivial things, the result was that this +morning, while Helen and Herman were walking across the Common to find +her, Ninitta was lying amid a heap of gorgeous stuffs and cushions in +Fenton's studio, while he painted and talked after his fashion. + +It is as impossible to trace the beginnings of any chain of events as +it is to find the mystery of the growth of a seed. Whatever Arthur +Fenton's faults, he certainly believed himself to be one who could not +betray a friend. The ideal which he vaguely called honor, and which +served him as that ultimate ethical standard which in one shape or +another is necessary to every human being, forbade his taking advantage +of any one whose friendship he admitted. His instinct of self- +indulgence had, however, made him so expert a casuist that he was able +to silence all inner misgivings by arguing that the demands of art were +above all other laws. He reasoned that Ninitta's posing could do no +possible harm to Grant Herman, while the success of his _Fatima_ +depended upon it; and since art was his religion, he came at last to +feel as if he were nobly sacrificing his prejudices to his highest +convictions in violating for the sake of art his principle which +forbade his deceiving her husband. + +Least of all, in asking the Italian to pose, had Fenton been actuated +by any intention of tempting her to evil. He needed a model for the +_Fatima_ as he needed his canvas and brushes; and his satisfaction at +having induced Ninitta to serve his purpose was in kind much the same +as his pleasure that his brushes and canvas were exactly what he +wanted. + +But it is always difficult to tell to what an action may lead; and most +of all is it hard to foresee the consequences which will follow from +the violation of principle. Perhaps the air of secrecy with which +Ninitta found it necessary to invest her coming, had an intoxicating +effect upon the artist; perhaps it was simply that his persistent +egotism moved him to test his power. Men often feel the keenest +curiosity in regard to the extent of their ability to commit crimes +into which they have yet not the remotest intention of being betrayed; +and especially is this true in their relations to women. Men of a +certain vanity are always eager to discover how great an influence for +evil they could exercise over women, even when they have not the nerve +or the wickedness to exert it. A man must be morally great to be above +finding pleasure in the belief that he could be a Don Juan if he chose; +and moral grandeur was not for Arthur Fenton. + +From whatever cause, the fact was, that as he painted this morning and +reflected, with a complacency of which he was too keen an analyst not +to know he should have been ashamed, how he had secured the model he +desired despite her husband, the speculation came into his mind how far +he could push his influence over Ninitta. At first a mere impersonal +idea, the thought was instantly, by his habit of mental definiteness, +realized so clearly that his cheek flushed, partly, it is to be said to +his credit, with genuine shame. He looked at the beautiful model, and +turned away his eyes. Then, hardly conscious of what he was doing, he +laid down his palette, and took a step forward. + +At that instant the studio bell rang sharply. He started with so +terrible a sense of being discovered in a crime, that his jaw trembled +and his knees almost failed under him. + +Then instantly he recovered his self-possession, although his heart was +beating painfully, and looked up at the clock. + +"Heavens!" he exclaimed. "I had no idea how late it was! It is that +beastly Irons for his last sitting. I'd forgotten all about him." + +Ninitta rose from her position and hurried toward the screen behind +which she dressed. + +"Don't let him in," she said. "He knows me." + +The bell rang again, as they stood looking at each other. + +"I will try to send him off," Arthur said. "Dress as quickly as you +can." + +She retreated behind the screen while he went to the door and unlocked +it. Instantly Irons stepped inside. + +"You must excuse me," the artist said. "I'll be ready for you in +fifteen minutes. I have a model here, and got to painting so busily +that I forgot the time. Come back in a quarter of an hour." + +"Oh, I don't mind," Irons said, advancing into the studio. "I'll look +round until you are ready." + +"But I never admit sitters when I have a model," Fenton protested, +standing before him. "I shall have to ask you to go." + +The other stopped and looked at the artist with suspicion in his eyes. + +"What a fuss you make," he commented coarsely. "No intrigue, I +suppose?" + +A hot flush sprang into Fenton's face. He tried to assume a haughty +air, but the consciousness of being entrapped in a misdemeanor had not +left him. The need of getting Mrs. Herman out of the studio unseen +would have been awkward at any time; when to this was added the sense +of guilt and shame which was begotten of the base impulse to which he +had almost yielded, the situation became for him painfully +embarrassing. + +"I am not in the habit of carrying on intrigues with my models," he +replied, haughtily. "Or," he added, regaining self-possession, "of +discussing my affairs with others." + +Mr. Irons laughed in a significant way which made Arthur long to kill +him on the spot, and, stepping past Fenton, he walked further into the +studio. + +"Don't put on airs with me," he said. "Your looks give you away. You've +been up to some mischief." + +He paused an instant before the unfinished picture on the easel, then +when the artist coolly took the canvas and placed it with its face to +the wall, he turned with deliberate rudeness and craned his neck so +that he could look behind the screen. A leering smile came over his +coarse features. Without a word he went over to the most distant corner +of the studio, where he apparently became absorbed in studying a sketch +hanging on the wall. + +There was a dead silence of some moments. Fenton was literally +speechless with rage, yet, too, his quick wit was busy devising some +way of escape from the unpleasant predicament in which he found +himself. He did not speak, nor did Mr. Irons turn until Ninitta had +completed her toilet and slipped hastily out. As the door closed after +her, Irons wheeled about and confronted the indignant artist with a +smile of triumphant glee. + +"Sly dog!" he said. + +Fenton advanced a step toward his tormentor with his clenched hand half +raised as if he would strike. + +"What do you mean?" he demanded. "Do you call yourself a gentleman?" + +"Oh, come, now," the other responded, with an easy wave of the hand, +"no heroics, if you please. They won't go down with me. She's a +devilish fine woman, and I don't blame you." + +"I tell you," began Fenton, "you"-- + +"Oh, of course, of course. I know all that. But sit down while I say +something to you." + +As if under the constraining influence of a nightmare, Fenton obeyed +when Mr. Irons, having seated himself in an easy chair, waved him into +another with a commanding gesture. The artist felt himself to have lost +his place as the stronger of the two, of which he had hitherto been +proudly conscious, and he sat angrily gnawing his lip while his +tormentor regarded him with smiling malice. + +"Do you remember telling me one day," Irons asked, fixing his narrow +eyes on the other's disturbed face, "that you could make your sitters +tell you things?" + +Fenton stared at his questioner in angry silence, but did not answer. + +"Now, if," continued Irons; "I say if, you observe,--if Stewart Hubbard +should chance to tell you where the new syndicate mean to locate their +mills, it might be a mighty good thing for you." + +Still Fenton said nothing, but his regard became each moment more +wrathful. + +"Of course," the sitter continued, with an assumption of airy lightness +which grated on every nerve of the hearer, "you are not in a position +to turn such knowledge to advantage; but I am, and I am always inclined +to help a bright fellow like you when there is a good chance. So if you +should come to me and say that the mills are to be so and so, I'd do +all I could to make things pleasant for you. I happen to belong to a +syndicate myself that has bought a mill privilege at Wachusett, and it +is important to us to have the new railroad go our way, and we'd like +to know how far the other fellows' plans are dangerous to our +interests, don't you see." + +Still Fenton did not speak. He had grown very pale, and his lips were +set firmly together. His hands clasped the arms of his chair so +strongly that the blood had settled under the middle of the nails. Mr. +Irons looked at him with narrow, piercing eyes. He paused a moment and +then went on. + +"You are perfectly capable of keeping a secret," he said in a hard, +deliberate tone, "so I don't in the least mind telling you what we +should do. Your sitters always tell you things, you know; and you are +to be trusted. The case is here; our syndicate stand in with the +railroad corporation and ask the Railroad Commissioners for a +certificate of exigency, to authorize laying the new branch out through +Wachusett. Now we have information that Staggchase and Stewart Hubbard +and that set, are planning to spring a petition asking for special +legislation locating the road somewhere else. Of course, they'll have +to get it in under a suspension of the rules, but they can work that +easily enough. The Commissioners will have to hold on, then, until the +Legislature finishes with that petition." + +He paused again, with an air which convinced the artist that he was +going on with this elaborate explanation to cover his awkwardness. +Fenton did not speak, and his visitor continued,-- + +"The Commissioners might settle the matter now, but they won't, and +we've got to have the fight, I suppose; so, of course, you can see how +it is for our interest to know just what we are fighting." + +He rose as he spoke, and with an air of deliberation, buttoned his +overcoat, which he had not removed. + +"I don't think you feel like painting this morning," he observed, "and +I'll come in again. I'll leave you to think over what I have said." + +Fenton rose also, regarding him with fierce, level eyes. + +"And suppose," he said, "that I call you a damned scoundrel, and forbid +you ever to set foot in my studio again?" + +The other laughed, with the easy assurance of a bully who feels himself +secure. + +"Oh, you won't," he replied. "If you did,--well, I am on the committee +for the new statue, and have to see Herman now and then you know, and I +should, perhaps, ask him why his wife poses for you. Good morning." + +And with a chuckling laugh, he took himself out. + + + + +VIII + + A NECESSARY EVIL. + Julius Caesar; ii.--2. + +"Oh, I assure you that my temper has been such for a week that my +family have threatened to have me sent to a nervine asylum," Ethel Mott +observed to Fred Rangely, who was calling on her, ostensibly to inquire +after her health, some trifling indisposition having kept her housed +for a few days. "What with my cold and my vexation at losing things I +wanted to go to, I have been positively unendurable." + +"That's your way of looking at it," he responded; "but I hardly fancy +that anybody else found it out. But what has there been to lose, except +the Throgmorton ball?" + +"Well, first there was the concert Saturday night." + +"Do you care so much about the Symphonies, then? I thought you were the +one girl in Boston who doesn't pretend to care for music." + +"Oh, but we have lovely seats this year, and the nicest people all +about us, you know. Thayer Kent and his mother are directly behind us." + +"Where he can lean forward and talk to you," interrupted Rangely, +jealously. + +"Yes," she said, nodding with a gleam of mischievous laughter in her +dark eyes. "And I do have a nice time at the Symphonies. Besides, I +don't in the least object to the music, you know." + +Fred fixed his gaze on a large old-fashioned oil painting on the +opposite wall, a copy from some of the innumerable pastorals which have +been made in imitation of Nicholas Poussin. It was of no particular +value, but it was surrounded by a beautiful carved Venetian frame, and +was one of those things which confer an air of distinction upon a +Boston parlor, because they are plainly the art purchases of a bygone +generation. + +"But you have, of course, had no end of girls running in to see you," +he observed. + +"Yes; but, then, that didn't make up for the Throgmorton ball. You ask +what else there was to lose; I should think that was enough. Why, Janet +Graham says she never had such a lovely time in her life." + +"Is Miss Graham engaged to Fred Gore?" Rangely asked. + +Ethel's gesture of dissent showed how little she would have approved of +such a consummation. + +"No, indeed," she returned. "Fred Gore only wants Janet's money, +anyway; and she can't abide him, any more than I can." + +"Then, you have the correct horror of a marriage for money." + +"I think a girl is a fool to let a man marry her for her money. She'd +much better give him her fortune and keep herself back. Then she'd at +least save something. I don't approve of people's marrying for money +anyway; although, of course," she added, with a twinkle in her eye, "I +think it is wicked to marry without it." + +There shot through Rangely's mind the reflection that Thayer Kent had +not an over-abundance of this world's goods; and to this followed the +less pleasant thought that he was himself in the same predicament. + +"But Jack Gerrish hasn't anything," he said, aloud. + +"But Janet has enough, so she can marry anybody she wants to," was the +reply; "and Jack Gerrish is too perfectly lovely for anything." + +The visitor laughed, but he was evidently not at his ease. He was +always uncomfortably conscious that Ethel had not the slightest +possible scruple against laughing at him, and he was not a little +afraid of her well-known propensity to tease. Ethel regarded him with +secret amusement. A woman is seldom displeased at seeing a man +disconcerted by her presence, even when she pities him and would fain +put him at his ease. It is a tribute to her powers too genuine to be +disputed, and while she may labor to overcome the man's feeling, her +vanity cannot but be gratified that he has it. + +"Did you ever know anything like the way Elsie Dimmont is going on with +Dr. Wilson?" Ethel said, presently, by way of continuing the +conversation. "I can't see what she finds to like in him. He's as +coarse as Fred Gore, only, of course, he's cleverer, and he isn't +dissipated." + +"Wilson isn't a half bad fellow," Rangely replied, rather +patronizingly. "Though, of course, I can understand that you wouldn't +care for that kind of a man." + +"Am I so particular, then?" + +"Yes, I think you are." + +"Thank you for nothing." + +"Oh, I meant to be complimentary, I assure you. Isn't it a compliment +to be thought particular in your tastes?" + +"That depends upon how you are told. Your manner was not at all +calculated to flatter me. It said too plainly that you thought me +captious." + +"But I don't." + +"Of course you wouldn't own it," Ethel retorted, playing with a +tortoise-shell paper-cutter she had picked up from the table by which +she sat; "but your manner was not to be mistaken. It betrayed you in +spite of yourself." + +Rangely knew how foolish he was to be affected by light banter like +this, but for his life he could not have helped it. The fact that Ethel +knew how easily she could tease him lent a tantalizing sparkle to her +eyes. She smiled mockingly as he vainly tried to keep the flush from +rising in his cheeks. + +"You are singularly fond of teasing," he observed, in a manner he +endeavored to make cool and philosophical. + +"Now you are calling me singular as well as captious." + +"The girl who is singular," returned he, in an endeavor to turn the +talk by means of an epigram which only made matters worse for him, "the +girl who is singular runs great risk of never becoming plural." + +Ethel laughed merrily, her glee arising chiefly from a sense of the +chance he was giving her to work up one of those playful mock quarrels +which amused her and so thoroughly teased her admirer. + +"Upon my word, Mr. Rangely," she said, assuming an air of indignant +surprise, "is it your idea of making yourself agreeable to tell an +unfortunate girl that she is destined to be an old maid? I could stand +being one well enough, but to be told that I've got to be is by no +means pleasant." + +He knew she was playing with him, but he could not on that account meet +her on her own ground. He endeavored to protest. + +"You are trying to make me quarrel." + +"Make you quarrel?" she echoed. "I like that! Of course, though, to be +so full of faults that you can't help abusing me is one way of making +you quarrel." + +"How you do twist things around!" exclaimed he, beginning to be +thoroughly vexed. + +She pursed up her lips and regarded him with an expression more +aggravating than words could have been. She had been for several days +deprived of the pleasure of teasing anybody, and her delight in vexing +Rangely made his presence a temptation which she was seldom able to +resist. She was unrestrained by any regard for the young author which +should make her especially concerned how seriously she offended him; +and when she now changed the conversation abruptly, it was with a +forbearing air which was anything but soothing to his nerves. + +"Don't you think," she asked, "that Mr. Berry was absurd in the way he +acted about playing at Mrs. West's?" + +"No, I can't say that I do," the caller retorted savagely. "Mrs. West +gives out that she is going to give the neglected native musicians at +last a chance to be heard, and then she invites them to play their +compositions in her parlor. Westbrooke Berry isn't the man to be +patronized in any such way. Just think of her having the cheek to give +to a man whose work has been brought out in Berlin an invitation which +is equivalent to saying that he can't get a public hearing, but she'll +help him out by asking her guests to listen to him. Heavens! Mrs. West +is a perfectly incredible woman." + +Ethel smiled sweetly. In her secret heart she agreed with him; but it +did not suit her mood to show that she did so. + +"You seem bound to take the opposite view of everything to-day," she +said, in tones as sweet as her smile; "or perhaps it is only that my +temper has been ruined by my cold. I told you it had been bad." + +He rose abruptly. + +"If everything is to put us more at odds," he said, rather stiffly, +"the sooner I withdraw, the better. I am sorry I have fallen under your +displeasure; it is generally my ill luck to annoy you." + +And in a few moments he was going down the street in a frame of mind +not unusual to him after a call upon Miss Mott, from whose house he was +apt to come away so ruffled and irritated that nothing short of a +counteracting feminine influence could restore his self-complacency. + +This office of comforter usually fell to the lot of Mrs. Frederick +Staggchase. Indeed, his fondness for this lady was so marked as to give +rise to some question among his intimates whether he were not more +attached to her than to the avowed object of his affection. + +An hour after he had made his precipitate retreat from Ethel's, he +found himself sitting in the library at Mrs. Staggchase's, with his +hostess comfortably enthroned in a great chair of carved oak on the +opposite side of the fire. The conversation had somehow turned upon +marriage. There is always a certain fascination, a piquant if faint +sense of being upon the borderland of the forbidden, which makes such a +discussion attractive to a man and woman who are playing at making love +when marriage stands between them. + +"But, of course," Rangely had said, "two married people can't live at +peace when one of them is in love with somebody else." + +Mrs. Staggchase clasped with her slender hand the ball at the end of +the carved arm of the chair in which she was sitting, looking absently +at the rings which adorned her fingers. She possessed to perfection the +art of being serious, and the air with which she now spoke was +admirably calculated to imply a deep interest in the subject under +discussion. "I do not understand," she observed, thoughtfully, "why a +man and woman need quarrel because they happen to be married to each +other, when they had rather be married to somebody else. It wouldn't be +considered good business policy to pull against a partner because one +might do better with some other arrangement; and it does seem as if +people might be as sensible about their marriage relations as in their +business." + +Her companion glanced at her, and then quickly resumed his intent +regard of the fire beside which he sat. + +"But people are so unreasonable," he remarked. + +Mrs. Staggchase assented, with a characteristic bend of the head, and a +movement of her flexible neck. She looked up with a smile. + +"I think Fred and I are a model couple," she said. "Fred came into my +room this noon, just as I had finished my morning letters. 'Good- +morning,' he said, 'I hope you weren't frightened.'--'Frightened?' I +said, 'what at?'--'Do you mean to say you didn't know I was out all +night?'--'I hadn't an idea of it,' said I. He'd been playing cards at +the club all night, and had just come in. He says that the next time, +he shan't take the trouble to expose himself." + +Rangely laughed in a somewhat perfunctory way. + +"But if that is a model fashion of living, what becomes of the old +notions of kindred souls, and all that sort of thing?" he asked. "I +shouldn't want my wife"-- + +He paused, rather awkwardly, and Mrs. Staggchase took up the sentence +with a smile of amusement, in which there was no trace of annoyance. +She was too well aware how completely she was mistress of the +situation, in dealing with Rangely, to be either vexed or embarrassed +in talking with him. + +"To be as frank with another man as I am with you?" she finished for +him. "Oh, very likely not. You have all the masculine jealousy which is +aroused in an instant by the idea that a woman should be at liberty to +like more than one man. You are half a century behind us. Marriage as +you conceive it is the old-fashioned article, for the use of families +in narrow circumstances intellectually as well as pecuniarily. Love in +a cottage is necessary, because people under those conditions can't +live unless they are extravagantly devoted to each other. Marriage with +us is just what it ought to be, an arrangement of mutual convenience. +Fred and I suit each other perfectly, and are sufficiently fond of each +other; but there are sides of his nature to which I do not answer, and +of mine that he does not touch. He finds somebody who does; I find +somebody on my part. You, for instance." + +Rangely leaned back in his chair, and clasped his plump white fingers, +regarding Mrs. Staggchase with a smile of amusement and admiration. + +"You are so awfully clever," was his response, "that you could really +never be uncommonly fond of anybody. You'd analyze the whole business +too closely." + +She laughed slightly, and went on with what she was saying, without +heeding his interruption. + +"Fred and I make good backgrounds for each other, and, after all, that +is what is required. You answer to my need of companionship in another +direction, and since that side of my nature is unintelligible to my +husband, he is not defrauded, while I should be if I starved my desire +for such friendship, to please an idea like yours, that a wife should +find her all in her husband. Fortunately, Mr. Staggchase is a broader +man than you are." + +"Thank you," Rangely retorted, with a faint tinge of annoyance visible, +despite his air of jocularity. "Arthur Fenton says a broad man is one +who can appreciate his own wife. If Mr. Staggchase does that"-- + +"Come," interrupted Mrs. Staggchase, smiling with the air of one who +has had quite enough of the topic, "don't you think the subject is +getting to be unfortunately personal? I have a favor to ask of you." + +Rangely was too well aware of the uselessness of trying to direct the +conversation to make any attempt to continue the talk, which, moreover, +had taken a turn not at all to his liking. He settled himself in his +chair, in an attitude of easy attention. + +"I am always delighted to do you a favor," he said. "It isn't often I +get a chance." + +The relations between these two were not easy to understand, unless one +accepted the simplest possible theory of their friendship. It was, on +the part of Mrs. Staggchase, only one of a succession of platonic +intimacies with which her married life had been enriched. She found it +necessary to her enjoyment that some man should be her devoted admirer, +always quite outside the bounds of any possible love-making, albeit +often enough she permitted matters to go to the exciting verge of a +flirtation which might merit a name somewhat warmer than friendship. +She was a brilliant and clever woman who allowed herself the luxury of +gratifying her vanity by encouraging the ardent attentions of some man, +which, if they ever became too pressing, she knew how to check, or, if +necessary, to stop altogether. She was fond of talking, and she frankly +avowed her conviction that women were not worth talking to. She liked +an appreciative masculine listener with whom she could converse, now in +a strain of bewildering frankness, now in a purely impersonal and +intellectual vein, and who, however he might at times delude himself by +misconstruing her confidences into expressions of personal regard, was +clever enough to comprehend the little corrective hints by which, when +necessary, she chose to undeceive him. + +Analyzed to its last elements, her feeling, it must be confessed, was +pretty nearly pure selfishness; but she was able, without effort, and +by half-unconscious art, to throw over it the air of being +disinterested friendship. Such a nature is essentially false, but +chiefly in that it gives to a passing mood the appearance of a +permanent sentiment, and, while seeking only self-gratification, seems +actuated by genuine desire to give pleasure to another. + +The attitude of Rangely toward Mrs. Staggchase was, perhaps, no more +unselfish, and was certainly no more noble, but his sentiment was at +least more genuine. He was flattered by her preference, and he was +bewildered by her cleverness. He liked to believe himself capable of +interesting her, and without in the most remote degree desiring or +anticipating an intrigue, he was ready to go as far as she would allow +in his devotion. He was constantly tormented by a vague phantom of +conquest, which danced with will-o'-the-wisp fantasy before him, and +from day to day he endeavored to discover how deeply in love she was +willing he should fall. He was really fond of her, a fact that did not +prevent his entertaining a half-hearted passion for Ethel Mott, the +result of this mixture of emotion being that he was the slave, albeit +with a difference, of either lady with whom he chanced to be. That he +was the plaything of Mrs. Staggchase's fancy he was far from realizing, +although from the nature of things he naturally regarded his fondness +for Miss Mott as the permanent factor in the case. He even felt a +certain compunction for the regret he supposed Mrs. Staggchase would +feel when he should decide formally to transfer his allegiance to her +rival; a misgiving he might have spared himself had he been wise enough +to appreciate the situation in all its bearings. The lady understood +perfectly how matters stood, but Rangely was her junior, and, besides, +no man in such a case ever comprehends that he is being played with. + +"It is in regard to the statue of _America_ that I want you to be +useful," Mrs. Staggchase said, replying to her visitor's proffer of +service with a smile. "Do you know what the chances are in regard to +the choice of a sculptor?" + +"Why, I suppose Grant Herman will have the commission." + +"But I think not." + +"You think not? Who will then?" + +"That is just it. Mr. Hubbard has been backing Mr. Herman; and Mr. +Irons, who never will agree to anything that Mr. Hubbard wants, is +putting up the claims of this new woman, just to be contrary." + +"What new woman? Mrs. Greyson?" + +"Yes. Mrs. Frostwinch told me all about it yesterday. Now there is a +young man that we are interested in"-- + +"Who is 'we'?" interrupted Rangely. + +"Oh, Mrs. Frostwinch, and Mrs. Bodewin Ranger, and a number of us." + +"But whom have you got on the committee?" + +"Mr. Calvin; and don't you see that Mr. Calvin's name in a matter of +art is worth a dozen of the other two." + +"Yes," Rangely assented, rather doubtfully, "in the matter of giving +commissions it certainly is." + +Mrs. Staggchase smiled indulgently, playing with the ring in which +blazed a splendid ruby, and which she was putting on and off her +finger. + +"If you think," she said, "that you are going to entrap me into a +discussion of the merits of art and Philistinism, you are mistaken. I +told you long ago that I was a Philistine of the Philistines, +deliberately and avowedly. The true artistic soul which you delight to +call Pagan is only the servant of Philistinism, and I own that I prefer +to stand with the ruling party. As, indeed," she added, with a +mischievous gleam in her eye, "do many who will not confess it." + +Rangely flushed. The thrust too closely resembled reproaches which in +his more sensitive moments he received at the hand of his own inner +consciousness, so to speak, not to make him wince. He felt himself, +besides, becoming involved in a painful position. He had long been the +intimate friend of Grant Herman, and felt that the sculptor had a right +to expect whatever aid he could give him in a matter like this. + +"But who," he asked, "is your _protege?_" + +"His name," Mrs. Staggchase replied, "is Orin Stanton. He is a fellow +of the greatest talent, and he has worked his way"-- + +Rangely put up his hand in a gesture of impatience. + +"I know the fellow," he said. "He made a thing he called _Hop Scotch_, +of which Fenton said the title was far too modest, since he'd not only +scotched the subject but killed it." + +"One never knew Mr. Fenton to waste the chance of saying a good thing +simply for the sake of justice," Mrs. Staggchase observed, with +unabated good humor. "But you are to help us in the _Daily Observer_, +and there is to be no discussion about it. Since you know you are too +good-natured not to oblige me in the end, why should you not do it +gracefully and get the credit of being willing." + +And then, being a wise woman, she disregarded Rangely's muttered +remonstrance and turned the conversation into a new channel. + + + + +IX + + THIS IS NOT A BOON. + Othello; iii.--3. + +If the old-time opinion that a woman whose name is a jest with men has +lost her claims to respect, Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson might be supposed +to have little ground for the inner anger she felt at the scantness of +the courtesy with which she was treated by Mr. Irons. That gentleman +was calling upon her in her tiny suite of rooms at the top of one of +those apartment hotels which stand upon the debatable ground between +the select regions of Back Bay and the scorned precincts of the South +End, and he was apparently as much at home as if the sofa upon which he +lounged were in his own dwelling. + +The apartment of Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson gave to the experienced eye +evidences of a pathetic struggle to make scanty resources furnish at +least an appearance of luxury. The walls were adorned with amateur +china painting in the shape of dreadful placques and plates in livid +hues; there was abundance of embroidery that should have been +impossible, in garish tints and uneven stitches; much shift had been +made to produce an imposing appearance by means of cheap Japanese fans +and the inexpensive wares of which the potteries at Kioto, corrupted by +foreign influence, turn out such vast quantities for the foreign +market. Against the wall stood an upright piano--if a piano could be +called upright which habitually destroyed the peace of the entire +neighborhood--and over it was placed a scarf upon which apparently some +boarding-school miss had taken her first lesson in painting wild +flowers. + +The room was small, and so well filled with furniture that there seemed +little space for the long limbs of Alfred Irons, who, however, had +contrived to make himself comfortable by the aid of various cushions +covered with bright-colored sateens. He had lighted a cigar without +thinking it necessary to ask leave, and had even made himself more easy +by putting one leg across a low chair. + +Mrs. Sampson was fully aware that in her struggles with life she had +sometimes provoked laughter, often disapproval, and now and then given +rise to positive scandal, yet she was still accustomed to at least a +fair semblance of respect from the men who came to see her; women, it +is to be noted, being not often seen within her walls, since those who +were willing to come she did not care to receive, and those whom she +invited seldom set her name down on their calling lists. Among +themselves, at the clubs or elsewhere, the men speculated more or less +coarsely and unfeelingly upon the foundations of the numerous scandals +which had from time to time blossomed like brilliant and life-sapping +parasites upon the tree of Mrs. Sampson's reputation. Her name, either +spoken boldly or too broadly hinted at to be misunderstood, adorned +many a racy tale told in smoking-rooms after good dinners, or when the +hours had grown small in more senses than one; and her career was made +to point more than one moral drawn for the benefit of the sisters and +daughters of the men who joked and sneered concerning her. + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson was born of a good old Boston family, to +which she clung with a desperate clutch which her relatives ignored so +far as with dignity they were able. Her father had been a lawyer of +reputation, and his portrait was still displayed prominently in the +daughter's parlor, a circumstance which had given Chauncy Wilson +opportunity for a jest rather clever than elegant concerning Judge +Welsh's well-known fondness in life for watching the progress of +criminal cases. Of her husband, the late Mr. Sampson, there was very +little said, and not much was known beyond the fact that having run +away from school to marry him, Amanda had shared a shady and it was +whispered rather disreputable existence for three years, at the end of +which she was fortunately relieved from the matrimonial net by his +timely decease; an event of which she sometimes spoke to her more +intimate male friends with undisguised satisfaction. + +It might not have been easy to tell how far Mrs. Sampson's subsequent +career was forced upon her by circumstances, and how far it was the +result of her own choice. She always represented herself as the victim +of a hard fate: but her relatives, one of whom was Mr. Staggchase, +declared that Amanda had no capabilities of respectability in her +composition. Mrs. Staggchase, upon whom marriage had conferred the +privilege of expressing her mind with the freedom of one of the family, +while it happily spared her from the responsibility of an actual +relative, declared that everything had been done to keep Mrs. Sampson +within the bounds of propriety, but all in vain. The income from the +estate of the late Judge Welsh was not large, and as Mrs. Sampson's +tastes, especially in dress, were somewhat expensive, it followed that +she was often reduced to devices for increasing her bank account which +were generally adroit and curious, but often not of a character to be +openly boasted of. She had had some business transactions already with +Irons, who was at this moment laying out the plan of work in a fresh +operation where she might make herself useful. + +"Of course," he said, "all the men from Wachusett way are on our side, +and the men from the other part of the county will be against us." + +"What other part of the county?" Mrs. Sampson inquired. + +She had laid down her sewing and was listening intently, with a look of +keen intelligence, the tips of her long and rather large fingers +pressed closely together. She hated Irons devoutly, but his scheme +meant financial profit to her, and various bills were troublesomely +overdue. + +"That's what we have to discover. When we find out, I'll let you know. +The other syndicate have been deucedly close-mouthed about their plans, +but of course they can't keep dark a great while longer; and in any +case I am on the track of the information." + +"And what," Mrs. Sampson asked, with an air of innocence too obviously +artificial, "am I expected to do?" + +Irons glanced at her with a wink, taking in her plain, vivacious face +with its sparkling eyes, her fine figure, and stylish, if somewhat too +pronounced, presence. + +"The old game," he said. "Show a tender and sisterly interest in a few +of the country members. There are one or two men from the western part +of the state that we want to capture at once before the thing is +started. Do you know anybody in that region?" + +"My father, Judge Welsh," she answered with an amusing touch amid her +frankness of the air with which she always mentioned her ancestors in +society, "had numerous connections there." + +"Ah, that is good," the visitor responded, with evident satisfaction. + +He knocked the ashes from his cigar into a tiny bronze which Mrs. +Sampson had put within his reach when he showed signs of throwing them +upon the carpet, and then plunged into a discussion of the members of +the State Legislature with whom it was possible for Mrs. Sampson to +establish an acquaintance, and whom she was likely to be able to +influence. He drew from his pocket a list of men, and with quite as +business-like an air his hostess produced a similar document from her +desk; the pair being soon deep in consultation over the schedules. + +Lobbying in Massachusetts is not by the public recognized as a well- +organized business, and yet any one who desires to secure personal +influence to aid or to hinder legislation is seldom at a loss to find +people well experienced in such work. The lobby to the eyes of the +public, moreover, consists entirely of men, if one excepts the group of +foolish intriguers in favor of the vagaries of proposed law-making by +which it is supposed the distinctions of sex may be abolished. There +are in the city, however, women who by no means lack experience in +manipulating the votes of country members, and who are but too willing +to sell their services to whoever can make it to their pecuniary +interest to favor a bill. + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson was extremely adroit and careful in +concealing her connection with the law-making of the State. She was in +evidence in most public places; at the theatres, the concert halls, the +County Club races, and at every fashionable entertainment to which her +cleverness could procure her admission, her conspicuous figure, made +more prominent by a certain indefinable loudness of style, a marked +dash of manner, and gowns in a taste rather daring than refined, was +too conspicuous to be overlooked. Yet it is doubtful if she had ever +been up the steps leading to the gilded-domed capitol in her life. She +went about much; and the unchaperoned life which in virtue of her +widowhood and her love of freedom she chose to lead, the width of the +circle over which her acquaintance extended, allowed her to carry on +her work unobserved; so that while a great variety of stories of one +sort of queerness or another were told of Mrs. Sampson, this particular +side of her career was almost unknown. + +"There is Mr. Greenfield," Mrs. Sampson observed, tapping her teeth +with her pencil. "His wife was a cousin of my husband. I don't know +them at all, but I could easily ask him to come and see me. It would be +only proper to offer him the hospitality of the town, you know." + +"Good!" cried Mr. Irons, slapping his open palm down on his knee. +"Greenfield's the hardest nut we've got to crack in the whole business. +He's the sort of man you can't talk to on a square business basis. +You've got to mince things damned fine with him, and he's chairman of +the Railroad Committee, you know. He'd have a tremendous amount of +influence, anyway." + +"He's a little tin god at Fentonville, I've heard," Mrs. Sampson +responded, laughing in the mechanical way which was her habit. "When +he's at home they say the sun doesn't rise there till he's given his +permission." + +Irons in his excitement took his leg down from its supporting chair and +sat up straight, dropping his list of members to the floor and clasping +his knees with his heavy hands. + +"Now look here, old lady," he said, "here's a chance to show your +mettle. If you'll manage Greenfield, I'll run the rest of the hayseed +crowd, and I'll make it something handsomer than you ever had in your +life." + +The woman smiled a smile of greed and cunning. + +"I'll take care of him," she said. "And he shall never know he has been +taken care of either." + +Irons laughed with coarse jocoseness. + +"A man has very little chance that falls into your clutches," he +observed, "but in this particular case you've got a heavy contract on +hand. Greenfield's got his price, of course, like everybody else, but +I'm hanged if I know what it is. If you offered him tin he'd simply fly +out on the whole thing and nobody could hold him. There isn't any +particular pull in politics on him. This new-fashioned independence has +knocked all that to pieces; and Greenfield is an Independent from the +word go. I don't know what you're to bait your hook with, unless it's +your lovely self." + +Mrs. Sampson began a laugh, and then recovering herself, she frowned. + +"Don't be personal," she said. "I won't stand it." + +She began to feel that the circumstances were such as to make her +important to her caller's schemes, and her air by insensible degrees +became more assured and less subservient. She knew her man, and she was +prepared for his becoming proportionately more respectful. He dusted a +little heap of ashes from the small table beside him and scattered them +with his foot, in a well-meant attempt to cover the traces of his +previous untidiness. She watched him with a covert sneer. + +"Even so difficult a problem as that," she said, with a slight toss of +the head, a bit of antique coquetry which impressed him with a new +sense of her thorough self-possession, and imposed itself upon his +untrained mind as the air of a true woman of the world; "I fancy I can +solve. Leave him to me. I'll find out what can be done with him." + +"If he can be got hold of," Irons remarked, reflectively, "he will +carry the whole thing through. They'd believe him up at Feltonville if +he told them it was right to walk backward and vote to give their +incomes to the temperance cranks." + +He rose to go as he spoke, unconsciously assuming with the overcoat he +put on that air of stiffness and immaculate propriety which he wore +always in public. He seldom allowed himself the undignified freedom +which marked his intercourse with Mrs. Sampson, and he liked the rest +he found in being for a time his vulgar, ill-bred self with no +restraints of artificial manner. + +"Well, good afternoon," he said, extending his large hand, into which +she laid hers with a certain faint air of condescension. "I've got to +go to a meeting of the committee on the new statue. They've got a new +fellow they are trying to push in, a young unlicked cub that Peter +Calvin's running. I'll let you know anything that's for our advantage." + +When he was gone, Mrs. Sampson produced a brush and a dustpan from +behind the books on a whatnot and carefully collected the scattered +ashes of his cigar. + +"Vulgar old brute!" she muttered. "To think of my having to clean up +after him; his mother was my grandmother's laundress." + +Then she smiled contemptuously, and added by way of self-consolation,-- + +"But it will all count in the bill, Al Irons." + + + + +X + + THE BITTER PAST. + All's Well That Ends Well; v.--3. + +"Do you see much of Mrs. Herman?" Helen Greyson asked of Edith Fenton, +as they sat at luncheon together in the latter's pretty dining-room. + +"Why, no," was the somewhat hesitating answer. "I really see very +little of her. The fact is we have so little common ground to meet on. +--You know Arthur says I am dreadfully narrow, and I am sometimes +afraid he is right. I have tried to know her, but of course I couldn't +take her into society. She wouldn't enjoy it, and she wouldn't feel at +home, even if she'd go with me." + +Helen smiled with mingled amusement and wistfulness. + +"No," she responded. "I can't exactly fancy Ninitta in society. She'd +be quite out of her element. My master in Rome, Flammenti, had a way of +saying a thing was like the pope at a dancing-party, and I fancy +Ninitta at an afternoon tea would be hardly less out of place." + +"But she must be very lonely," Edith said, stirring her coffee +meditatively. "She used to have a few Italians come to see her; people +she met that time she ran away, you remember, and we brought her home, +but they don't come now." + +"Why not?" + +Edith smiled and raised her eyebrows. + +"A question of caste, I believe." + +"Of caste?" echoed Helen. "What do you mean?" + +"When her son was born," Edith responded, "she told them that the +_bambino_ was born a gentleman, and couldn't associate with them." + +Helen laughed lightly; then her face clouded, and she sighed. + +"Poor Ninitta!" she said. "There is something infinitely pitiful in her +devotion and faithfulness to her youthful love." + +Edith's face assumed an expression of mingled perplexity and disquiet. +With eyes downcast she seemed for a moment to be seeking a phrase in +which properly to express some thought which troubled her. Then she +looked up quickly. + +"I don't know that I ought to say it," she remarked, "but I can't help +feeling that Ninitta is not so fond of her husband as she used to be. +Of course I may be mistaken, but either I overestimated her devotion +before they were married, or she cares less for him now." + +An expression of pain contracted Helen's brow. + +"Isn't it possible," she suggested, "that her being more demonstrative +in her love for the boy makes her seem cold toward her husband?" + +"No," returned Edith, shaking her head, "it is more than that. I fancy +sometimes that she unconsciously expected to be somehow transformed +into his equal by marrying him; and that the disappointment of being no +more on a level with him when she became his wife than before, has made +her somehow give him up, as if she concluded that she could never +really belong to his life. Of course I don't mean," she added, "that +Ninitta would reason this out, and very likely I am all wrong, anyway, +but certainly something of this kind has happened." + +"Poor Ninitta," repeated Helen, "fate hasn't been kind to her." + +"But Mr. Herman?" Edith returned. "What do you say of him? I think his +case is far harder. What a mistake his marriage was. I cannot conceive +how he was ever betrayed into such a _mesalliance_. She cannot be a +companion to him; she does not understand him: she is only a child who +has to be borne with, and who tries his patience and his endurance." + +Edith had forgotten her husband's suggestion that her companion was +responsible for Grant Herman's marriage; but Helen, who for six years +had been questioning with herself whether she had done well in urging +the sculptor to marry his model, heard this outburst with beating heart +and flushing cheek. Had Helen allowed Herman to break his early pledge +to Ninitta, and marry his later love, it is probable that all her life +would have been shadowed by a consciousness of guilt. The conscience +bequeathed to her, as Fenton rightly said, by Puritan ancestors, would +ever have reproached her with having come to happiness over the ruins +of another woman's heart and hopes. Having in the supreme hour of +temptation, however, overcome herself and given him up, it was not +perhaps strange that Helen unconsciously fell somewhat into the +attitude of assuming that this sacrifice gave her not only the right to +sit in judgment upon Ninitta, but also that of having done somewhat +more than might justly have been demanded of her. She had often found +herself wondering whether she had been wise; whether her devotion to an +ideal had not been overstrained; and if she ought not to have +considered rather the happiness of the man she loved than devotion to +an abstract principle. + +It was also undoubtedly true, although Helen had not herself reflected +upon this phase of the matter, that her half a dozen years' residence +in Europe had softened and broadened her views. In the present age of +the world there is no method possible by which one can resist the whole +tendency of modern thought and prevent himself from moving forward with +it, unless it be active and violent controversy. No man can be a +fanatic without opposition, either real or vividly fancied, upon which +to stay his resolution, and it is equally difficult to maintain a stand +at any given point of faith unless one has steadily to fight with vigor +for the right to possess it. + +It is probable that to-day Helen might have found it more difficult +than six years before to urge Herman to marry Ninitta, since besides +the self-sacrifice then involved would now be a doubtfulness of +purpose. She sat silent some moments, reflecting deeply, while her +hostess watched her with a loving admiration which was growing very +strongly upon her. + +"But what is to be done now," Helen asked slowly. "You would not have +him cast her off?" + +"Oh, no," returned Edith, in genuine consternation. "Now, it is six +years too late." + +"I am afraid I do not wholly agree with your point of view," answered +Mrs. Greyson, roused by the doubt in her own mind to a need to combat +the assumption that the marriage was a mistake. "I certainly do not +feel that the mere ceremony is the great point. See!" she continued, +becoming more animated, and half involuntarily saying aloud what she +had so often said in her own mind; "a man makes a woman love him. As +time goes on, he outgrows her. It is no fault of hers. Why should the +fact that he has or has not come into the marriage relations affect her +claims on him? Isn't he in honor bound to marry her?" + +"But suppose," Edith returned, "that he has not only outgrown her but +made some other woman love him too?" + +It was merely a chance shot of argument, but it smote Helen so that she +trembled as she sat. + +"Is not that woman to be considered?" Edith continued. "Is the good of +the man to count for nothing? Mr. Herman is sacrificed to an old +mistake. Perhaps it is right that he should pay the price of his error; +and that in the end it will be overruled for his good, we may hope. But +it is hard to have patience now with the state of things." + +Helen tapped her teaspoon nervously against her cup. + +"But what can be done?" + +"Nothing," Mrs. Fenton said, without the slightest hesitation. "You and +I may think these things, but it would be a crime for Mr. Herman to +think them." + +"It might be cowardice to yield to them," responded Helen; "but how +crime? And how can one help the thoughts from turning whithersoever +they will?" + +Edith pushed back her plate, leaned forward with folded arms resting +upon the edge of the table. She flushed a little, as she did sometimes +when she felt it her duty to say something to her husband which it was +hard to utter. + +"I do not think you and I agree in this," she said, in a voice which +her earnestness made somewhat lower than before. "Marriage is to me a +sacrament, and this very fact gives it a nature different from ordinary +promises. We promise to love until death do us part. To me that is as +imperative as any vow I can make to God and man." + +"But love," Helen urged, with a somewhat perplexed air, "is not a thing +to be coerced." + +"It must be," Edith returned, inflexibly. "Even if my husband ceased to +love me, that does not absolve me. I must fulfil my promise and my +duty." + +"But," Helen responded, doubtfully and slowly, "it seems to me a +sacrilege to live with a man after one has ceased to love him." + +"But I would love him," Edith broke in almost fiercely. "That is just +the point. One must refuse to cease to love him." + +"But if he ceased to love her?" + +A flush came into Edith's clear cheek, and her eyes shone. Half +unconsciously to herself, she was fighting with the doubts which would +now and then rise in her own mind of her husband's affection. + +"Then," she said, in a low voice, "one must still be worthy of his +love; one must do one's duty. Besides," she added, looking up with a +gleam of hope, "when one has made a solemn vow, as a wife vows to love +her husband until death part them, I firmly believe that strength to +keep that vow will not be withheld." + +Helen was silent a moment. She by no means agreed to the position Edith +took. She had no belief in those promises in virtue of which the +sacraments of the church took on a peculiar sanctity; she did not at +all trust to any special help bestowed by higher powers. She did not, +however, care to argue upon these points, and she said more lightly,-- + +"You task womanhood pretty heavily." + +"A little woman who is a _protegee_ of mine," Edith returned, in the +same manner, "said rather quaintly the other day, that women were made +so there should be somebody to be patient with men. She's having +trouble with her lover, I suspect, and takes it hardly." + +"But," Helen persisted more gravely, "it seems to me that you set +before the unloved wife a task to which humanity is absolutely +unequal." + +"You remember St. Theresa and her two sous," Edith replied, her eyes +shining with deep inner feeling; "how she said, 'St. Theresa and two +sous are nothing, but St. Theresa and two sous and God are everything.' +I can't argue, but for myself, I could not live if I should give up my +ideal of duty." + +As often it had happened before, Helen found herself so deeply moved by +the fervor and the genuineness of Edith's faith, that she felt it +impossible to go on with an argument which could convince only at the +expense of weakening this rare trust. She brought the conversation back +to its starting point. + +"But about Ninitta," she said. "I saw her yesterday, and she acted as +if she had something on her mind. She somehow seemed to be trying to +tell me something. I told her that the _bambino_, as she calls Nino, +must keep her occupied most of the time, and she said the nurse stole +him away half of the day; she has the peasant instinct to take entire +charge of her own child." + +"If that is a peasant instinct," Edith rejoined laughing, "I am afraid +I am a peasant." + +"Oh, but you are reasonable about it, and know that it is better for +the boy to have change and so on. She acts as if she felt it to be a +conspiracy between the nurse and her husband to steal the child's +affections from her. Really, I felt as if she was coming to love Nino +so fiercely that she had fits of almost hating her husband." + +The ringing of the door bell and the entrance of the servant with a +card interrupted the conversation, and Helen had only time to say,-- + +"Of course on general principles you know I do not agree with you. +Indeed, I should find it hard to justify what I consider the most +meritorious acts of my life if I did. But I do want to say that, given +your creed, your view of marriage seems to me the noble--indeed, the +only one." + +As Helen walked home in the gray afternoon, sombre with a winter mist, +she thought over the conversation and measured her life by its +principles. + +"If one accepts Edith's standard," she reflected, "it is impossible not +to accept her conclusions. She is a St. Theresa, with her strict +adherence to forms and her loyalty to her convictions. But surely one's +own self has some claims. My first duty to whatever the highest power +is,--the All, perhaps,--must be to do the best I can with myself. It +could not be my duty to go on living with Will"-- + +She stopped, with a faint shudder, raising her eyes and looking about +upon the wet and dreary landscape with an almost furtive glance, as if +she were oppressed by the fear that the eyes of the husband with whom +she had found it impossible to live, and who for six years had been +under the sod, dead by his own hand, might be watching her unawares. It +was one of those moments when a bygone emotion is so vividly revived, +as if some long hidden landscape were revealed by a sudden lightning +flash. The years had brought her immunity from the poignancy of the +pain of old sorrows, but for one brief and bitter instant she cowed +with the old fear, she trembled with the old-time agony. + +Then she smiled at the unreasonableness of her feeling, and dropping +her eyes, walked on with slightly quickened steps. + +"It cannot be a woman's duty to go on living with a man who is dragging +her down, or even who prevents her from realizing her best; and yet, +there is the influence. That is a trick of my old Puritan training, of +course, but after all it is right to consider. One must count influence +as a factor if one believes in civilization, and I do believe in +civilization; certainly, I would not go back to barbarism. But is a +woman to be tied down--oh! how a woman is always tied down! Limitation +--limitation--limitation; that is the whole story of a woman's life; +and the harder she struggles to get away from her bonds the more she +proves to herself by the pain of the wrist cut by the fetters how +impossible it is to break them. Women contrive to deceive men sometimes +into believing that they have overcome the limitations of their sex; +and they even deceive themselves; but they never deceive each other. A +woman may believe that she herself has accomplished the impossible, but +she knows no one of her sisters has." + +She smiled sadly and yet humorously, pausing a moment on the curbstone +before crossing the wet and icy street. Then as she went on and a +coachman pulled up his horses almost upon their haunches to let her +pass, she took up the thread of her reflections once more,-- + +"Yet surely women must not rebel against civilization. Civilization is +after all quite as largely as anything else a determined ignoring and +combatting on the part of mankind of the cruel disadvantages under +which nature has put women. No; we must look at it in the large; we +must hold to the conventional even, rather than fight against +civilization, however wrong and illogical and heartless civilization +may be. It is the best we have and we go to the wall without it." + +She had reached her boarding-house and fitted her latch-key into the +lock. As she opened the door she looked back into the gathering dusk of +the misty afternoon, and her thought was almost as if it were a last +word flung to some presence to be left behind and shut out, a +personality with whom she had argued, and who had logically defeated +but not convinced her. + +"And yet," she said inwardly, with a sudden swelling of defiance and +conviction, "not for all the universe could I have done it. I could not +go on living with Will,--though," she added, a sudden compunction +seizing her, "I was fond of him in a way, poor fellow." + +And the door closed. + + + + +XI + + THE GREAT ASSAY OF ART. + Macbeth; iv.--3. + +The inner history of the effigies which in Boston do duty as statues +would be most interesting reading, amusing or depressing as one felt +obliged to take it. To know what causes led to the production and then +to the erection of these monstrosities could hardly fail to be +instructive, although the knowledge might be rather dreary. + +The subject has been too much discussed to make it easy to touch it, +but all this examination has by no means resulted in general +enlightenment, as was sufficiently evident at the meeting of the +committee in charge of the new statue of _America_ about to be erected +in a properly select Back Bay location. The committee consisted of +Stewart Hubbard, Alfred Irons, and Peter Calvin, three names which were +seldom long absent from the columns of the leading Boston daily +newspapers. Mr. Irons had been strongly objected to by both his +associates, neither of whom felt quite disposed to assume even such +equality as might seem to follow from joint membership of the +committee. That gentleman had, however, sufficient influence at City +Hall to secure appointment, a whim which had seized him to pose as a +patron of art being his obvious motive; and neither Mr. Hubbard nor Mr. +Calvin was prepared to go quite to the length of declining to serve +with the obnoxious parvenu. + +Stewart Hubbard was a most admirable example of the best type of an +American gentleman. Arthur Fenton once described him as "a genuine old +Beacon street, purple window-glass swell;" a description expressive, if +not especially elegant. Tall and well-built, with the patrician written +in every line of his handsome face, his finely shaped head covered with +short hair, snowy white although he had hardly passed middle age, his +clear dark eyes straightforward and frank in their glances, he was a +striking and pleasing figure in any company. He had graduated, like his +ancestors for three or four generations, at Harvard; and if he knew +less about art than his place on the committee made desirable, he at +least had a pretty fair idea of what authorities could be trusted. + +Peter Calvin's place in Boston art matters has already been spoken of. +He took himself very seriously, moving through life with a sunny-faced +self-complacency so inoffensive and sincere as to be positively +delightful. He was too good-natured and in all respects of character +too little virile to meet Irons with anything but kindness, but as he +was a trifle less sure of his social standing than Hubbard, he was +naturally more annoyed at the choice of the third member of the +committee. He made not a few protests to his friends, and gently +represented himself as a martyr to his devotion to the cause of art +from having accepted the place he held. + +When one considered, however, the way in which committees upon art +matters are made up at City Hall, it becomes evident that the wonder +was not that the present body was no better, but that it should be so +good. The truth was that the choice of Hubbard and Calvin had been +considered a great concession to the unreasonable prejudices of the +self-appointed arbitrators of art affairs in town. A short time before, +a committee consisting of a butcher, a furniture dealer and a North End +ward politician, had been sent to New York on a matter connected with a +public monument, and their action had been so egregiously absurd as to +bring down upon their heads and upon the heads of those who appointed +them such a torrent of ridicule that even the tough hide of City Hall +could not withstand it. It was felt that the public was more alive on +art matters than had been suspected; and when a South Boston liquor- +dealer manifested a singular but unmistakable desire to be appointed on +the _America_ committee, he had been promptly suppressed with the +information that this was to be "a regular bang-up, silver-top +committee," and was forced to soothe his disappointed ambition with +such consolation as lay in the promise that next time he should be +counted in. + +When the committee had been named, a hint was dropped in one or two +newspaper offices that the powers which work darkly at City Hall +expected due credit for the self-sacrifice involved in putting on two +men at least from whom no reward was to be expected. The journals +improved the opportunity, and praised highly the choice of all three of +the members. When this called out a protest from the artists, because +no artist had been appointed, City Hall had no words adequate to the +expression of its disgust. + +"That's what comes of trying to satisfy them fellows," one City Father +observed, in an indignant and unstilted speech to his colleagues. "They +want the earth, and nothing else will satisfy them. What if they ain't +got no artist on the committee; everybody knows that Peter Calvin's a +man who's published a lot of books about art, and it stands to reason +he's a bigger gun than a feller that just paints." + +The committee paid no attention to the discussion concerning their +fitness, of which indeed they did not know a great deal, but came +together in a matter-of-fact way, precisely as they would have +assembled to transact any other business. + +"I don't know what you think," Mr. Irons observed, as the three +gentlemen settled themselves in the easy-chairs of Mr. Hubbard's +private office and lighted their cigars, "but it seems to me we had +better try to come to some reasonably definite idea of what we want +this monument to be before we go any farther. It will be time enough to +talk about who's to get the order when we've made up our minds what the +order is to be." + +Both the words and the manner rasped the nerves of Mr. Calvin almost +beyond endurance. He was accustomed to phrasing his views with +elegance, and although in truth his ideas in the matter on hand were +not widely different from those of Mr. Irons, the latter had stated the +proposition with a boldness which made it impossible for him to agree +with it. By birth, by instinct, and by lifelong training a faithful +servant of the god Dagon, he yet seldom professed his allegiance +frankly. He sheltered his slavish adherence to conventions under a +decent show of following convictions; so that the pure and +straightforward Philistinism which Mr. Irons professed from simple lack +of a knowledge of the secrets of what might perhaps be called the +priestly cult of Philistia, appeared to Peter Calvin shockingly crude +and offensive. + +"Perhaps," he said, with a smile which was hardly less sweet than +usual, so well trained were the muscles of his face in producing it, +"it can hardly be said that we can decide. The artist after all cannot +be expected to accept too many limitations if he is to produce a work +of art. His genius must have full play." + +Secretly, Irons had a most profound respect for the other's art +knowledge, and he was too anxious to appear well in his capacity as a +member of the statue committee to be willing to run any risks by +attempting to controvert any aesthetic proposition laid down by Mr. +Calvin. He was by no means fond of the man, however, and to his dislike +his envy of Calvin's reputation, socially and aesthetically, added +venom. He hastened now, with quite unnecessary vigor, to defend himself +from the mildly implied attack. + +"I suppose we have got to give an order--or a commission, if the word +suits you better--of some sort; and whatever it is to be it needs to be +defined." + +His manner was so evidently belligerent that Mr. Hubbard hastened to +interpose. + +"That is pretty well defined for us, isn't it?" he said. "We were +directed to give a commission for a single figure representing America, +to be executed in bronze and not to exceed a fixed sum in cost. That +does not leave much latitude, so far as I can see, beyond the right of +selecting or rejecting models shown us. For my own part, I may as well +say at once, I am in favor of giving Mr. Herman whatever terms he wants +to make a model, and trusting everything to him. Of course we should +still have the right to veto the arrangement if the figure he made +should not prove satisfactory." + +Mr. Hubbard spoke with a certain elegant deliberation and precision +which Irons supposed himself to regard as affected, while secretly he +thoroughly envied it. + +"Oh, we all know what Herman would do," Irons retorted. "He'd make one +of those things that nobody could understand, and then say it was +artistic. We want something to please folks." + +Irons was more concerned about his popularity than even in regard to +the reputation as an art patron he was laboriously striving to build +up. He was an inordinately vain man, but he was an exceedingly shrewd +one. His self-esteem was gratified by seeing his name among those of +men influential in art matters; he bought pictures largely for the +pleasure of being talked of as a man who patronized the proper +painters, and he was looked upon as likely at no distant day to become +president of a club which Fenton dubbed the Discourager of Art; but he +realized that for a man who still had some political aspirations there +was a substantial value in popular favor not to be found in any +reputation for culture, however delightful the latter might be. He +distinctly intended to please the public by his action in regard to the +statue, a resolution which was rendered the more firm by the fact that +he vastly over-estimated the interest which the public was likely to +take in the matter. He trimmed the ashes from his cigar as he spoke, +with an air which was intended to convey the idea that he would stand +no nonsense. + +"Won't Mr. Herman enter a competitive trial?" Calvin asked. "We might +ask two or three others and then select the best model." + +"He won't go into a competition. He says it's beneath an artist's +dignity." + +"Damned nonsense!" blustered Irons, sitting up in his chair in +excitement over such an extraordinary proposition. "Don't we all go +into competitions whenever we send in sealed proposals? Beneath his +dignity! Great Scott! The cockiness of artists is enough to take away a +man's breath." + +Mr. Hubbard, who was a lawyer chiefly occupied, as far as business +went, in managing his own large property and certain trust funds, and +Mr. Calvin, who had never in his life soiled his aristocratic hands +with any business whatever, smiled in the mutual consciousness that +"sealed proposals" were as much outside their experience as +competitions were foreign to that of Grant Herman. The thought, passing +and trivial as it was, moved their sympathy a little toward the +sculptor's view of the matter, although since secretly Mr. Calvin was +determined that the commission should be given to Orin Stanton, the +fact made little difference. + +"You evidently don't want to undergo the general condemnation that has +fallen on whoever has had a share in the Boston statues thus far," Mr. +Calvin observed, glancing at Irons with a genial smile. "If you are +going to set yourself to hit the popular taste and keep yourself clear +of the claws of the critics at the same time, I fear you've a heavy +task laid out." + +"The critics always pitch into everything," Irons responded with a +growl. "It's the taste of the people I want to please. I believe in art +as a popular educator, and people can't be educated by things they +won't look at." + +"Oh, as to that," Stewart Hubbard rejoined, with a twinkle in his eye, +"conventionality is after all the consensus of the taste of mankind." + +Peter Calvin was at a loss to tell whether his friend was in earnest or +was only quizzing Irons, so he contented himself with an appreciative +look, and a smile of dazzling warmth. Irons, on the other hand, looked +toward the speaker with suspicion. + +"I haven't much sympathy with a good deal of the stuff artists talk," +he continued, following his own train of thought. "It doesn't square +very well with common sense and ain't much more than pure gassing, I +think. The truth is, genius is mostly moonshine. The man I call a +genius is the one that makes things work practically." + +"In other words," said Calvin, spurred to emulate Hubbard's epigram, +and involuntarily glancing toward the latter for approval, "you think a +genius is a man who is able to harness Pegasus to the plough, and make +him work without kicking things to pieces." + +"That's about it," Irons assented; "and I think Herman is too +toploftical and full of cranky theories. They say Mrs. Greyson has hit +the nail exactly on the head in that statue she showed in Paris last +year. That pleased the critics and the public both, and that's exactly +what we are after. I think we ought to ask her to make a design." + +Mr. Calvin saw and seized the opportunity easily to introduce his own +especial candidate. + +"If each of you have a sculptor," he said, lightly, "I can hardly do +less than to have one, too. There's an exceedingly clever fellow just +home from Rome, that I want to see given a chance. He's done some very +promising work, and I look upon him as the coming man." + +The two men regarded him with some interest, as one who has introduced +a new element into a game. Mr. Hubbard leaned back in his chair, and +sent a puff of cigar smoke floating upward, before he answered. + +"I can't enter my man for the triangular contest," said he. "He won't +go into a competition unless he's paid for making the design. He says, +in so many words, that he doesn't want the commission to make the +statue unless he can do it in his own way. He will be unhindered, or he +will let the whole thing alone." + +"For my part," Mr. Irons responded, settling himself in his chair, with +a certain air of determination, "I don't take a great deal of stock in +this letting an artist have his own way. He might put up a naked woman, +or any rubbish he happened to think of. The amount of the matter is +that it isn't such a devilish smart thing to make a figure as they try +to make out. Any man can do it that has learned the trade, and I +haven't any great amount of patience with the fuss these fellows make +over their statues." + +Neither of his companions felt inclined to enter into a general +discussion of the principles underlying art work, and, although neither +agreed with this broad statement, there was no direct response offered. +Calvin and Hubbard looked at each other, and the latter asked,-- + +"Have you any notion what Mrs. Greyson would do?" + +"No, I have never talked with her." + +"Very likely she'd give us another figure like those that are stuck all +over Boston, like pins in a pincushion," Hubbard objected. "Some +carpet-knight, with a face spread over with a grin as inane as that of +Henry Clay on a cigar-box cover." + +Irons laughed contemptuously, and rose, throwing away his cigar stub. + +"Well, I must go," he announced. "We don't seem to be getting ahead +very fast. I'll try and find out if she'll go into a competition, and +you two had better do the same with your folks. Then we shall at least +have something to go upon. The _Daily Observer_ has already begun to +ask why something isn't done, and I'd like to get the thing finished +up, myself." + +The two others rose also, and it was thereby manifest that this +unproductive sitting of the committee was at an end. + + + + +XII + + WHOM THE FATES HAVE MARKED. + Comedy of Errors; i.--1. + +Never was a man more utterly wretched than was Arthur Fenton, after the +luckless day when Mr. Irons had lighted upon the presence of Mrs. +Herman at the studio. He raged against himself, against chance, most of +all against the unmannerly and coarse-minded fellow who had forced +himself into the studio, and then persisted in imagining evil which had +never existed. He experienced all the acute anguish of finding himself +in the toils, and of the added sting from wounded vanity, since he felt +that he had been wanting in adroitness and presence of mind. It is to +be doubted if he did not suffer more than would have been the case had +the injurious suspicions of Irons been correct. To a vain man, it is +often harder to be entrapped through stupidity or awkwardness than +through crime. + +Fenton realized well enough how impossible it was now to correct the +evil that had been done. He might have explained away the fact that +Ninitta had been his model, but his own bearing under the accusation +had produced an impression not to be eradicated. The wavering before +his eyes, for a single instant, of the will-o'-the-wisp fire of sudden +temptation had blinded him, so that he had been guilty of a cursed +piece of folly, which had put him at once in the power of Irons. He +knew enough of the latter to be pretty sure that he was capable of +keeping his threat to enlighten Herman concerning his wife's visit to +the studio, and disgrace in the eyes of Herman meant more than Arthur +dared to think. Sensitive to the last fibre of his being, the artist +grew faint with exquisite pain at the thought of what he must endure +from a scandal spread among his friends. An accusation without +foundation would have been almost more than he could bear, but one +supported by such circumstantial evidence as lay behind the story Irons +would tell if he set himself to make trouble,--the bare idea drove +Fenton wild. + +Fenton had always prided himself upon his superiority to public +opinion, but without public respect he could not but be supremely +miserable. It is true that he valued his own good opinion above that of +the world. It was his theory that the ultimate appeal in matters of +conduct was always to the man's inner consciousness, and in this +highest court only the man himself could be present, all the world +being shut out. It followed that a person's own opinion of his acts was +of infinitely more weight than that of any or all other people +whosoever. + +"All standards are arbitrary," he was accustomed to say, "and all terms +are relative. Every man must make his own ethical code, and nobody but +the man himself can tell how far he lives up to it. Why should I care +whether people who do not even know what my rules of conduct are, +consider my course correct or not? Very likely the things they condemn +are the things it has cost me most struggle and self-denial to achieve. +We have outgrown old ethical systems, because the world has become +enlightened enough to perceive that every mind must make its own code; +to realize that what a man is must be his religion." + +This course of reasoning was one shared by many of Fenton's friends, +and indeed by a goodly company of nineteenth century thinkers. Fenton +was in reality only going with the majority of liberalists in regarding +sincerity to personal conviction as the highest of ethical laws; and he +was generally pretty logical in choosing the approval of his inward +knowledge to that of the world outside. Yet his vanity was keenly +sensitive to disapprobation, and when the censure of the world +coincided with the condemnation of his own reason he suffered. To self- +contempt was added a baffled sense of having been discovered; and as +his imagination now ran forward to picture the effects of Irons's +disclosure, the suffering he endured was really pitiful. + +"Nobody will understand," he said to himself one day, half in bitter +self-contempt and half in self-defence, "that I couldn't help doing as +I did; no cruelty surpasses that of holding weak and sensitive natures +accountable for shortcomings they are born incapable of avoiding." + +And having accomplished an epigram at his own expense, he felt as if he +had to some degree atoned for his fault, just as a flagellant looks +upon his self-scourging as expiatory. + +How to act in the position in which he had been placed by Irons's +insulting proposal was a question which he found more difficult to +answer than according to his theories, it should have been. When a man +becomes his own highest law he is constantly exposed to the danger of +finding his theories of conduct utterly confounded by a change in self- +interest; and Fenton began to have a most painful sense of being +ethically wholly at sea. He had not yielded to temptation, however. He +had given Stewart Hubbard a couple of sittings, and so great had been +his fear lest he should inadvertently gather from his sitter some hint +of the knowledge he had been urged to obtain, that he had half +unconsciously been reserved and silent. The picture was going badly, +and the sitter wondered what had come over the witty and vivacious +artist. + +Besides these vexations the artist had, moreover, other causes for +uneasiness at this time. His financial affairs were by no means in +satisfactory condition. He had been filling a good many orders and +getting excellent prices for his work, yet somehow he had been all the +year running behindhand. He lived beyond his means, priding himself +upon being the one Boston artist who had been born, bred, and educated +a gentleman, as he chose to put it to himself, and who was able to live +as a man of the world should. His summer had been passed at Newport, a +place which Edith by no means liked, and where her ideas of propriety +and religion were constantly offended, especially in regard to the +sanctity of marriage. He entertained sumptuously, spent money freely at +the clubs, and, in a word, tried to be no less a man of fashion than an +artist. + +The result was beginning to be disastrous. Living pretty closely up to +his income, a few losses and a speculation or two which turned out +unlucky, were sufficient to embarrass him seriously. It was the old +trite and dreary story of extravagance and its inevitable consequence; +and as Fenton had no talent for finance, his struggles rather made +matters worse than bettered them, as the efforts of a fly to escape +from the web, even although they may damage the net, are apt to end +also in binding the victim more securely. + +The truth was that the painter, like many another man endowed with +imaginative gifts, had little practical knowledge of affairs beyond a +talent for spending money; and it is amazing how stupid a clever man +can contrive to be when he is taken out of his sphere. For such men +there is no safety save in keeping out of debt, and once the balance +was on the wrong side of his account, Fenton, self-poised as he was, +lost his head. It troubled and worried him to be in debt even when he +could see his way clear to paying everything, and now that matters +began to get too complicated to be settled by plain and obvious +arithmetic, he was miserable. + +In the midst of these unhappy complications, he was one morning working +upon the portrait of Miss Damaris Wainwright, whose cousin and aunts, +the Dimmonts, had induced her to have it painted, although she was in +deep mourning. He was interested in the lovely, melancholy girl, and he +felt that he was doing some of the best work of his life in her +portrait. He sometimes was proud of his skill, and at others he was +unreasonably vexed that this picture should be so much better than that +of Mr. Hubbard promised to be. + +He had been talking this morning half-absently, and merely for the sake +of keeping his sitter interested. He had not noticed that her whole +being was keyed up to a pitch of intense feeling, and he had almost +unconsciously accomplished the really difficult task of putting his +sitter at her ease and making her ready to talk. + +Suddenly, after a brief silence, she said,--"You provoke confidences." + +Some note in her voice and the closeness of connection between her +words and the thought in his own mind that he certainly must be able to +do what Irons asked, arrested Fenton's attention. + +"Yes," he returned, his air of sincerely meaning what he said being by +no means wholly unreal; "that is because I am unworthy of them." + +Miss Wainwright smiled. The self-detraction seemed delicate, and the +unexpectedness of the reply amused her. + +"That is perhaps a modest thing to say, Mr. Fenton," she responded, +"but the truth must be--if you'll pardon my saying anything so +personal--that you are very sympathetic." + +The artist moved backward a step from his easel, regarding his work +with that half-shutting of the eyes and turning of the head which seems +to be an essential of professional inspection. + +"Even so," persisted he, "a sympathetic person is one whose emotions +are fickle enough to give place to whatever others any sudden accident +brings up; and if one's feelings are so transient, how can he be worthy +of confidence?" + +"I can't argue with you," Damaris replied, smiling and shaking her +head, "but all the same I don't agree with what you say." + +"Oh, I hoped you wouldn't when I said it," Fenton threw back lightly. + +He went on with his work, outwardly tranquil, as if he had no thought +beyond the perfect shading of the cheek he was painting; but his mind +was in a tumult. He thought how easy it is to deceive; how constantly, +indeed, we do deceive whether we will or no; how foolish it is to rule +our lives by standards which rest so largely on mere seeming; how--Bah! +Why should he pretend to himself? He was not really concerned with +generalities or great moral principles. He was trying to decide whether +he should worm a secret out of Hubbard to throw as a sop to that vile +cursed cad, Irons, to keep his foul mouth shut about Ninitta. Heavens! +What a tangle he had got into simply because he wanted a decent model +for his picture! The abominable prudery and hypocrisy of the time lay +behind the whole matter. But this would never do. He must work now; not +think of these exciting things. It was hardly a brief moment before to +his last words he added aloud,-- + +"Did what you said mean that I was to be favored with a confidence?" + +A painful, deep problem was weighing upon her heart, wearing away her +reason and her life alike. She had almost been ready to ask advice of +the artist, although she by no means knew him well enough to render so +intimate a conversation other than strange. + +"Not necessarily," was her reply to Fenton's question. + +She found it after all impossible to utter anything definite upon the +subject which lay so near her heart. She even felt a dim wonder whether +she had really ever seriously contemplated speaking of it, even never +so remotely. + +"I was thinking," she continued, "of the point the conversation had +reached this morning when I left my friend at the door downstairs." + +"It was some great moral problem, I think you said," Fenton responded, +trying to recall accurately what she had told him earlier in the +sitting of a talk she had had with a friend on her way to the studio. +"The object of life, or something of that sort. Well, the object of +life is to endure life, I suppose, just as the object of time is to +kill time." + +"We had got so far in our talk as to decide," Miss Wainwright went on, +too much absorbed in recalling the interview she was relating to notice +the painter's words, "he decided, that is, not I--that the only thing +to do is to enjoy the present and to let the future go; but I object +that one cannot help dreading what might come." + +She spoke, of course, solely with reference to her own inner +experiences, but Fenton, with the egotism which is universal to +humanity, received the words in their application to his own case. If +he could but determine what would come, he might decide how to act in +this hard present. Yet, whatever that future might be, he must at any +cost extricate himself from this coil which pressed so cruelly upon +him. + +"Even so he would be right," he answered her words. "Happiness in this +world consists, at best, in a choice of evils, and at least one may +make of the present a sauce _piquante_ to cover the flavor of the dread +of the future." + +"You take a more desperate view of the matter than my friend," Miss +Wainwright said, sighing bitterly. "His only fear is that I shall lose +everything by not making sure of whatever present happiness is +possible." + +Fenton glanced at her curiously, aware no less from her tone and manner +than from her words that the conversation was touching her as well as +himself through some keen personal experience. A feeling of sharp and +irritating remorse stung him from the thought that he, whose whole +sensuous nature strove for selfish joyousness in life, was discussing +this question from his own standpoint, while the pale, lovely girl +before him was regarding the whole problem from the high plane of duty. +Instinctively he set himself to justify his position against hers; to +demonstrate that his Pagan, selfish philosophy was the true guide. + +"Oh," he cried out with sudden vehemence, waving his palette with a +gesture of supreme impatience, "I do take a desperate view! Life is +desperate, and the most absurd of all the multitudinous ways of making +it worse is to waste the present in dreading the future. I've no +patience with the notion that seems to be so many people's creed, that +we can do nothing nobler than to be as miserable as possible. It is a +dreadful remainder of that awful malady of Puritanism. Besides, where +is the logic of supposing we shall be better prepared for any +misfortune that may come if we can only contrive to dread it enough +beforehand. Good heavens! We all need whatever strength we can get from +happiness whenever it comes, as much as a plant needs the sunshine +while it lasts. You wouldn't prepare a delicate plant for cloudy days +by keeping it in the shadow; and I think one is simply an idiot who +keeps in the shade to accustom himself to-day after to-morrow's storm." + +His excitement increased as he went on. He was arguing against the +coward sense that he had deserved the troubles which had come upon him. +He was saying in as plain language as the conditions of the +conversation would allow, that he had been right in gratifying his +desires; in living as he wished without too closely considering the +consequences which were likely to follow. He spoke with a bitter +earnestness born of the intense strain under which he was laboring; and +he did not consider how his words might or might not affect his hearer. +The thought came into his mind how he had deliberately sacrificed his +convictions in marrying Edith Caldwell and going over to Philistinism; +and he reflected that this decision had shaped his life. Already his +course was determined; it was idle to ignore the fact. + +Why should he hesitate from squeamish scruples to do what Irons asked +when to meet the consequences of the latter's anger would not only be +supremely disagreeable but contrary to his whole theory of life? + +It was one of Fenton's peculiarities that he never knowingly shrank +from telling himself the truth about his thoughts and actions with the +most brutal frankness. Indeed, it might not be too much to say that +this self-honesty was a sort of fetish to which he made expiatory +sacrifices in the shape of the most cruelly disagreeable admissions +before his inner consciousness. He constantly settled his moral +accounts by setting down on the credit side "Self-contempt to balance," +a method of mental bookkeeping by no means rare, albeit seldom carried +on in connection with such clear powers of moral discrimination as +Fenton possessed when he chose to exercise them. + +"If you chance on ill-luck," he ran on, arguing aloud with himself +concerning the possible consequences of betraying Mr. Hubbard's trust, +"you'll be glad you were happy while it was possible; and if the fates +make you the one person in a million, by letting you get through life +decently, you surely can't think it would be better to spend it moping +until you are incapable of enjoying anything." + +The form of his speech was still that of one talking simply from the +point of view of his hearer. It did not for a moment occur to Damaris +Wainwright that in all he had said there had been anything but a +perfectly disinterested discussion of the principles involved in her +own questions and in her own perplexities. Yet, as a matter of fact, +his words were but the surface indications of the conflict going on in +his own mind. He was arguing down his disinclination to accept the +obvious and dishonorable means of escaping from an unpleasant position; +he was fighting against the better instincts of his nature, and trying +to convince himself that the easy course was the one to be chosen, the +one logically following from the conclusions forced upon him by his +study of life. + +"But duty!" she interposed, rather timidly, as he paused. + +She was confused by his persistent ignoring of all the standards by +which she was accustomed to judge, and she threw out the question as +one in desperation brings forward a last argument, half foreseeing that +it will be useless. + +"Duty!" he echoed, fiercely. "Life is an outrage, and what duty can +take precedence of righting it as far as we can. That old fool of a +Ruskin--I beg your pardon, Miss Wainwright, if you're fond of him--did +manage to say a sensible thing when he told a boarding-school full of +girls that their first duty was to want to dance. To allow that there +is any duty above making the best of life is a species of moral +suicide." + +She looked at him with an expression of profoundest feeling. She was +too little used to arguments of this sort to discern that the whole +matter was involved in the definition one gave to the phrase "The best +of life," and that to assume that this meant mere selfish or sensuous +enjoyment, was to beg the whole question. She was carried away by the +dramatic fashion in which he ended, dashing down his palette and +throwing himself into a chair. + +"There!" he exclaimed, with an air of whimsical impatience. "Now I've +got so excited that I can't paint! That's what comes of having +convictions." The struggle was over. He brushed all doubts and +questions aside. There was but one thing to do, and, disagreeable as it +might be, he must accept the situation. The mention of the word "duty" +reminded him that he had long ago settled in his own mind the folly of +being bound down by superstitions masquerading under grand names as +ethical principles. The duty of self-preservation was above all others. +He must defend himself, no matter if he did violate the principles by +which fools allowed their lives to be narrowed and hampered. He would +set himself to work upon Hubbard to-morrow, and get this unpleasant +thing over. + +His sitter came down from the dais upon which she had been sitting, and +held out her hand. + +"You have decided my life for me," she said, in a low voice, "and I +thank you." + +Those who knew her perplexities had argued with her in vain; and this +stranger, talking to his own inner self, had said the final word which +had moved her to a conclusion they had not been able to force upon her. + +He looked up with a smile, as he pressed her hand, but he said nothing; +refraining from adding, as he might have done truthfully,-- + +"And I have decided my own." + + + + +XIII + + THIS "WOULD" CHANGES. + Hamlet; iv.--7. + +Melissa Blake was growing paler in these days, worn with the ache of a +hurt love. Since the night on which he had parted from her in anger, +John had been to see her only on brief errands which he could not well +avoid, and while he had made no allusion to the difference which +separated them, it was evident that he still brooded over his fancied +grievance. + +This phase of John's character, its least amiable characteristic, which +marred it amid many excellent qualities, was not wholly unknown to +Melissa. She was by far the more clear-headed of the two, and she +understood her lover with much greater acuteness than he was able to +bring to the task of comprehending her. It was from intelligent +perception and not merely from the feminine instinct for making +excuses, that she said to herself that John was worn out with the +strain of burdens long and uncomplainingly borne; and she was, it might +be added, near enough to the primitive savagery of the rustic New +Englanders of the last generation, to find it perfectly a matter of +course that a man should make of his womenfolk a sort of scapegoat upon +whom to visit his wrath against the sins alike of fate and of his +fellows. + +She waited for John to relent from his unjust anger, but she did not +protest, and when he chose once more to be gracious unto his handmaiden +he would be met only with faithful affection and with no reproaches. +From the abstract standpoint, nothing could be farther astray than the +fulness and freedom of Milly's forgivenesses; practically, this +illogical feminine weakness made life easier and happier, not alone for +everybody about her, but for herself as well. Doubtless such a yielding +disposition tempted her lover to injustices he would never have +ventured with a more spirited woman, but after all her forgiveness was +so divine as almost to turn the transgression into a virtue for causing +it. + +When the account of Milly's life was made up, there must be put into +the record long, wordless stretches of uncomplaining and prayerful +patience, hidden from the eyes of all mankind. The capabilities of +women of this sort for quiet suffering are as infinitely pathetic as +they are measureless; and, although she was silent, the dark rings +under her eyes and the lagging step told how her sorrow was wearing +upon her. She went on faithfully with her work; she held still to the +faith that somehow help was sure to come; and as only such +women can be, she was patient with the patience of a god. + +Milly was surprised one afternoon by a visit from Orin Stanton, the +half brother of John. The sculptor had never before come to see her, +and, although Milly was little given to censoriousness, she could not +avoid the too-obvious reflection that, in one known to be so +consistently self-seeking as was Orin, the probability was that some +selfish motive lay behind the call. Orin had never been especially fond +of Milly, and since his return from Europe, where he had been +maintained by the liberality of an old lady, who, in a summer visit to +Feltonville, had been attracted by his talent for modelling in clay, he +had avoided as far as possible all intercourse with his townspeople. +The old lady, who took much innocent pleasure in imagining herself the +patroness of a future Phidias, died suddenly one day, leaving the will +by which provision was made for young Stanton's future unhappily +without signature; a fact which ever after furnished him with definite +grounds upon which to found his accusations against society and fate. + +It was largely in virtue of this interesting and pathetic story that +Mrs. Frostwinch and Mrs. Bodewin Ranger had taken it upon themselves to +better the fortunes of Stanton. Large-hearted ladies in Boston, as +elsewhere in the world, find no difficulty in discovering signs of +genius in a work of art where they deliberately look for it; and being +moved by the sculptor's history,--in which, to say sooth, there was +nothing remarkable, and, save the disappointment in regard to the will, +little that was even striking--his patronesses were not slow in coming +to regard his productions with admiration curiously resembling +momentary veneration. They in a mild way instituted a Stanton cult, as +a minor interest in lives already richly full, and when more weighty +matters did not interfere, Mrs. Frostwinch, in varying degrees of +enthusiasm, could be charming in her praises of the sculptor, whom she +designated as "adorably ursine," and of his work, which in turn, she +termed "irresistibly insistent," whatever that might mean. + +Bearish, Orin Stanton certainly was, whether one did or did not find +the quality adorable. He was heavy in mould, with a face marked by none +of the delicacy one expects in an artist and to which his small eyes +and thick lips lent a sensual cast. Milly had always found his +countenance repulsive, strongly as she strove not to be affected by +mere outward appearances. He wore his hair long, its coarse, reddish +masses showing conspicuously in a crowd, when he got to going about +among such people as hunt lions in Boston. + +Mrs. Bodewin Ranger patronized him from afar, and could not be brought +to invite him to her house. + +"Really, my dear," the beautiful old lady said to her husband; "it +seems to me that people are not wise in asking Mr. Stanton about so +much. It only unsettles him, and he should be left to associate with +persons in his own class." + +"I quite agree with you," her husband replied, as he had replied to +every proposition she had advanced for the half century of their +married life. + +Mrs. Frostwinch was less rigid. It is somewhat the fashion of the more +exclusive of the younger circles of Boston to make a more or less +marked display of a democracy which is far more apparent than real. +Partly from the genuine and affected respect for culture and talent +which is so characteristic of the town, and partly from some remnants +of the foolish superstition that the persons who produce interesting +works of art must themselves be interesting, the social leaders of the +town are, as a rule, not unwilling to receive into a sort of lay- +brotherhood those who are gifted with talent or genius. No fashion of +place or hour, however, can change the essential facts of life; and it +is perhaps quite as much the incompatibility of aim, of purpose in +life, as any instinctive arrogance on either side, that makes any +intimate union impossible. It is inevitable that members of any +exclusive circle shall regard others concerning whose admission there +has been question with some shade of more or less conscious patronage, +and sensitive men of genius are very likely as conscious of "the pale +spectrum of the salt" as was Mrs. Browning's poet Bertram, invited into +company where he did not belong, because it was socially too high and +intellectually and humanely too low. The members of what is awkwardly +called fashionable society are too thoroughly trained in the knowledge +of the principles of birth, wealth, and mutual recognition upon which +their order is founded, to be likely to lose sight of the fact that +artists and authors and actors, not possessing, however great their +cleverness in other directions, these especial qualifications, can only +be received into the charmed ring on sufferance; and nothing could be +more absurd or illogical than to blame them for recognizing this fact. + +Mrs. Frostwinch, at least, was in no danger of forgetting where she +stood in relation to such lions as she invited to her house. She +understood accurately how to be gracious and yet to keep them in their +place. Indeed, she did this instinctively, so thoroughly was she imbued +with the spirit of her class. She did not open her doors to many people +on the score of their talent, and least of all did she encourage lions +of appearance so coarse and uncouth as Orin Stanton. She found the role +of lady patroness amusing, however, and, although she would not have +put the sculptor's name on the lists of guests for a dinner or an +evening reception, she did invite him to a Friday afternoon, when she +knew Stewart Hubbard was likely to be present; and a glowing knowledge +of this honor was in Orin's mind when he went to call on Melissa. + +"I've no doubt you're surprised to see me," Orin said, brusquely, as he +seated himself, still in his overcoat. "The truth is, I don't run round +a great deal, and if I do, it's where it will do me some good." + +Milly smiled to herself. She was not without a sense of humor. + +"Naturally, I don't expect you to waste your time on me," she answered. +"You must be very busy, and I suppose you have lots of engagements." + +"Oh, of course," he returned, with an obvious thrill of self- +satisfaction. "The Boston women are always interested in art, and I +could keep going all the time, if I had a mind to. I'm going to Mrs. +Frostwinch's to-morrow. She wants to introduce me to Mr. Hubbard, one +of the committee on the new statue." + +To Orin's disappointment this fact seemed to make little impression +upon Milly, who was far too ignorant of Boston's social distinctions to +realize that an invitation to one of Mrs. Frostwinch's Fridays was an +honor greatly to be coveted. + +"I am glad if people are interesting themselves in your work, Orin," +she said, with a manner she tried not to make formal. + +She had never been able to like Orin, and since the time when he had +not only utterly refused to share with John the burden of their +father's debts but had scoffed at what he called his brother's "idiocy" +in paying them, Milly had found comfort in having a definite and +legitimate excuse for disliking him. She regarded him as greatly +gifted; in the eyes of Feltonville people, Orin's talents, since they +had received the sanction of substantial patronage, had loomed into +greatness somewhat absurdly disproportionate to their actual value. She +was not insensible of the honor of being connected, as the betrothed of +John, with so distinguished a man as she felt Orin to be; but she +neither liked nor trusted him. + +"Oh, there are some people in Boston who know a good thing when they +see it," the young man responded, intuitively understanding that here +he need not take the trouble to affect any artificial modesty. "It's +about that that I came to talk to you." + +"About--I don't think I understand." + +"I want your help." + +"My help? How can I help you?" + +The sculptor tossed his hat into a chair, and leaned forward, tapping +on one broad, thick palm with the fingers of the other hand. + +"They tell me," he said, "that you know Mrs. Fenton pretty well; Arthur +Fenton's wife,--he's an awful snob, I hate him." + +"Mrs. Fenton has been very kind to me," Milly responded, involuntarily +shrinking a little, and speaking guardedly. + +"Well, put it any way you like. If she's interested in you, that's all +I want," Stanton went on, in his rough way. "You'll have a pull on her +through the church racket, I suppose." + +Melissa looked at him with pain and disgust in her eyes. She always +shrank from Orin's rough coarseness; and she always felt helpless +before him. She made no reply, but played nervously with the pen she +had laid down upon his entrance. He regarded her curiously. + +"You see," he said, with a clumsy attempt at easy familiarity, "Mrs. +Fenton's a niece of Mr. Calvin, who is on the statue committee. Mrs. +Frostwinch says Mr. Calvin's the man who has most influence in the +committee, and it occurred to me that it would be a good thing if you'd +put Mrs. Fenton up to taking my part with Calvin. You see," he +continued, in an offhand manner, "artists don't get any show nowadays +unless they keep their eyes open, and I mean to be wide awake. I'm +ready to do a good turn, too, for anybody that helps me. John told me +the other day that you and he had had a row, and if you can do me a +good turn in this, I may be able to pay you by smoothing John down." + +Milly flushed painfully. Her delicacy was outraged, but, too, her +combative instinct was roused to defend her lover. + +"John and I haven't quarrelled," she said, in a voice a little raised; +"he is worried about the debts and that makes him out of sorts, +sometimes, that is all." + +A look of shrewd cunning came into Orin's narrow eyes. He suspected the +allusion to John's determination to clear his father's memory from +dishonor to be a clever device to win a concession from him. He looked +upon the remark as a statement from Milly of the price of her aid. + +"If I get this commission," he said, watching the effect of his words, +"I shall be in a position to help John pay off those debts, and I shall +tell him he has you to thank for my helping him out in his +foolishness,--for it is foolishness to waste money on dead debts." + +A glad light sprang into Milly's face. She was too childlike to suspect +the thought which led Orin to make this proffer, and the hope of having +John aided at once and of being able to contribute to the bringing +about of this result, made her heart beat joyfully. "You know how glad +I shall be if I can help you," she said quickly. "I will speak to Mrs. +Fenton when I see her to-morrow; though I do not see what good I can do +you," her honesty forced her to add, with sudden self-distrust. + +"Oh, you just put in and do your level best," Orin responded, with the +smile which Mrs. Frostwinch had once called his "deplorably Satanic +grin," "and it is sure to come out all right. There are other wires +being pulled." + + + + +XIV + + THE SHOT OF ACCIDENT. + Othello; iv.--I. + +It was not often that Arthur Fenton permitted himself to be ill- +tempered at home. He had too keen an appreciation of good taste to +allow his dark humors to vent themselves upon the heads of those with +whom he lived. + +"A man is to be excused for being cross abroad," he was wont to +observe, "but only a brute is peevish at home." + +On the morning following his conversation with Damaris Wainwright, +however, he was decidedly out of sorts, and proved but ill company for +his wife at the breakfast table. She ventured some simple remark in +relation to a plan which Mr. Candish had for the re-decoration of the +Church of the Nativity, and her husband retorted with an open sneer. + +"Oh, don't talk about Mr. Candish to me," he said. "He is that obsolete +thing, a clergyman." + +"I supposed," Edith responded good-naturedly, "that a question of +artistic decoration would interest you, even if it was connected with a +church." + +"I hate anything connected with a religion," Fenton observed savagely. +"A religion is simply an artificial scheme of life, to be followed at +the expense of all harmony with nature." + +It was evident to Edith that her husband was nervous and irritable, and +with wifely protective instinct she attributed his condition to +overwork. She did not take up the challenge which he in a manner flung +down. She seldom argued with him now; she cast about in her mind for a +safe topic of conversation, and, by ill-luck, hit upon the one least +calculated to restore Arthur to good humor and a sane temper. + +"Helen was in last evening," she said. "She is troubled about Ninitta; +but I think it is because she isn't used to her ways." + +Fenton started guiltily. + +"What about Ninitta?" he demanded. + +"Helen says she acts strangely, as if she had something on her mind; +and that she complains bitterly that her husband doesn't care for her." + +Arthur shrugged his shoulders. He was on his guard now, and perfectly +self-possessed. + +"No?" he said, inquiringly. "Why should he?" + +"Why should he?" echoed his wife indignantly. Then she recovered +herself, and let the question pass, saying simply: "That would lead us +into one of our old discussions about right and wrong." + +"Those struggles and quibbles between right and wrong," Fenton retorted +contemptuously, "have ceased to amuse me. They were interesting when I +was young enough for them to have novelty, but now I find grand +passions and a strong will more entertaining than that form of +amusement." + +Edith raised her clear eyes to his with a calmness which she had +learned by years of patient struggle. + +"And yet," she answered, "the people whom I have found most true, most +helpful, and even most comfortable, have been those who believed these +questions of right and wrong the most vital things in the universe." + +"Oh, certainly," was the reply. "A superstition is an admirable thing +in its place." + +He rose from the table as he spoke, and stood an instant with his hand +upon the back of his chair, looking at her in apparent indecision. She +saw that he was troubled, and she longed to help him, but she had +learned that his will was definite and unmanageable, and she secretly +feared that her inquiry would be fruitless when she asked,-- + +"What is it that troubles you this morning, Arthur? Has anything gone +wrong?" + +"Things are always wrong," replied he. Then, with seeming irrelevance, +he added: "People are so illogical! They so insist that a man shall +think in the beaten rut. They are angry because I don't like the taste +of life. Good Heavens! Why haven't I the same right to dislike life +that I have to hate sweet champagne? If other people want to live and +to drink Perrier Jouet, I am perfectly willing that they should, but, +for my own part, I don't want one any more than the other." + +What he said sounded to Edith like one of the detached generalities he +was fond of uttering, and if she had learned that beneath his seemingly +irrelevant words always lay a connecting thread of thought, she had +learned also that she could seldom hope to discover what this cord +might be. To understand his words, now, it would have been necessary +for her to be aware of the net spread for him by Irons, the struggle in +his mind as he talked with Miss Wainwright, and the effort he was now +making to bring himself up to the firmness needed for the important +interview with Mr. Hubbard which lay before him. In the sleepless hours +of the night, Fenton had gone over the ground again and again; he had +painted to himself the baseness of the thing he meant to do, and all +his instincts of loyalty, of taste, of good-breeding, rose against it; +but none the less did he cling doggedly to his determination. His +purpose never wavered. His decision had been made, and this summing up +of the cost did not shake him; it only made him miserable by the keen +appreciation it brought him of the bitter humiliation fate--for so he +viewed it--was heaping upon his head. + +The strength and weakness which are often mingled in one character, +like the iron and clay in the image of the prophet's vision, make the +most surprising of the many strange paradoxes of human life. Fenton was +sensuous, selfish, yielding, yet he possessed a tenacity of purpose, a +might of will, which nothing could shake. He looked across the table +now, at his sweet-faced, clear-eyed wife, with a dreadful sense of her +purity, her honor, her remoteness; it cut him to the quick to think +that the breach of trust he had in view would fill her mind with +loathing; yet the possibility of therefore abandoning his purpose did +not occur to him. Indeed, such was his nature, that it might be said +that the possibility of abandoning his deliberately formed intention, +on this or on any other grounds, did not for him exist. + +It was one of the peculiarities which he shared with many sensitive and +sensuous natures, that his first thought in any unpleasant situation +was always a reflection upon the bitterness of existence. He always +thought of the laying down of life as the easiest method of escape from +any disagreeable dilemma. He was infected with the distaste of life, +that disease which is seldom fatal, yet which in time destroys all save +life alone. He thought now how he hated living, and the inevitable +reflection came after, how easy it were to get out of the coil of +humanity. A faint smile of bitterness curled his lips as he recalled a +remark which Helen Greyson had once quoted to him as having been made +of him by her dead husband. "He'll want to kill himself, but he won't. +He's too soft-hearted, and he'd never forget other people and their +opinions." He had acknowledged to himself that this was true, and he +wondered whether Mrs. Greyson appreciated its justice. + +The thought of Helen brought up the old days when he had been so +frankly her friend that he had told her everything that was in his +heart except those things which vanity bade him conceal lest he fall in +her estimation. + +It was so long since he had known a friend on those intimate terms +under which it makes no especial difference what is said, since even in +silence the understanding is perfect, and the pleasure of talking +depends chiefly on the exchange of the signs of complete mutual +comprehension, that the old days appealed to him with wonderful power. +There is an immeasurable and soothing restfulness in such intercourse, +especially to a man like Fenton, in whom exists an inner necessity +always to say something when he talks; and as he recalled them now, +something almost a sob rose in Arthur's throat. Many men suppose +themselves to be cultivating their intellect when they are only, by the +gratification of their tastes, quickening their susceptibilities; and +Fenton's whole self-indulged existence had resulted chiefly in +rendering him more sensitive to the discomforts of a universe in the +making of which other things had been considered besides his pleasure. + +He looked across the breakfast table at his wife. He noted with +appreciation the beautiful line of her cheek outlined against the dark +leather of the wall behind her. He felt a twinge of remorse for coming +so far short of her ideal of him. He knew how resolutely she refused to +see his worst side, and he reflected with philosophy half bitter and +half contemptuous, that no woman ever lived who could wholly outgrow +the feeling that to believe or to disbelieve a thing must in some +occult way affect its truth. At least she had fulfilled all the +unspoken promises, so much more important than vows put into words +could be, with which she had married him. A remorseful feeling came +over his mind, and instantly followed the instinctive self-excuse that +she could never suffer as keenly as he suffered, no matter how greatly +he disappointed her. + +"People are to be envied or pitied," he said aloud, "not for their +circumstances, but for their temperaments." + +Edith looked up inquiringly. He went round to where she was sitting, +smiling to think how far she must be from divining his thought. + +"I stayed at the club too late last night," he said, stooping to kiss +her smooth white forehead in an unenthusiastic, habitual way which +always stung her. "Some of the fellows insisted upon my playing poker, +and I got so excited that I didn't sleep when I did get to bed." + +Edith sighed, but she made no useless remonstrances. + +Walking down to his studio, carefully dressed, faultlessly booted and +gloved, and, as Tom Bently was accustomed to say, "too confoundedly +well groomed for an artist," Fenton tried in vain to determine how he +should manage the important conversation with Mr. Hubbard. He had +racked his brains in the night in vain attempts to solve this problem, +but in the end he was forced to leave everything for chance or +circumstances to decide. + +When Stewart Hubbard sat before him, Fenton was conscious of a tingling +excitement in every vein, but outwardly he was only the more calm. A +close observer might have noticed a nervous quickness in his movements, +and a certain shrillness in his voice, but the sitter gave no heed to +these tokens, which he would have regarded as of no importance had he +seen them. The talk was at first rather rambling, and was not kept up +with much briskness on either side. Fenton, indeed, was so absorbed in +the task which lay before him that he hardly followed the other's +remarks, and he suddenly became aware that he had lost the thread of +conversation altogether, so that he could not possibly imagine what the +connection was when Hubbard observed,-- + +"Yes, it is certainly the hardest thing in the world for one being to +comprehend another." + +Fenton rallied his wits quickly, and retorted with no apparent +hesitation,-- + +"It is so. Probably a cat couldn't possibly understand how a human +mother can properly bring up a child when she has no tail for her +offspring to play with." + +"That wasn't exactly what I meant," the other returned, laughing; "but +what a fellow you are to give an unexpected turn to things." + +"Do you think so?" the artist said. Then, with a painful feeling of +tightness about the throat, and a soberness of tone which he could not +prevent, he added,--"That is a reason why I have always felt that I was +one of those comparatively rare persons whom wealth would adorn, if +somebody would only show me an investment to get rich on." + +"You are one of those still rarer persons who would adorn wealth," Mr. +Hubbard retorted, ignoring the latter part of the artist's remark. +"Only that you are so astonishingly outspoken, that you might cause a +revolution if you had Vanderbilt's millions to add weight to your +words. It doesn't do to be too honest." + +The sigh which left Fenton's lips was almost one of relief, although he +felt that this first attempt to turn the talk into financial channels +had failed. + +"No," he replied. "Civilized honesty consists largely in making the +truth convey a false impression, so that one is saved a lie in words +while telling one in effect." + +"It is strange how we cling to that old idea that as long as the letter +of what we say is true it is no matter if the spirit be false," was Mr. +Hubbard's response. "I thought of it yesterday at the meeting of the +committee on the statue, when we were all sitting there trying to get +the better of each other by telling true falsehoods." + +"How does the statue business come on?" Fenton asked. + +"Not very fast. I am sure I wish I was out of it. America always was a +trouble, and this time is no exception to the rule." + +"I hope," Arthur said, speaking with more seriousness, "that Grant +Herman will be given the commission. He's all and away the best man." + +He had secretly a feeling that he was putting an item on the credit +side of his account with the sculptor in urging his fitness for this +work. + +"It is hard to do anything with Calvin and Irons. I've always been for +Herman, but I don't mind telling you in confidence that I stand alone +on the committee." + +"Isn't there any way of helping things on? Wouldn't a petition from the +artists do some good?" + +"It might. But if you get up one don't let me know. I'd rather be able +to say that I had no knowledge of it if it came before us." + +Fenton smiled and continued his painting. With a thrill half of +triumph, half of rage, he became aware that he was this morning +succeeding admirably in getting just the likeness he wanted in the +sitter's portrait. He had feared lest his excitement should render him +unfit for work, but it had, on the contrary, spurred him up to unusual +effectiveness. The thought came into his mind of the price at which he +was buying this skill, and it was characteristic that the reflection +which followed was that at least, if he caused Hubbard to lose money by +betraying the secret he hoped to get from him, he was, to a degree, +repaying him by painting a portrait which could under no other +circumstances be so good. + +It was no less characteristic of Fenton's mental habits that he looked +upon himself as having committed the crime against his sitter which had +yet to be carried out. In his logic, the legitimate, however distorted, +legacy from Puritan ancestors, the sin lay in the determination; and he +would have held himself almost as guilty had circumstances at this +moment freed him from the disagreeable necessity of going on with his +attempt. Doubtless in this fact lay in part the explanation of the +firmness of his purpose. He would still have suffered in self-respect, +since abandonment of his plan, even if voluntary, would not alter the +fact that he had in intention been guilty. He would have said that +theoretically there was no difference between intention and commission, +and however casuists might reason, he took a curious delight in being +scrupulously exacting with himself in his moral requirements, the fact +that he held himself in his actions practically above such +considerations naturally making this less difficult than it otherwise +would have been. Every man has his private ethical methods, and this +was the way in which Arthur Fenton's mind held itself in regard to that +right of which he often denied the existence. + +"I suppose," he remarked at length, with deliberate intent of +entrapping Hubbard into some inadvertent betrayal of his secret, "that +you business men have no sort of an idea how ignorant a man of my +profession can be in regard to business. I had a note this morning from +a broker whom I've been having help me a little in a sort of infantile +attempt at stock gambling, and he advises me to find a financial +kindergarten and attend it." + +"I dare say he is right," the other returned, smiling. "You had better +beware of stock gambling, if you are not desirous of ending your days +in a poorhouse." + +"But what can one do? It is only the men of large experience and so +much capital that they do not need it who have a chance at safe +investments." + +He felt that he was bungling horribly, but he knew no other way of +getting on in his attempt. He was terrified by the openness of his +tactics. It seemed to him that any man must be able to perceive what he +was driving at, but he desperately assured himself that after all +Hubbard could not possibly have any reason to suspect him of a design +of pumping him. + +"Oh, there are plenty of safe investments," the sitter said, as if the +matter were one of no great moment. Then, looking at his watch, he +added, "I must go in fifteen minutes. I have an engagement." + +Fenton dared not risk another direct trial, but he skirted about the +subject on which his thoughts were fixed. His attempts, however, though +ingenious, were fruitless; and he saw Hubbard step down from the dais +where he posed, with a baffled sense of having failed utterly. + +"The country is really beginning to look quite spring-like," he said, +as he stood by while his sitter put on his overcoat. + +He spoke in utter carelessness, simply to avoid a silence which would +perhaps seem a little awkward; but the shot of accident hit the mark at +which his careful aim had been vain. + +"Yes, it is," the other responded. "I was out of town with Staggchase +yesterday, looking at some meadows we talk of buying for a factory +site, and I was surprised to see how forward things are." + +Yesterday Mrs. Staggchase had casually mentioned to Fred Rangely that +her husband had gone to Feltonville; and at the St. Filipe Club in the +evening, as they were playing poker, Rangely had excused the absence of +Mr. Staggchase, who was to be of the party, by telling this fact. + +After Hubbard was gone, Fenton stood half dizzy with mingled exultation +and shame. He exulted in his victory, but he felt as if he had +committed murder. + +And that evening Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson received a note from Mr. +Irons, in which Feltonville was mentioned. + + + + +XV + + LIKE COVERED FIRE. + Much Ado about Nothing; iii.--2. + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson was playing a somewhat difficult game, and +she was playing it well. She was entertaining Mr. Greenfield, the +Feltonville member, and she had also as a casual guest for the evening, +Mr. Erastus Snaffle, and successfully to work the one off against the +other was a task from which the cleverest of society women might be +excused for shrinking, even had it been presented to her in terms of +her own circle. + +Greenfield was an honest, straightforward countryman; big, and rather +burly, with a clear eye and a curling chestnut beard. He was a man at +once of great force of character, and of singular simplicity. He +exerted a vast influence in his country neighborhood in virtue of the +respect inspired by his invincible integrity, a certain shrewdness +which was the more effective at short range from the fact that it was +really narrow in its spread, and perhaps most of all of his bluff, +demonstrative kindliness. Tom Greenfield's hearty laugh and cordial +handshake had won him more votes than many a more able man has been +able to secure by the most thorough acquaintance with the questions and +interests with which election would make it the duty of a man to be +concerned; but it must be added that no man ever used his influence +more disinterestedly and honestly, or more conscientiously fulfilled +the duties of his position, as he understood them. + +Such a man was peculiarly likely to become the victim of a woman like +Mrs. Sampson. The plea of relationship on which she had sought his +acquaintance disarmed suspicion at the outset. His country manners were +familiar with family ties as a genuine bond, and he had no reason +whatever to suppose that any ulterior motive was possible to this woman +who affected to be so ignorant of politics and public business. + +In the weeks which had elapsed since her interview with Alfred Irons, +Mrs. Sampson had been making the most of the fraction of the season +which remained to her. She had offered excuses which Greenfield's +simple soul found satisfactory why she had not sought her cousin's +acquaintance early in the winter, and the very irksomeness of the +enforced absence from his country home which seized him as spring came +on, made him the more susceptible to the blandishments of the mature +siren who, with cunning art, was meshing her nets about him. + +He had quite fallen into the habit of passing his unoccupied evenings +with the widow, and she in turn had denied herself to some of her +familiar friends on occasions when she had reason to expect him. Had +she known he was likely to come this evening, she would have taken care +to guard against his meeting with Snaffle; but as that gentleman was +first in the field, she had her choice between sending Greenfield away +and seeing them together. Like the clever woman she was, she chose the +latter alternative, and found, too, her account in so doing. + +Erastus Snaffle was more familiarly than favorably known in financial +circles of Boston, as the man who had put afloat more wild-cat stocks +than any other speculator on the street. It might be supposed that his +connection with any scheme would be enough to wreck its prospects, yet +whatever he took hold of floated for a time. There was always a feeling +among his victims that at length he had come to the place where he must +connect himself with a respectable scheme for the sake of re- +establishing his reputation; but this hope was never realized. Perhaps +whatever he touched ceased from that moment to be either reliable or +respectable. However, since Snaffle was possessed of so inexhaustible a +fund of plausibility that he never failed to find investors who placed +confidence in his wildest statements, it after all made very little +difference to him what his reputation or his financial standing might +be. + +By one of those singular compensations in which nature seems now and +then to make a struggle to adjust the average of human characteristics +with something approaching fairness, Snaffle was hardly less gullible +than he was skilful in ensnaring others. He was continually making a +fortune by launching some bogus stock or other, but it seemed always to +be fated that he should lose it again in some equally wild scheme +started by a brother sharper. Perhaps between his professional strokes +he was obliged to practise at raising credulity in himself merely to +keep his hand in; perhaps it was simply that the habit of believing +financial absurdities had become a sort of second nature in him; or yet +again is it possible that he felt obliged to assume credulity in regard +to the falsehoods of his fellow sharpers, as a sort of equivalent for +the faith he so often demanded of them; but, whatever may have been the +reason, it was at least a fact that his money went in much the same way +it came. + +In person, Erastus Snaffle was not especially prepossessing. His face +would have been more attractive had the first edition of his chin been +larger and the succeeding ones smaller, while the days when he could +still boast of a waist were so far in the irrevocable past that the +imagination refused so long a flight as would be required to reach it. +His eyes were small and heavy-lidded, but in them smouldered a dull +gleam of cunning that at times kindled into a pointed flame. His dress +was in keeping with his person, and his manner quite as vulgar as +either. + +He was sitting to-night in one corner of the sofa, his corpulent person +heaped up in an unshapely mass, talking with a fluency that now and +then died away entirely, while he paused to speculate what sort of a +game his hostess might be playing with Mr. Greenfield. + +"The fact is," Mrs. Sampson was saying, as Snaffle recalled his +attention from one of these fits of abstraction, "that I don't know +what I shall do this summer; and I don't like to believe that summer is +so near that I must decide soon." + +"You were at Ashmont last year, weren't you?" Snaffle asked. "Why don't +you go there again." + +Mrs. Sampson shot him a quick glance which Snaffle understood at once +to mean that he was to second her in something she was attempting. He +did not yet get his clew clearly enough to understand just how, but the +look put him on the alert, as the hostess answered,-- + +"Oh, it is all spoiled. The railroad has been put through and all the +summer visitors are giving it up. I'm sure I don't know what will +become of all the poverty-stricken widows that made their living out of +taking boarders. That railroad has been an expensive job for Ashmont in +every way." + +Greenfield smiled, his big, genial smile which had so much warmth in +it. + +"That isn't usually the way people look at the effect of a railroad on +a town." + +This time the look which Mrs. Sampson gave Snaffle told him so plainly +what she wanted him to do that he spoke at once, her almost +imperceptible nod showing him that he was on the right track. + +"Oh, a railroad is always the ruin of a small town," he said, "unless +it is its terminus. It sucks all the life out of the villages along the +way. You go along any of the lines in Massachusetts, and you will find +that while the towns have been helped by the road, the small villages +have been knocked into a cocked hat. All the young people have left +them; all the folks in the neighborhood go to some city to do their +trading, and the stuffing is knocked out of things generally." + +Mrs. Sampson looked at Snaffle with a thoroughly gratified expression. + +"I don't know much about the business part of the question, of course," +she said, "but I do know that a railroad takes all the young men out of +a village. A woman I boarded with at Ashmont last year wrote to me the +other day in the greatest distress because her only son had left her. +She said it was all the railroad, and her letter was really pathetic." + +"Oh, that's a woman's way of looking at it," rejoined Greenfield, the +greatest struggle of whose life, as Mrs. Sampson was perfectly well +aware, was to keep at home his only child, a youth just coming to +manhood. "It is easy enough for boys to get away nowadays, and just +having a railroad at the door wouldn't make any great difference." + +"It does, though, make a mighty sight of difference," Snaffle said, +rolling his head and putting his plump white hands together. "Somehow +or other, the having that train scooting by day in and day out +unsettles the young fellows. The whistle stirs them up, and keeps +reminding them how easy it is to go out West or somewhere or other. +I've seen it time and again." + +"Well," Greenfield returned, a shadow over his genial face, "I have a +youngster that's got the Western fever pretty bad without any railroads +coming to Feltonville. But what you say is only one side of the +question. When a railroad comes it always brings business in one way or +another. The increase of transportation facilities is sure to build +things up." + +"Oh, yes, it builds them up," Snaffle chuckled, as if the idea afforded +him infinite amusement, "but how does it work. There are two or three +men in the town who start market gardens and make something out of it. +They sell their produce in the city and they do their trading there; +they hire Irish laborers from outside the village; and how much better +off is the town, except that it can tax them a trifle more if it can +get hold of the valuation of their property." "Which it generally +can't," interpolated Greenfield grimly, with an inward reminder of +certain experiences as assessor. + +"Or somebody starts a factory," Snaffle went on, "and then the town is +made, ain't it? Outside capital is invested, outside operatives brought +in to turn the place upside down and to bring in all the deviltries +that have been invented, and all the town has to show in the long run +is a little advance in real estate over the limited area where they +want to build houses for the mill-hands. There's no end of rot talked +about improving towns by putting up factories, but I can't see it +myself." + +Snaffle sometimes said that he believed in nothing but making money, +and there was never any reason to suppose he held an opinion because he +expressed it. He said what he felt to be politic, and a long and +complicated experience enabled him to defend any view with more or less +plausibility upon a moment's notice. He was clever enough to see that +for some reason the widow wished him to pursue the line of talk he had +taken, and he was ready enough to oblige her. He never took the trouble +to inquire of himself what his opinions were, because that question was +of so secondary importance; he merely exerted himself to make the most +of any points that presented themselves to his mind in favor of the +side it was for his advantage to support. + +"'Pon my word," Greenfield said, with a laugh, "you talk like an old +fogy of the first water. I wouldn't have suspected you of looking at +things that way." + +"Mr. Snaffle is always surprising," Mrs. Sampson said, with her most +dazzling smile, "but he is generally right." + +"Thank you. I can't help at any rate seeing that there are two sides to +this thing, and I am too old a bird to be caught with the common chaff +that people talk." + +Mr. Greenfield settled himself comfortably in his chair and laughed +softly. The discussion was so purely theoretical that he could be +amused without looking upon it seriously. + +"For my part," he remarked, his big hand playing with a paper-knife on +one of the little tables, which, to a practised eye, suggested cards, +"I am of the progressive party, thank you. I believe in opening up the +country and putting railroads where they will do the most good. A few +people get their old prejudices run against, but on the whole it is for +the interest of a town to have a railroad, and it is nonsense to talk +any other way." + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson leaned forward to lay her fingers upon the +speaker's arm. + +"That is just it, Cousin Tom," she said, with a languishing glance. +"You always look at things in so large a way. You never let the matter +of personal interest decide, but think of the public good," + +The flattery was somewhat gross, but men will swallow a good deal in +the way of praise from women. They are generally slow to suspect the +fair sex of sarcasm, and allow themselves the luxury of enjoying the +pleasure of indulging their vanity untroubled by unpleasant doubts +concerning the sincerity of compliments which from masculine lips would +offend them. Greenfield laughed with a perceptible shade of +awkwardness, but he was evidently not ill pleased. + +"Oh, well," he returned, "that is because thus far it has happened that +my personal interests and my convictions have worked together so well. +You might see a difference if they didn't pull in the same line." + +Mrs. Sampson considered a moment, and then rose, bringing out a +decanter of sherry with a supply of glasses and of biscuit from a +convenient closet in the bottom of a secretary. + +"That's business," Snaffle said, joyously. "Sherry ain't much for a man +of my size, but it's better than nothing." + +"It is a hint though," the hostess said, filling his glass. + +"A hint!" he repeated. + +"Yes; a hint that it is getting late, and that I am tired, and you must +go home." + +"Oh, ho!" he laughed uproariously; "now I won't let you in for that +good thing on the Princeton Platinum stock. You'll wish you hadn't +turned me out of the house when you see that stock quoted at fifty per +cent above par." + +"Ah, I know all about Princeton Platinum," she responded, showing her +white teeth rather more than was absolutely demanded by the occasion; +"besides, I've no money to put into anything." + +"What about Princeton Platinum?" Greenfield asked, turning toward the +other a shrewd glance. "I've heard a good deal of talk about it lately, +but I didn't pay much attention to it." + +"Princeton Platinum," the hostess put in before Snaffle could speak, +"is Mr. Snaffle's latest fairy story. It is a dream that people buy +pieces of for good hard samoleons, and"-- + +"Good _what?_" interrupted the country member. + +"Shekels, dollars, for cash under whatever name you choose to give it; +and then some fine morning they all wake up." + +"Well?" demanded Snaffle, to whom the jest seemed not in the least +distasteful. "And what then?" + +"Oh, what is usually left of dreams when one wakes up in the morning?" + +The fat person of the speculator shook with appreciation of the wit of +this sally, which did not seem to Greenfield so funny as from the +laughter of the others he supposed it must really be. The latter rose +when Snaffle did and prepared to say good-night, but Mrs. Sampson +detained him. "I want to speak with you a moment," she said. "Good- +night, Mr. Snaffle. Bear us in mind when Princeton Platinum has made +your fortune, and don't look down on us." + +"No fear," he returned. "When that happens, I shall come to you for +advice how to spend it." + +There was too much covetousness in her voice as she answered jocosely +that she could tell him. The struggle of life made even a jesting +supposition of wealth excite her cupidity. She sighed as she turned +back into the parlor and motioned Greenfield to a seat. Placing herself +in a low, velvet-covered chair, she stretched out her feet before her, +displaying the black silk stocking upon a neat instep as she crossed +them upon a low stool. + +"I am sure I don't know how to say what I want to," she began, knitting +her brows in a perplexity that was only part assumed. "Something has +come to me in the strangest way, and I think I ought to tell you, +although I haven't any interest in it, and it certainly isn't any of my +business." + +Her companion was too blunt to be likely to help her much. He simply +asked, in the most straightforward manner,-- + +"What is it?" + +"It's about public business," she said. "Why!" she added, as if a +sudden light had broken upon her. "I really believe I was going to be a +lobbyist. Fancy me lobbying! What does a lobbyist do?" + +"Nothing that you'd be likely to have any hand in," returned +Greenfield, smiling at the absurdity of the proposition. "What is all +this about?" + +"I suppose I should not have thought of it but for the turn the talk +took to-night," she returned with feminine indirectness. "It was odd, +wasn't it, that we should get to talking of the harm railroads do, when +it was about a railroad that I was going to talk." + +"There's only one railroad scheme on foot this spring that I know +anything about, and that's for a branch of the Massachusetts Outside +Railroad through Wachusett. That isn't in the Legislature either." + +"That's the one. It's going to be in the Legislature. There's going to +be an attempt to change the route." + +"Change the route?" + +"Yes, so it will go through--but will you promise not to tell this to a +living mortal?" + +"Of course." + +"I suppose," she said, regarding her slipper intently, "that I really +ought not to tell you; but I can't help it somehow. Your name is to be +used." + +"My name?" + +"Yes, the men who are planning the thing say that it will be so evident +that you'd want the road to go this new way, that if you vote with the +Wachusett interest they'll swear you are bought." + +"Swear I'm bought? Pooh! Tom Greenfield is too well known for that sort +of talk to hold water." + +"But through your own town"-- + +Mrs. Sampson regarded her companion closely as she slowly pronounced +these words. They roused him like an electric shock. + +"Through Feltonville?" + +She nodded, compressing her lips, but saying nothing. + +"Phew! This is a tough nut to crack. But are you sure that is to be +tried?" + +"Yes; there is a scheme for a few monopolists to buy up mill privileges +and run factories at Feltonville; and they mean to make the road serve +them, instead of its being put where the public need it." + +"So that's what Lincoln's been raking up in Boston," Greenfield said to +himself. "I knew he was up to some deviltry. Wants to sell off those +meadows he's been gathering in on mortgages." + +"Of course you'll want to help your town," Mrs. Sampson said, +regretfully. "The men that voted for you'll expect you to do it; but +it's helping on a sly scheme at the expense of the state. I'm sorry +you've got to be on that side." + +"Got to be on that side?" he retorted, starting up. "Who says I've got +to be on that side? we'll see about that before we get through. The men +that voted for me expect me to do what is right, and I don't think +they'll be disappointed just yet." + +And all things considered, Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson thought she had +done a good evening's work. + + + + +XVI + + WEIGHING DELIGHT AND DOLE. + Hamlet; i.--2. + +"Oh, this is completely captivating," Mrs. Frostwinch said, as she sat +down to luncheon in Edith Fenton's pretty dining-room, and looked at +the large mound-like bouquet of richly tinted spring leaves which +adorned the centre of the table. "That is the advantage of having +brains. One always finds some delightful surprise or other at your +house." + +"Thank you," Edith returned, gayly; "but at your house one always has a +delightful surprise in the hostess, so you are not forced to resort to +makeshifts." + +Helen Greyson, the third member of the party, smiled and shook her +head. + +"Really," she said, "is one expected to keep up to the level of +elaborate compliment like that? I fear I can only sit by in admiring +silence while you two go on." + +"Oh, no," the hostess responded. "Mrs. Frostwinch is to talk to you. +That is what you people are here for. I am only to listen." + +Edith had invited Helen and Mrs. Frostwinch to take luncheon with her, +and she had really done it to bring these two more closely together. +She was fond of them both, and the effect of her life in the world into +which her marriage had introduced her had been to render her capable of +judging both these women broadly. She admired them both, and while her +feeling of affection had by circumstances been more closely cemented +with Helen, she felt that a strong friendship was possible between +herself and Mrs. Frostwinch should the lines of their lives ever fall +much together. + +The modern woman, particularly if she be at all in society, has +generally to accept the possibilities of friendship in place of that +gracious boon itself. The busy round of life to-day gives ample +opportunity for judging of character, so that it is well nigh +impossible not to feel that some are worthy of friendship, some +especially gifted by nature with the power of inspiring it, while, on +the other hand, there are those who repel or with whom the bond would +be impossible. But friendship, however much it be the result of eternal +fitness and the inevitable consequence of the meeting of two harmonious +natures, is a plant of slow growth, and few things which require time +and tranquillity for their nourishment flourish greatly in this age of +restlessness and intense mental activity. The radical and unfettered +Bohemian, or such descendants of that famous race as may be supposed +still to survive, attempts to leap over all obstacles, to create what +must grow, and to turn comradeship into friendship simply because one +naturally grows out of the other; the more conservative and logical +Philistine recognizes the futility of this attitude, and in his too +careful consistency sometimes needlessly brings about the very same +failure by pursuing the opposite course. + +Edith was not of the women who naturally analyze their own feelings +toward others over keenly, but one cannot live in a world without +sharing its mental peculiarities. The times are too introspective to +allow any educated person to escape self-examination. The century which +produced that most appalling instance of spiritual exposure, the +"_Journal Intime_" which it is impossible to read without blushing that +one thus looks upon the author's soul in its nakedness, leaves small +chance for self-unconsciousness. Edith could not help examining her +mental attitude toward her companions, and it was perhaps a proof of +the sweetness of her nature that she found in her thought nothing of +that shortcoming in them, or reason for lack of fervor in friendship +other than such as must come from lack of intercourse. + +Perhaps some train of thought not far removed from the foregoing made +her say, as the luncheon progressed,-- + +"Really, it seems to me as if life proceeded at a pace so rapid +nowadays that one had not time even to be fond of anybody." + +"It goes too fast for one to have much chance to show it," Helen +responded; "but one may surely be fond of one's friends, even without +seeing them." + +"If you will swear not to tell the disgraceful fact," Mrs. Frostwinch +said, "I'll confess that I abhor Walt Whitman; but that one dreadful, +disreputably slangy phrase of his, 'I loaf and invite my soul,' echoes +through my brain like an invitation to Paradise." + +Edith smiled. + +"If Arthur were here," she returned, "he would probably say that you +think you mean that, but that really you don't." + +"My dear," Mrs. Frostwinch answered, with her beautiful smile and a +characteristic undulation of the neck, "your husband, although he is +clever to an extent which I consider positively immoral, is only a man, +and he does not understand. Men do what they like; women, what they +can. There may be moral free will for women, although I've ceased to be +sure of that even; but socially no such thing exists. Do we wear the +dreadful clothes we are tied up in because we want to? Do we order +society, or our lives, or our manners, or our morals? Do we"-- + +"There, there," interrupted Helen, laughing and putting up her hand. "I +can't hear all this without a protest. If it is true I won't own it. I +had rather concede that all women are fools"-- + +"As indeed they are," interpolated Mrs. Frost-winch. + +"Than that they are helpless manikins," continued Helen. "In any other +sense, that is," she added, "than men are." + +"My dear Mrs. Greyson," the other said, leaning toward her, "you take +the single question of the relation of the sexes, and where are we? I +wouldn't own it to a man for the world, but the truth is that men are +governed by their will, and women are governed by men; and, what is +more, if it could all be changed to-morrow, we should be perfectly +miserable until we got the old way back again; and that's the most +horribly humiliating part of it." + +"It is easy to see that you are not a woman suffragist," commented +Edith. + +"Woman suffrage," echoed the other, her voice never for an instant +varied from its even and highbred pitch; "woman suffrage must remain a +practical impossibility until the idea can be eradicated from society +that the initiative in passion is the province of man." + +"Brava!" cried the hostess. "Mr. Herman ought to hear that epigram. He +asked me last night if he ought to put an inscription in favor of woman +suffrage on the hem of the _America _he is modelling." + +Helen turned toward her quickly. + +"Is Mr. Herman making a model of the _America_?" she asked. "Has he the +commission?" + +"He hasn't the commission, because nobody has it, but he has been asked +by the committee to prepare a model." + +"That is"--began Helen. "Strange," she was going to say, but +fortunately caught herself in time and substituted "capital. It is good +to think that Boston will have one really fine statue." + +"Aren't you in that, Mrs. Greyson?" Mrs. Frostwinch asked. + +"No," Helen answered. "I am really doing little since I came home. I am +waiting until the time serves, I suppose." + +She spoke without especial thought of what she was saying, desiring +merely to cover any indications which might show the feeling aroused by +what she had just heard and the decision she had just taken to have +nothing to do with the contest for the statue of _America_, although +she had begun a study for the figure. + +"I admire you for being able to make time serve you instead of serving +time like the rest of us," Mrs. Frostwinch said. + +"I shouldn't hear another call you a time server without taking up the +cudgels to defend you," responded Edith. + +Mrs. Frostwinch smiled in reply to this. Then she turned again to +Helen. + +"To tell the truth, Mrs. Greyson," she observed, "I am glad you are not +concerned in this statue, for I am myself one of a band of conspirators +who are pushing the claims of a new man." + +"Is there a new sculptor?" Helen asked, smiling. "That is wonderful +news." + +"Yes; we think he is the coming man. His name is Stanton; Orin +Stanton." + +"Oh," responded Helen, with involuntary frankness in her accent. + +Mrs. Frostwinch laughed with perfect good nature. + +"You don't admire him?" she commented. "Well, many don't. To say the +truth, I do not think anybody alive, if you will pardon me, Mrs. +Greyson, knows the truth about sculpture. Perhaps the Greeks did, but +we don't, even when we are told. I know the Soldiers' Monument on the +Common is hideous beyond words, because everybody says so; but they +didn't when it was put up. Only a few artists objected then." + +"And the fact that a few artists have brought everybody to their +opinion," Edith asked, "doesn't make you feel that they must be right; +must have the truth behind them?" + +"No; frankly, I can't say that it does," Mrs. Frostwinch responded. + +She leaned back in her chair, a soft flush on her thin, high-bred face. +Her figure, in a beautiful gown of beryl plush embroidered with gold, +seemed artistically designed for the carved, high-backed chair in which +she sat, and both her companions were too appreciative to lose the +grace of the picture she made. + +"I cannot see that it is bad," she went on. "Mr. Fenton has proved it +to me, and even Mr. Herman, who seems, so far as I have seen him, the +most charitable of men, when I asked him how he liked it, spoke with +positive loathing of it. I can't manage to make myself unhappy over it, +that's all. And I believe I am as appreciative as the average." + +To Helen there was something at once fascinating and repellent in this +talk. She was attracted by Mrs. Frostwinch. The perfect breeding, the +grace, the polish of the woman, won upon her strongly, while yet the +subtile air of taking life conventionally, of lacking vital +earnestness, was utterly at variance with the sculptor's temperament +and methods of thought. She no sooner recognized this feeling than she +rebuked herself for shallowness and a want of charity, yet even so the +impression remained. To the artistic temperament, enthusiasm is the +only excuse for existence. + +"I think Mrs. Fenton is right," she said. "The few form the correct +judgment, and the many adopt it in the end because it is based on +truth. It seems to me," she continued, thoughtfully, "that the prime +condition of effectiveness is constancy, and only that opinion can be +constant that has truth for a foundation, because no other basis would +remain to hold it up." + +"That may be true," was the reply, "if you take matters in a +sufficiently long range, but you seem to me to be viewing things from +the standpoint of eternity." + +The smile with which she said these last words was so charming that +Helen warmed toward her, and she smiled also in replying,-- + +"Isn't that, after all, the only safe way to look at things?" + +"What deep waters we are getting into," Edith commented. "And yet they +say women are always frivolous." + +"The Boston luncheon," returned Mrs. Frost-winch, "is a solemn assembly +for the discussion of mighty themes. Yesterday, at Mrs. Bodewin +Ranger's, we disposed of all the knotty problems relating to the lower +classes." + +"I didn't know but it might be something about my house. The last time +Mrs. Greyson lunched here we solemnly debated what a wife should do +whose husband did not appreciate her." + +She spoke brightly, but there was in her tone, an undercurrent of +feeling which touched Helen, and betrayed the fact that this return to +the old theme was not wholly without a cause. Mrs. Greyson divined that +Edith was not happy, and with the keenness of womanly instinct she +divined also that there was not perfect harmony between Mrs. Fenton and +her husband. She looked up quickly, with an instinctive desire to turn +the conversation, but found no words ready. + +Edith had at the moment yielded to a woman's craving for sympathy. An +incident which had happened that forenoon troubled and bewildered her. +She had been down town, and remembering a matter of importance about +which she had neglected to consult her husband in the morning, she had +turned aside to visit his studio, a thing she seldom did in his working +hours. She found him painting from a model, and she was kept waiting a +moment while the latter retired from sight. She thought nothing of +this, but as she stood talking with Arthur, her glance fell upon a wrap +which she recognized as belonging to Mrs. Herman, and which had been +carelessly left upon the back of a chair in sight. Even this might not +have troubled her, had it not been that when she looked questioningly +from the garment to her husband, she caught a look of consternation in +his eyes. His glance met hers and turned aside with that almost +imperceptible wavering which shows the avoidance to be intentional; and +a pang of formless terror pierced her. + +All the way home she was tormented by the wonder how that wrap could +have come in her husband's studio, and what reason he could have for +being disturbed by her seeing it there. She was not a woman given to +petty or vulgar jealousy, and she had from the first left the artist +perfectly free in his professional relations to be governed by the +necessities or the conveniences of his profession. She could not to- +day, however, rid herself of the feeling that some mystery lay behind +the incident of the morning. She began to frame excuses. She speculated +whether it were possible that Arthur were secretly painting the +portrait of his friend's wife, to produce it as a surprise to them all. +She said to herself that Ninitta naturally knew models, and might +easily have enough of a feeling of comradeship remaining from the time +when she had been a model herself, to lend or give them articles of +dress. Unfortunately, she knew how Ninitta kept herself aloof from her +old associates since the birth of her child, and the explanation did +not satisfy her. + +No faintest suspicion of positive evil entered Edith's mind. She was +only vaguely troubled, the incident forming one more of the trifles +which of late had made her very uneasy in regard to her husband. She +told herself that she had confidence in Arthur; but the woman who is +forced to reflect that she has confidence in her husband has already +begun, however unconsciously, to doubt him. + +"The question is profound enough," Mrs. Frostwinch answered Edith's +words in her even tones, which somehow seemed to reduce everything to a +well-bred abstraction. "Of course the thing for a Woman to do is to +remain determinedly ignorant until it would be too palpably absurd to +pretend any longer; and then she must get away from him as quietly as +possible. The evil in these things is, after all, the stir and the +talk, and all the unpleasant and vulgar gossip which inevitably attends +them." + +Poor Edith cringed as if she had received a blow, and to cover her +emotion she gave the signal for rising from the table. But as she did +so, her eyes met those of Helen, and the truth leaped from one to the +other in one of those glances in which the heart, taken unaware, +reveals its joy or its woe with irresistible frankness. Whatever words +Edith and Helen might or might not exchange thereafter, the story of +Mrs. Fenton's married life and of the anguish of her soul was told in +that look; and her friend understood it fully. + + + + +XVII + + THE HEAVY MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. + Measure for Measure; iv.--10. + +The temper of clubs, like that of individuals, changes from time to +time, however constant remains its temperament. Those who reflected +upon such matters noticed that at the St. Filipe Club, where a few +years back there had been much talk of art and literature, and abstract +principles, there had come to be a more worldly, perhaps a Philistine +would say a more mature, flavor to the conversation. There were a good +many stories told about its wide fireplaces, and there was much running +comment on current topics, political and otherwise. There was, perhaps, +a more cosmopolitan air to the talk. + +That the old-time flavor could sometimes reappear, however, was evident +from the talk going on about nine o'clock on the evening of the day of +Edith's luncheon. The approach of the time set for an exhibition of +paintings in the gallery of the club turned the conversation toward +art, and as several of the quondam Pagans were present, the old habits +of speech reasserted themselves somewhat. + +"I understand Fenton's going to let us see his new picture," somebody +said. + +"He is if he gets it done," Tom Bently answered. "He's painting so many +portraits nowadays that he didn't get it finished for the New York +exhibition." + +"He must be making a lot of money," Fred Rangely observed. + +"He needs to to keep his poker playing up," commented Ainsworth. + +"He's lucky if he makes money in these days when it's the swell thing +to have some foreign duffer paint all the portraits," Bently said. "It +makes me sick to see the way Englishmen rake in the dollars over here." + +"How would you feel," asked Rangely, "if you tried to get a living by +writing novels, and found the market glutted with pirated English +reprints?" + +"Oh, novels," retorted Tom, "they are of no account any way. Modern +novels are like modern investments; they are all principle and no +interest." + +"I like that," put in Ainsworth, "when most of them haven't any +principle at all." + +"Neither have investments in the end," Bently returned. "At least I +know mine haven't." + +"If you were a writer you'd be spared that pain," was Rangely's reply, +"for want of anything to start an investment with." + +"I've about come to the conclusion," another member said, "that a man +may be excused for making literature his practice, but that he is a +fool to make it his profession. It does very well as an amusement, but +it's no good as a business." + +"The idea is correct," Rangely replied, ringing the bell and ordering +from the servant who responded, "although it does not strike me as +being either very fresh or very original." + +There was a digression for a moment or two while they waited for their +drinks and imbibed them. And then Fred, with the air of one who utters +a profound truth, and answers questions both spoken and unspoken, +observed as he set down his glass,-- + +"There's one thing of which I am sure; American literature will never +advance much until women are prevented from writing book reviews." + +"Meaning," said Arthur Fenton, entering and with his usual quickness +seizing the thread of conversation at once, "that some woman critic or +other hit the weak spot in Fred's last book." + +"Hallo, Fenton," called Bently, in his usual explosive fashion. "I +haven't seen you this long time. I did not know whether you were dead +or alive." + +"Oh, as usual, occupying a middle ground between the two. Are you +coming upstairs, Fred?" + +A smile ran around the circle. + +"At it again, Fenton?" Ainsworth asked. "You'll have to go West and be +made a senator if you keep on playing poker every night." + +"If I don't have better luck than I've been having lately," Fenton +rejoined, as he and Rangely left the room, "I should have to have a +subscription taken up to pay my travelling expenses." + +The card-rooms were upstairs, and Fenton and Rangely went to them +without speaking. The artist was speculating whether a ruse he had just +executed would be successful; his companion was thinking of the news he +had just had from New York, that a girl with whom he had flirted at the +mountains last summer was about to visit Boston. + +Around a baize-covered table in the card-room sat three or four men, in +one of whom Rangely recognized the corpulent and vulgar person of Mr. +Erastus Snaffle. He nodded to him with an air of qualifying his +recognition with certain mental reservations, while Fenton said as he +took his place beside Chauncy Wilson, who moved to make room for him,-- + +"Good evening, Mr. Snaffle. Have you come up to clean the club out +again?" + +Mr. Snaffle looked up as if he did not fully comprehend, but he +chuckled as he answered,-- + +"I should think it was time. I was never inside this club that I didn't +get bled." + +The men laughed in a somewhat perfunctory way, and the cards having +been dealt, the game went on. They were all members of the club except +Snaffle, and they all knew that this rather doubtful individual had no +business there at all. There had of late been a good deal of feeling in +the club because the rule that forbade the bringing of strangers into +the house had been so often violated. The St. Filipe was engaged in the +perfectly fruitless endeavor to enforce the regulation that visitors +might be admitted provided the same person was not brought into the +rooms twice within a fixed period. Some of the members violated the +rule unconsciously, since it was awkward to invite a friend into the +club and to qualify the courtesy with the condition that he had not +been asked by anybody else within the prescribed period, and it was +easy to forget this ungracious preliminary. Some few of the members-- +since in every club there will be men who are gentlemen but by brevet, +--deliberately took advantage of the uncertainty which always arises +from so anomalous a regulation, and the result of deliberate and of +involuntary breaches of the rule had been that the club house was made +free with by outsiders to a most unpleasant extent. + +Not yet ready to do away with the by-law, since many members found--it +convenient and pleasant to take their friends into the club-house, the +managers of the affairs of the St. Filipe were making a desperate +effort to discover all offenders who were intentionally guilty of +violating the regulation. They had their eye on several outsiders who +made free with the house, and it was understood that certain men were +in danger of being requested not to continue their visits to a place +where they had no right. Snaffle, who had been first brought to the +club by Dr. Wilson to play poker, was one of these, and the men who sat +playing with him to-night were secretly curious to know how he happened +to be there on this particular occasion. He had come into the card-room +alone, with the easy air of familiarity which usually distinguished +him, and appearances seemed to point to his having taken the liberty of +walking into the house in the same way. The men liked well enough to +have him in the game, because he played recklessly and always left +money at the table, but not one of them, even Dr. Wilson, who was more +recklessly democratic in his habits and instincts than any of the rest, +would have cared to be seen walking with Erastus Snaffle on the streets +by daylight. + +When Snaffle entered the club house, the servant whose duty it was to +wait at the outer door, had gone for a moment to the coat-room +adjoining the hall. Here Snaffle met him and offered him his coat and +hat. The servant extended his hand mechanically, but he looked at the +new-comer so pointedly that the latter muttered, by way of +credentials,-- + +"I came with Mr. Fenton." + +The servant made no comment, but as Mr. Snaffle went upstairs, he +reported to the steward that the intruder was again in the house and +had been introduced by Mr. Fenton. The steward in turn reported this to +the Secretary, and before Arthur himself came in, a rod was already +preparing for him in the shape of a complaint to be made before the +Executive Committee. + +It was thus that precisely the thing happened which Fenton had with his +usual cleverness endeavored to guard against. Impudent as Mr. Snaffle +was capable of being, he would never have ventured uninvited into the +precincts of the St. Filipe Club, where even when introduced he found +himself somewhat overpowered by the social standing and the lofty +manners of those around him. This feeling of awe showed itself in two +ways, had any one been clever enough to appreciate the fact. It +rendered him unusually silent, and it induced him to play high, as if +he felt under obligations to pay for his admission into company where +he did not belong. + +It was to this last fact that he owed his invitation to be present on +this particular evening. Arthur Fenton was going to the club to play +poker, urged partly by the love of excitement and perhaps even more by +the hope of raising a part or the whole of the fifty dollars of which +he had pressing need, when he encountered Snaffle standing on a street +corner. Fenton's acquaintance with the man had been confined to their +meetings in the card-room of the St. Filipe, but he had once or twice +carried home in his pocket very substantial tokens of Snaffle's +reckless play. Almost without being conscious of what he did, Fenton +stopped and extended his hand. + +"Good evening," he said. "What is up? Are you ready for your revenge?" + +"Oh, I'm always ready for a good game," Snaffle answered. "I was going +to see my best girl, but I don't mind taking a hand instead." + +Fenton smiled as the other turned and walked with him toward the club, +but inwardly he loathed the fat, vulgar man at his side. His sense of +the fitness of things was outraged by his being obliged to associate +with such a creature, and that the obligation arose entirely from his +own will, only showed to his mind how helpless he was in the hands of +fate. He was outwardly gracious enough, but inwardly he nourished a +bitter hatred against Erastus Snaffle for constraining him to go +through this humiliation before he could win his money. + +As they neared the club, Fenton recalled the fact that there had been +some talk about visitors, and that the presence of this very man had +been especially objected to, and reflected that in any case he had no +desire to be seen going in with him. As they entered the vestibule the +door was not opened for them, and Fenton's quick wit appreciated the +fact that the servant who should be sitting just inside, was not in his +place. With an inward ejaculation of satisfaction at this good fortune, +he put his hand to his breast pocket. + +"Oh, pshaw!" he exclaimed. "There are those confounded letters I +promised to post. You go in, Mr. Snaffle, and I'll go back to the +letter box on the corner. You know the way, and you'll find the fellows +in the first card-room." + +He opened the door as he spoke, and as Snaffle entered and closed it +after him, Fenton ran down the steps and walked to the next corner. He +had no letters to mail, but it was characteristic of his dramatic way +of doing things that he walked to the letter-box, raised the drop and +went through the motion of slipping in an envelope. He was accustomed +to say that when one played a part it could not be done too carefully, +and it amused him to reflect that if he were watched his action would +appear consistent with his words, while if he were timed he would be +found to have been gone from the club house exactly long enough. Not +that he supposed anybody was likely to take the trouble to do either of +these things, but Fenton was an imaginative man and he found a humorous +pleasure in finishing even his trickery in an artistic manner. + +It was Saturday night, and just before midnight a servant opened the +card-room door. The room was full of smoke, empty glasses stood beside +the players, and piles of red and blue and white "chips" were heaped in +uneven distribution along the edges of the table. + +"It is ten minutes of twelve, gentlemen," the servant said, and +retired. + +"Jack-pots round," said Rangely, dealing rapidly. "Look lively now." + +He and Fenton had been winning, the pile of blue counters beside the +latter representing nearly thirty dollars, with enough red and white +ones to cover his original investments. The first jackpot and the +second were played, Dr. Wilson wining one and Snaffle the other on the +first hand. On the third, Fenton bet for awhile, holding three aces +against a full hand held by the fifth man. + +"It's all right," Fenton remarked, as Rangely chaffed him. "I am +waiting for the 'kittie-pot.' See what a pile there is to go into that. +I always expect to gather in the 'kittie.'" + +The fourth pot was quickly passed, and then Wilson, who had been +managing the "kittie," put upon the table the surplus, which to-night +chanced to be unusually large. The cards were dealt and dealt three +times again before the pot could be opened, and then Rangely started +it. Arthur looked at his hand in disgust. He held the nine of hearts, +the five, six, eight, and nine of spades, and as he said to himself he +never had luck in drawing to either straight or flush. Still the stake +was good, and he came in, discarding his heart. He drew the seven of +spades. Rangely was betting on three aces, and Wilson on a full hand, +so that the betting ran rather high. + +"Twelve o'clock, gentlemen," the servant said at the door. + +And when Fenton began his Sunday by winning the pot on his straight +flush, he found himself more than sixty dollars to the good on his +evening's work. + +"You've regularly bled me, Fenton," Snaffle observed with much +jocularity, as the players came out of the club house. "I've hardly got +a car fare left to take me home. I'm afraid the St. Filipe is a den of +thieves." + +"I don't mind lending you a car fare, Mr. Snaffle," the artist +returned, endeavoring to speak as pleasantly as if he did not object to +the familiarity of the other's address. "But don't abuse the club." + +"I think I'll go to church," Dr. Wilson said with a yawn. "It must be +most time." + +"Church-going," Fenton returned, sententiously, "is small beer for +small souls." + +"There, Fenton," retorted Rangely, as at this minute they came to the +corner where they separated, "don't feel obliged to try to be clever. +You can't do it at this time of night." + +Snaffle continued his walk with the artist almost to Fenton's door, +although the latter suspected that it was out of his companion's way. +Arthur was willing, however, to give the loser the compensation of his +society as a return for the greenbacks in his pocket, and his natural +acuteness was so far from being as active as usual that when he found +Mr. Snaffle speaking of Princeton Platinum stock he did not suspect +that he was being angled for in turn, and that the gambling for the +evening was not yet completed. He listened at first without much +attention, but the man to whom he listened was wily and clever, and +after he was in bed that night the artist's brain was busy planning how +to raise money to invest in Princeton Platinum. + +"I never saw such luck as yours," Snaffle observed admiringly. "The way +you filled that spade flush on that last hand was a miracle. It is just +that sort of luck that runs State street and Wall street." + +Fenton smiled to himself in the darkness, the proposition was so +manifestly absurd, but he was already bitten by the mania for +speculation, and when once this madness infects a man's brain the most +improbable causes will increase the disease. Snaffle, of course, was +too shrewd to ask his companion to buy Princeton Platinum stock, and +indeed declared that although he had charge of putting it upon the +market, he was reluctant to part with a single share of it. He added +with magnanimous frankness, that all mining stock was dangerous, +especially for one who did not thoroughly understand it. + +But his negatives, as he intended, were more effective than +affirmatives would have been, and the bait had been safely swallowed by +the unlucky fish for whom the astute speculator angled. Fenton had +invited him to the club to be eaten, but the wily visitor secretly +regarded the money he lost at the poker table as a paying investment, +believing that in the end it was not the bones of plump Erastus Snaffle +which were destined to be picked. + + + + +XVIII + + HE SPEAKS THE MERE CONTRARY. + Love's Labor's Lost; i.--I. + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson sat in her bower, enveloped in an +unaccustomed air of respectability, and in a frame of mind exceedingly +self-satisfied and serene. She had secured a visit from a New York +relative, a distant cousin whose acquaintance she had made in the +mountains the summer before, and she hoped from this circumstance to +secure much social advantage. For at home Miss Frances Merrivale moved +in circles such as her present hostess could only gaze at from afar +with burning envy. In her own city, Miss Merrivale would certainly +never have consented to know Mrs. Sampson, relationship or no +relationship; but she chanced to wish to get away from home for a week +or two, she thought somewhat wistfully of the devotion of Fred Rangely +at the mountains last summer, and she was not without a hope that if +she once appeared in Boston, the Staggchases, who should have invited +her to visit them long ago, she being as nearly related to Mr. +Staggchase as to Mrs. Sampson, might be moved to ask her to come to +stay with them. + +It cannot be said that Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson, dashing, vulgar +social adventurer that she was, had much in common with her guest. Miss +Merrivale, it is true, had the incurable disease of social ambition as +thoroughly as her hostess; but the girl had, at least, a recognized and +very comfortable footing under her feet, while the unfortunate widow +kept herself above the surface only by nimble but most tiresome leaps +from one precarious floating bit to another. In these matters, +moreover, a few degrees make really an immense difference. There is all +the inequality which exists between the soldier who wields his sword in +a disastrous hollow, and one who strikes triumphant blows from the +hillock above. The elevation is to be measured in inches, perhaps, but +that range reaches from failure to success. Whether social ambition is +proper pride or vulgar presumption depends not upon the feeling itself +so much as upon the grade from which it is exercised, and Miss +Merrivale very quickly understood that while she was placed upon one +side of the dividing line between the two, her hostess was unhappily to +be found upon the other. + +Indeed Miss Frances had hardly recognized what Mrs. Sampson's +surroundings were until she found herself established in the little +apartment as a guest of that lady. Her newly found cousin had at the +mountains spoken of her father, the late judge, and of her own +acquaintances among the great and well known of Boston, with an air +which carried conviction to one who had not known her too long. She +spoke with playful pathos of her poverty, it is true, but when a +woman's gowns will pass muster, talk of poverty is not likely to be +taken too seriously. Miss Merrivale knew, moreover, that the widow, +like herself, could boast a connection with the Staggchase family. + +Now she found herself at the top of an apartment house in a street of +Nottingham lace curtains carefully draped back to show the Rogers' +groups on neat marble stands behind their precise folds. The awful gulf +which yawned between this South End location and the region where abode +those whom she counted her own kind socially, was apparent to her the +moment she arrived and looked about her. Fred Rangely had called, but +Mrs. Sampson had regaled her guest with such tales of his devotion to +Mrs. Staggchase that Miss Merrivale received him with much coldness, +and his call was not a success. Now she was impatiently waiting for the +appearance of Mrs. Staggchase, who, it did not occur to her to doubt, +would of course call. She was curious to see her relative, and her +fondness for Rangely, such as it was, was marvellously quickened by the +presence of a rival in the field. Instead of the appearance of Mrs. +Staggchase, however, came a note asking Miss Merrivale to dine, whereat +that young woman was angry, and her hostess, although she was too +clever to show it, was secretly furious. + +This invitation was the result of a conversation between Mr. and Mrs. +Richard Staggchase, which had begun by that gentleman's asking his wife +at dinner when she was going to call upon Miss Merrivale. + +"Not at all, my dear," Mrs. Staggchase answered, "as long as she is +visiting that dreadful Mrs. Sampson, I'm not sure, Fred, but that if I +had known that creature could claim a cousinship to you, I should have +refused to marry you." + +"She is a dose," Mr. Staggchase admitted. "I wonder where she lives +now. Didn't Frances Merrivale send her address?" + +"She lives on Catawba Street, at the top of a speaking tube in one of +those dreadful apartment houses where you shout up the tube and they +open the door for you by electricity. I wonder how soon it will be, +Fred, before you'll drop in a nickel at the door of an apartment house +and the person you want to see will be slid out to you on a platform." + +"Gad! That wouldn't be a bad scheme," her husband returned, with an +appreciative grin. "But, really now, what are you going to do about +this girl. She's a sort of cousin, you know, and she's a great friend +of the Livingstons." + +"We might ask her to come here after she gets through with that woman. +I'll write her if you like." + +"Without calling?" Mr. Staggchase asked, lifting his eyebrows a little. + +"My dear," his wife responded, "I try to do my duty in that estate in +life to which I have been appointed, and I am willing to made all +possible exceptions to all known rules in favor of your family; but +Mrs. Sampson is an impossible exception. I will do nothing that shows +her that I am conscious of her existence." + +"But it will be awfully rude not to call." + +"One can't be rude to such creatures as Mrs. Sampson," returned Mrs. +Staggchase, with unmoved decision. "She is one of those dreadful women +who watch for a recognition as a cat watches for a mouse. I've seen her +at the theatre. She'd pick out one person and run him down with her +great bold eyes until he had to bow to her, and then she'd stalk +another in the same way. Call or her, indeed! Why, Fred, she'd invite +you to a dinner _tete-a-tete_ to-day, if she thought you'd go." + +Mr. Staggchase laughed rather significantly. + +"Gad! that might be amusing. She is of the kittle cattle, my dear, but +you must own that she's a well-built craft." + +"Oh, certainly," replied his better half, who was too canny by far to +show annoyance, if indeed she felt any, when her husband praised +another woman. "If everybody isn't aware of her good points, it isn't +that she is averse to advertising them. She has taken up with young +Stanton, the sculptor, just because some of us have been interested in +him." + +"Is he going to make the _America_ statue?" + +"That is still uncertain, but for my part I half hope he won't, if that +Sampson woman is his kind." + +Mr. Staggchase dipped his long fingers into his finger bowl, wiped them +with great deliberation and then pushed his chair back from the table. +It was very seldom that his wife denied a request he made her, but when +she did he knew better than to contend in the matter. + +"Very well," he said, "you may do whatever you please. Whether you +women are so devilish hard on each other because you know your own sex +is more than I should undertake to say." + +"Are you going out?" + +"Yes," he answered, "I have got to go to a meeting of the Executive +Committee of the St. Filipe. There is some sort of a row; I don't know +what. How are you going to amuse yourself." + +"By doing my duty." + +"Do you find duty amusing then; I shouldn't have suspected it." + +"Oh, duty's only another name for necessity. I'm going to the theatre +with Fred Rangely. He wrote an article for the _Observer_ in favor of +that great booby Stanton's having the statue. It was a very lukewarm +plea, but I asked him to do it, and as a reward"-- + +"He is allowed the inestimable boon of taking you to the theatre," +finished her husband, "I must say, Dian, that you are, on the whole, +the shrewdest woman I know." + +"Thank you. I must be just, you know," she returned smiling as +brilliantly as if her husband were to be won again. + +It was not without reason that Mrs. Staggchase had spoken of herself +and her husband as a model couple. Given her theory of married life, +nothing could be more satisfactory and consistent than the way in which +she lived up to it. Her ideal of matrimony was a sort of mutual +_laisser faire_, conducted with the utmost propriety and politeness. +She made an especial point of being as attractive to her husband as to +any other man; and she had the immense advantage of never having been +in love with anybody but herself and of being philosophical enough not +to consider the good things of conversation wasted if they were said +for his exclusive benefit. She had no children, and had once remarked +in answer to the question whether she regretted this, "There must be +some pleasure in having sons old enough to flirt with you; but I don't +know of anything else I have lost that I have reason to regret." + +Her husband, thorough man of the world as he was, and indeed perhaps +for that very reason, never outgrew a pleased surprise that he found +his wife so perennially entertaining. He was not unwilling that she +should exercise her fascinations on others when she chose, since he had +no feeling toward her sufficiently warm to engender anything like +jealousy; but he appreciated her to the full. + +He rose from his seat and walked to the sideboard, where he selected a +cigar. + +"I must say," he observed, between the puffs as he lighted it, "that +you are justice incarnate. You have always kept accounts squared with +me most beautifully." + +Mrs. Staggchase laughed softly, toying with the tiny spoon of Swiss +carved silver with which she had stirred her coffee. Her husband had +expressed perfectly her theory of marital relations. She balanced +accounts in her mind with the most scrupulous exactness, and was an +admirable debtor if a somewhat unrelenting creditor. She had a definite +standard by which she measured her obligations to Mr. Staggchase, and +she never allowed herself to fall short in the measure she gave him. +She was fond of him in a conveniently mild and reasonable fashion, and +a marriage founded upon mutual tolerance, if it is likely never to be +intensely happy, is also likely to be a pretty comfortable one. Mrs. +Staggchase paid to her husband all her tithes of mint and anise and +cumin, and she even sometimes presented him with a propitiatory +offering in excess of her strict debt; only such a gift was always set +down in her mental record as a gift and not as a tribute. + +"This Stanton is an awful lout, Fred," she observed. "Perhaps he can +make a good statue of _America_, but if he can it will be because he is +so thoroughly the embodiment of the vulgar and pushing side of American +character." + +"Then why in the world are you pushing him?" + +"Oh, because Mrs. Ranger and Anna Frostwinch want him pushed. I don't +know but they may believe in him. Mrs. Ranger does, of course, but the +dear old soul knows no more about art than I do about Choctaw. As to +the statues, I don't think it makes much difference, they are always +laughed at, and I don't think anybody could make one in this age that +wouldn't be found fault with." + +"Nobody nowadays knows enough about sculpture to criticise it +intelligently," Staggchase remarked, somewhat oracularly, "and the only +safe thing left is to find fault." + +"That is just about it, and so it may as well be this booby as anybody +else that gets the commission. It isn't respectable for the town not to +have statues, of course." + +Mr. Staggchase moved toward the door. + +"Well," he said, "I don't know who's in the fight, but I'll bet on your +side. Good night. I hope virtue will be its own reward." + +"Oh, it always is," retorted his wife. "I especially make it a point +that it shall be." + + + + +XIX + + HOW CHANCES MOCK. + II Henry IV.; iii.--I. + +A man often creates his own strongest temptations by dwelling upon +possibilities of evil; and it is equally true that nothing else renders +a man so likely to break moral laws as the consciousness of having +broken them already. The experience of Arthur Fenton was in these days +affording a melancholy illustration of both of these propositions. The +humiliating inner consciousness of having violated all the principles +of honor of his fealty to which he had been secretly proud begot in him +an unreasonable and unreasoning impulse still further to transgress. +When arraigned by his inner self for his betrayal of Hubbard, it was +his instinct to defend himself by showing his superiority to all moral +canons whatever. He felt a certain desperate inclination to trample all +principles underfoot, as if by so doing he could destroy the standards +by which he was being tried. + +Fenton was not of a mental fibre sufficiently robust to make this +impulse likely to result in any violent outbreak, and, indeed, but for +circumstances it would doubtless have vapored itself away in words and +vagrant fancies. He had once remarked, embodying a truth in one of his +frequent whimsically perverse statements, that the worst thing which +could be said of him was that he was incapable of a great crime, and +only the constant pressure of an annoyance, such as the threats of +Irons in regard to Ninitta, or the presence of an equally constant +temptation, such as that to which he was now succumbing in allowing his +relations with Mrs. Herman to become more and more intimate, would have +brought him to any marked transgression. + +In a nature such as that of Fenton there is, with the exception of +vanity and the instinct of self-preservation, no trait stronger than +curiosity. The artist was devoured by an eager, intellectual greed to +know all things, to experience all sensations, to taste all savors of +life. He made no distinction between good and bad; his zeal for +knowledge was too keen to allow of his being deterred by the line +ordinarily drawn between pain and pleasure. His affections, his +passions, his morals were all subordinate to this burning curiosity, +and only his instinct of self-preservation subtly making itself felt in +the guise of expediency, and his vanity prettily disguised as taste, +held the thirst for knowledge in check. + +It was by far more the desire to learn whether he could bend Ninitta to +his will than it was passion which carried Fenton forward in the +dangerous path upon which he was now well advanced; and it was perhaps +more than either a half-unconscious eagerness to taste a new +experience. Even the double wickedness of betraying the wife of a +friend and of enticing a woman to her fall had for Fenton, in his +present mood, an unholy fascination. He was too self-analytical to +deceive himself into a supposition that he was in love with Ninitta, +and even his passion was so much under the dominion of his head that he +could have blown it out like a rushlight, had he really desired to be +done with it. He looked at himself with mingled approbation, amusement, +and horror, as he might have regarded a favorite and skilful actor in a +vicious _role_; and the man whose mind is to him merely an +amphitheatre, where games are played for his amusement, is always +dangerous. + +As for Ninitta, the processes of her mind were probably quite as +complex as those of his, although they appeared more simple, in virtue +of their being more remote. She had, in the first place, a curious +jealousy of her husband because of his passionate fondness for Nino, +and a dull resentment at the secret conviction that the father had the +gifts and powers which were sure to win more love than the child would +bestow upon her. She could better bear the thought that the boy should +die, than that he should live to love anybody more than he loved her. + +It was also true that Grant Herman, large-hearted and generous as he +was, did not know how to make his wife happy. He was patient and +chivalrous and tender; but he was hardly able to go to her level, and +as she could not come to his, the pair had little in common. He felt +that somehow this must be his fault; he told himself that, as the +larger nature, it should be his place to make concessions, to master +the situation, and to secure Ninitta's happiness, whatever came to him. +He had even come to feel so much tenderness toward the mother of his +child, the woman in whose behalf he had made the great sacrifice of his +life, that a pale but steadfast glow of affection shone always in his +heart for his wife. But his patience, his delicacy, his steadfastness +counted for little with Ninitta. She had been separated from him for +long years of betrothal, during which he had developed and changed +utterly. She had clung to her love and faith, but her love and faith +were given to an ardent youth glowing with a passion of which it was +hardly possible to rekindle the faint embers in the bosom of the man +she married. Even Ninitta, little given to analysis, could not fail to +recognize that her husband was a very different being from the lover +she had known ten years before. One fervid blaze of the old love would +have appealed more strongly to her peasant soul than all the patience +and tender forbearance of years. + +Indeed, it is doubtful whether Ninitta might not have been better and +happier had Herman been less kind. Had he made a slave of her, she +would have accepted her lot as uncomplainingly as the women of her race +had acquiesced in such a fate for stolid generations. She could have +understood that. As it was, she felt always the strain of being tried +by standards which she did not and could not comprehend; the misery of +being in a place for which she was unfitted and which she could not +fill, and the fact that no definite demands were made upon her +increased her trouble by the double stress of putting her upon her own +responsibility, and of leaving her ignorant in what her failures lay. + +There was, too, who knows what trace of heredity in the readiness with +which Ninitta tacitly adopted the idea that infidelity to a husband was +rather a matter of discretion and secrecy; whereas faithfulness to her +lover had been a point of the most rigorous honor. And Ninitta found +Arthur Fenton's silken sympathy so insinuating, so soothing; the +tempter, merely from his marvellous adaptability and faultless tact, so +satisfied her womanly craving, and fostered her vanity; she was so +completely made to feel that she was understood; she was tempted with a +cunning the more infernal because Fenton kept himself always up to the +level of sincerity by never admitting to himself that he intended any +evil, that it was small wonder that the time came when her ardent +Italian nature was so kindled that she became involuntarily the tempter +in her turn. + +It was one of the singular features of Fenton's present attitude that +even he, with all his clear-sightedness, failed to see the error of +supposing that his departure from the paths of rectitude was nothing +but a temporary episode. He fully expected to take up again his former +attitude toward life when he would have scorned such a contemptible +action as the betrayal of Hubbard, or the more trifling, but perhaps +even more humiliating act of smuggling Snaffle into the club that he +might win his money. He even had a certain vague feeling that if he had +any viciousness to get through he must do it at once, lest the +resumption of his former respectability should deprive him of the +opportunity. He maintained before the world, indeed, a perfect +propriety of deportment, partly from the force of habit and partly from +the instinctive cunning which always tried to preserve for him the +means of retreat; but so complete was his abandonment, for the time +being, to the enjoyment of evil, that he was constantly assailed with +the temptation to make some public demonstration of his state of +feeling. He secretly longed to shock people with blasphemous or +imprudent expressions; to outrage all honor by stealing his host's +spoons when he dined out; his fancy rioted in whimsical evil of which, +of course, he gave no outward sign. + +He had a scene with Alfred Irons, one morning, at his studio. Irons +came in with a look on his face which secretly enraged the artist, who +was almost rude in the coldness of his greeting, although the caller +only grinned at this evidence of his host's irritation. + +"Well, Fenton," he said, with bluff abruptness, "I suppose it is time +for us to square accounts, isn't it?" + +"I was not aware that we had any accounts to square," the other +returned, with his most icy manner. + +Irons laughed, and looked about the studio. + +"That's your new picture, I suppose" he observed, settling himself back +in his chair, with the determined mien of a man who recognizes the fact +that he has a battle to fight, but is perfectly willing to join the +fray. + +The significance of his air, as he nodded toward the big canvas on the +easel, so plainly brought up the unfortunate hold which the _Fatima_ +had given Irons over the artist, that Fenton flushed in spite of +himself. + +"It is a picture," he returned; "and it is unfinished." + +Irons chuckled. + +"Very well," he said. "We won't fence. I thought you might be +interested to know that we've got our railroad business into first-rate +shape; and there's no doubt that the Wachusett route will carry the +day. I tell you we had a hot time in the Senate yesterday," he went on, +warming with the excitement of his subject. "We made a pretty stiff +fight in the Railroad Committee to get them to report 'not expedient' +on the Feltonville petition. I tell you Staggchase fought like a bull +tiger at the hearing, and those fellows must have put in a pot of +money. But we beat 'em. Then the fight came to get the report accepted +in the Senate. Everybody said that Tom Greenfield would settle the +thing with a big broadside in favor of his own town; and I'll own that +I was scared blue myself. But we haven't been cooking Tom Greenfield +all this time for nothing. I don't mind telling you that your help in +the matter was of the greatest value; and when Greenfield got up in the +Senate yesterday, and put in his best licks for the Wachusett route, +you'd have thought they'd been struck by a cyclone. We got a vote to +sustain that report that buries the Feltonville project out of sight; +and now there's no doubt that the Railroad Commissioners will give us +our certificate without any more trouble." + +During this rather long and not wholly coherent speech, Fenton sat with +his eyes coldly fixed upon his visitor, without giving the slightest +sign of interest. + +"I am glad," he said, in a manner as distant as he could make it, "that +your business is likely to succeed to your mind." + +"Oh, it must succeed. The Commissioners only suspended operations till +the Legislature disposed of the question of special legislation. Now +they're all ready to give us what we want." + +"And all this," Fenton said, "is of what interest to me?" + +Irons flushed angrily. + +"You were good enough," he returned, drawing his lips down savagely, +"to give us a bit of information which we found of value. Very likely +we might have hit upon it somewhere else, but that's no matter, as long +as we did get it through you. We've no inclination to shirk our debt. +Now what's your price?" + +Fenton rose from his chair, with an impulsive movement; then he +controlled himself and sat down again. He looked at his visitor with +eyes of fire. + +"I am not aware," he returned, "that I have ever been in the market, so +that I have not been obliged to consider that question." + +Alfred Irons was silent for a moment. He felt somewhat as if he had +received a dash of ice-water in the face. He wrinkled up his narrow +eyes and studied the man before him. He could not understand what the +other was driving at. He was little likely to be able to follow the +subtile changes of Fenton's imaginative mind, and he could at present +see no explanation of the way in which his advances were met, except +the theory that the artist was fencing to insure a larger reward for +his treachery than might be given him if he accepted the first offer in +silence. + +Fenton, on his part, was so filled with rage that it was with +difficulty that he restrained himself. The length to which his intimacy +with Ninitta had now gone, however, made it absolutely necessary that +he should avoid a quarrel in which her name might be brought up; and he +had, moreover, put himself into the hands of Irons, by giving him the +information in regard to the plans for Feltonville. + +"Oh, well," Irons said at length, rising with the air of one who cannot +waste his time puzzling over trifles; "have it your own way. It's only +a matter of words." + +He took out his pocket-book, and with deliberation turned over the +papers it contained. He selected one, read it carefully, and then held +it out to Fenton. + +"Our manufacturing corporation is practically on its legs now," he +said, "and the stock will be issued at once. That entitles you to ten +shares. They will be issued at sixty, and ought to go to par by fall. +Indeed, in a year's time, we'll make them worth double the buying +price, or I am mistaken." + +Fenton looked at the paper as if he were reading it, but its letters +swam before his eyes. He needed money sorely, and had this gift come in +a shape more readily convertible into cash, he might have found it +impossible to resist it. As it was, he allowed himself to be fiercely +angry. He was furious, but he was consciously so. He raised his eyes, +flashing and distended, and fixed them upon the mean, hateful face +before him. He paused an instant to let his gaze have its effect. + +"And I understand," he said, with a slow, careful enunciation, "that in +consideration of the service I have done you, you give me your promise +never to mention the fact that you saw a lady in my studio." + +"Certainly," Irons returned. + +Fenton's look made him uncomfortable. The artist was reasserting the +old superiority over him which the visitor had found so irritating, and +it was Iron's instinct to meet this by an air of bluster. + +"Very well," Arthur said. "We may then consider what you are pleased to +call our account as closed." + +He walked forward deliberately and laid the paper he held on the heap +of glowing coals in the grate. It curled and shrivelled, and before +Irons could even compress his thick lips to whistle, nothing remained +of the document but a quivering film. + +"Well," Irons commented, "you are a damned fool; but then that's your +own business." + +The artist bowed gravely. + +"Naturally," he replied. + +He stood waiting as if he expected his caller to go, and, despite +himself, Irons felt that he was being bowed out of the studio. He took +his leave awkwardly, feeling that he had somehow been beaten with +trumps in his hand, and hating Fenton ten times more heartily than +ever. + +"The confounded snob!" he muttered under his breath, as he went down +the stairs of Studio Building. "He puts on damned high-headed airs; but +I'm not done with him yet." + +And Fenton meanwhile stood looking at that thin fluttering film on the +red coals with despair in his heart. He had taken the money which he +imperatively needed to pay notes soon due, and invested in Princeton +Platinum, with which the obliging Erastus Snaffle had supplied him out +of pure generosity, if one could credit the seller's statements; and he +had been secretly depending for relief upon this very gift from Irons +which he had destroyed. His affairs were every day becoming more +inextricably involved, and Fenton, it has already been said, with all +his cleverness, had no skill as a financier. + +"Well," he commented to himself, shrugging his shoulders, "that is the +end of that; but I did make good play." + +The satisfaction of having well acted his part, and of having got the +better of Irons, did much toward restoring the artist's naturally +buoyant spirits. He fell to reckoning his resources, and by dint of +introducing into the account several pleasing but most improbable +possibilities, he succeeded in building up between himself and ruin a +fanciful barrier which for the moment satisfied him; and beyond the +moment he refused to look. + + + + +XX + + VOLUBLE AND SHARP DISCOURSE. + Comedy of Errors; ii.--I. + +Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson had in the course of a varied, if not always +dignified career, learned many things. There are people who seem +compelled by circumstances to waste much of their mental energy in +attending to the trivial and sordid details of life, and the widow +often repined that she was one of these unfortunates. She secretly +fretted not a little, for instance, over the fact that she was +compelled to be gracious to servants, to butcher and baker and +candlestick maker, from unmixed reasons of policy. To be gracious in +the _role_ of a _grande dame_ would have pleased her, but she resented +the necessity; and she avenged herself upon fate by gloating upon the +stupidity of that power in wasting her energies in these petty things, +when results so brilliant might have been attained by a more wise +utilization of her cleverness. + +This morning, for instance, when Mrs. Sampson chatted affably with the +carpenter who had come to do an odd job in the china closet of her tiny +dining-room, she really enjoyed the talk. She was one of those women +who cannot help liking to chat with a man, and John Stanton was both +good looking enough and intelligent enough to make her willing to exert +herself for his entertainment. This did not, however, prevent her being +inwardly indignant that she felt herself compelled to converse with +Stanton because experience had taught her that a little amiability +properly exhibited was sure to increase the work and lessen the bill at +the same time. She did not forego the pleasure of pitying herself +because she chanced to find the task imposed upon her an agreeable one. +There are few people in this world who are sufficiently just and +sufficiently sane to deny themselves the luxury of self pity merely +because the occasion does not justify that feeling. + +Stanton, with his coat off and his strong arms bare to the elbow, was +planing down a shelf to make it fit into its place, and as he paused to +shake the long creamy shavings out of his plane, he looked up to say +apologetically,-- + +"I'm making an awful litter, ma'am, but I don't see how I can help it." + +Mrs. Sampson laughed. + +"Oh, it isn't of the least consequence," she answered. "If I was +inclined to complain it would be because after keeping me waiting for +six weeks for this work, you come just when I have company staying with +me, and gentlemen coming to dine." + +She had walked into the room with a not illy simulated air of having +come with the intention of going out again immediately, and stood well +posed, so that her fine figure came out in relief against a crimson +Japanese screen. + +"I haven't anything to do with that, ma'am," Stanton replied. "The boss +makes out the orders, and we go where we are sent." + +"Well," the widow said, smiling brilliantly, and moving across the room +to the table where the dishes taken from the closet were piled, "it +can't be helped, I suppose; but I hope you will let me get things +cleared up in time for dinner." + +"Oh, I'll surely get through by eleven or half past." + +"And I don't have dinner till half past six." + +The carpenter looked up questioningly. Then he went on with his work. + +"I never can get used to city ways," he observed. "I don't see how +folks can get along without having dinner in the middle of the day when +it's dinner time." + +Mrs. Sampson busied herself with the plates, arranging things on the +sideboard ready for evening. Her guest, Miss Merrivale, was out driving +with Fred Rangely, and the widow's resources in the way of servants +were so limited that it was necessary that the hands of the mistress +should attend to many of the details of the housekeeping. She enjoyed +talking to this stalwart, vigorous fellow. She was alive to the last +fibre of her being to the influence of masculine perfections, and +Stanton was a splendidly built type of manhood. She utilized the +moments and secured an excuse for lingering by going on with her work +while the carpenter continued his, carrying out her theory of getting +the most out of a laborer by personal supervision, and withal +gratifying her intense and instinctive fondness for the presence of a +magnificent man. + +"You are not city bred, perhaps," she answered his last remark, for the +sake of saying something. + +"Oh, no, ma'am," John answered. "I was raised at Feltonville." + +The widow became alert at once. + +"Feltonville?" she repeated. "Why, I have a cousin living there, the +Hon. Thomas Greenfield." + +"Oh, Tom Greenfield. Everybody knows Tom Greenfield," John said, his +face lighting up. "We call him 'Honest Tom' up our way. He's here in +the Legislature now." + +"Yes, I know he is. He's coming here to dinner to-night." + +"Is he? He's an awful smart man, and he's a good one, too, as ever +walked. He's awful interested in Orin's getting the job to make the new +statue of _America_. Orin," he added in explanation, "Orin Stanton, +he's the sculptor and he's my brother; my half-brother, that is. You've +heard of him?" + +"Oh, of course," she answered, warmly. + +Mrs. Sampson knew little of Orin Stanton, but she did know that Alfred +Irons was on the committee having in charge the commission for the new +statue, and the fact that Mr. Greenfield had an interest, however +indirect, in the same matter, was a hint too valuable not to be acted +upon. + +Despite the confidence with which he had spoken to Fenton, the railroad +business was by no means settled. The Staggchase syndicate had rallied +to raise objections to prevent the Railroad Commissioners from +authorizing the other route. A hearing had been granted, and for it +elaborate preparations were being made. The Irons syndicate were +extremely anxious that Greenfield should speak at this hearing, but +there had been so much feeling aroused at Feltonville by his action in +the Senate that he was not inclined to do so; and Mrs. Sampson, who had +already proved so successful in influencing her relative, had been +requested to continue her efforts. + +The widow had pondered deeply upon the tactics she should use, and it +is to be noted that she set down the amount of the obligation incurred +by Irons as the greater because she had really become in a way fond of +Greenfield, and she was too clever not to understand the fact, to which +the senator with singular perversity remained obstinately blind, that +he could not but injure his political prestige by the course he was +taking. She had aroused his combativeness by telling him that if his +convictions forced him to vote against the Feltonville interest, people +would say he was bought. She knew that now this was said, and that +openly;--indeed, despite all her shrewdness and knowledge of human +nature, she had moments when she wondered whether the charge might not +be true, so incomprehensible did it seem that a man should throw away +his own advantage. She had no sentiment strong enough to make her +hesitate about going on to sacrifice Greenfield to her own interests, +but she distinctly disliked the fact that Irons should also profit by +the senator's loss. + +All day the widow pondered deeply on the situation, and the result of +the chance disclosure of John Stanton was that when her guests arrived +she made an opportunity to take Irons aside for a moment's confidential +talk. + +The widow's dinner-party was a somewhat singular one to give in +compliment to a young girl, there being no one of the guests near Miss +Merrivale's own age except Fred Rangely. The widow's acquaintance among +women whom she could ask to meet the New Yorker was limited, and having +decided upon inviting Greenfield, Irons, and Rangely to dinner, the +hostess sat gnawing her stylographic pen in despair a good half hour +before she could decide upon a fourth guest. A woman she must have, and +few women whom she wished to ask would come to her house even to call. +When she now and then gathered at an afternoon tea a handful of people +whose names she was proud to have reported in the society papers, she +did it by securing a lion of literary or of theatrical fame, whose +unwary feet she entangled in her cunningly laid snares before he knew +anything about social conditions in Boston. There were many people, +moreover, who would go to see a celebrity at a house like that of Mrs. +Sampson much as they would have gone to the theatre, when they would +have received neither the guest of honor nor the hostess, the latter of +whom, to their thinking, stood for the time being much in the position +of stage manager. + +Mrs. Sampson never set herself to a problem like this without a feeling +of bitterness. To consider what woman of any standing could be induced +to eat her salt brought her true social position before her with +painful vividness. She could not, in face of the facts which then +forced themselves upon her, shut her eyes to the truth that her painful +struggles for position had been pretty nearly fruitless. She did now +and then get an invitation to a crush in a desirable house, some over- +sensitive woman who had been to stare at one of Mrs. Sampson's captures +thus discharging her debt, and at the same time virtually wiping her +hands of all intercourse with the dashing widow. As for asking her to +their tables or going to hers, everybody understood that that was not +to be thought of. + +With the cleverness born of desperation, Mrs. Sampson solved her +difficulty by asking Miss Catherine Penwick to fill the vacant place. +Miss Catherine Penwick was the last forlorn and fluttering leaf on the +bare branches of a lofty but expiring family tree. The Penwicks had +come over in the Mayflower, or at a period yet more remote, and the +acme of the prosperity and social distinction of the name was +coincident with the second administration of President Washington. +Since that time its decadence had been steady; at first slow, but later +with the accelerating motion common to falling bodies, until nothing +remained of the family revenues, little but a tradition of the family +greatness, and none of the race but this frostbitten old lady, poor and +forsaken in her desolate old age. + +Miss Penwick was one of the learned ladies of her generation, a fact +which counted for less in the erudite day into which it was her +misfortune to linger than in those of her far-away youth. She struggled +against the tide with pathetic bravery, endeavoring to eke out some +sort of a livelihood by giving feeble lectures on Greek art, which no +living being wished to hear, or could possibly be supposed to be any +better for hearing, but to which the charitably disposed subscribed +with spasmodic benevolence. The poor creature, with her antique curls +quivering about her face, yellow and wrinkled now, its high-bred +expression sadly marred by the look of anxious eagerness which comes of +watching, like the prophet, for the ravens to bring one's dinner, was +but too glad to be invited to sit at any table where she could get a +comfortable meal and be allowed to play for the moment at being the +grand lady her ancestresses had been in reality. + +"I hope you don't mind my asking Miss Penwick as the only lady," Mrs. +Sampson said to her guest; "but she is such a dear old creature, and +our family and hers have been intimate for centuries. She is getting +old, poor dear, and she hasn't any money any more, just as I haven't. +But you know she is wiser than Minerva's owl, and quite the fashion in +Boston. One really is nobody who doesn't know Miss Penwick; and she is +_so_ well bred." + +Miss Penwick, dear old soul, had a feeling that Mrs. Amanda Welsh +Sampson was somehow too hopelessly modern for one of her generation +ever to be really in sympathy with the widow; but Mrs. Sampson had been +born a Welsh, and Miss Catherine was too unworldly to be aware of all +the gossip and even scandal which had made the name of the dashing +adventuress of so evil savor in the nostrils of people like Mrs. +Frederick Staggchase. + +And it must be confessed also, that to such petty economies was the +last of the Penwicks reduced by poverty that a dinner was an object to +her. She could not afford to lose an opportunity of dining at the price +of two horse-car tickets, and so promptly at the moment she presented +herself in the dainty elegance of bits of real old lace, with family +miniatures and locks of hair from the illustrious heads of great-great- +grandmothers and grandfathers decorously framed in split pearls, the +lustre of the jewels, like that of their wearer, tarnished by time. + +Miss Merrivale did feel that the company assembled was an odd one, +although she lived too far away to appreciate the fact that none of the +guests, with the possible exception of Rangely, were exactly what she +would have been asked to dine with at home. A country member, a self- +made vulgarian, an antiquated spinster, and a literateur who, after +all, was received rather upon sufferance into such exclusive houses as +he entered at all, made up a group of which Miss Merrivale, with +feminine instinct, felt the inferiority, despite the fact that she had +no means of placing the guests. Miss Penwick appreciated the social +standing of her fellow-diners, but she had by a long course of social +humiliations come to accept unpleasant conditions where getting a +dinner was concerned; and she was, moreover, somewhat relieved that at +Mrs. Sampson's she was not obliged to meet anybody worse. Her instincts +were keen enough, after all her melancholy experiences, to enable her +to recognize the fact that Tom Greenfield was the most truly a +gentleman of the three men, and she was pleased that he should take her +in to dinner. + +Mrs. Sampson, as she went in on the arm of Irons, contrived to let him +know what she had heard that morning from young Stanton of Greenfield's +interest in the young sculptor; adding a hint or two of the use to be +made of this information. Rangely, just behind her, was chatting with +Miss Frances in that half amorous badinage which some girls always +provoke, perhaps because they expect and keenly relish it. + +"Oh, no," he observed, just as Mrs. Sampson was able to give an ear to +what was being said by the young people. "I am not fickle. I am +constancy itself, but when you are in New York and I am in Boston, you +really can't expect me to sigh loud enough to be heard all that +distance." + +"I know you too well to suppose you will sigh at all," she returned, +with a coquettish air. "Especially with the consolations I am given to +understand that you have near at hand." + +"What consolations?" he asked, visibly disconcerted. + +"What has that confounded widow been telling her?" he wondered +inwardly. "Is it Mrs. Staggchase or Ethel Mott she's aiming at?" + +Miss Merrivale tossed her head, as they paused in the doorway of the +tiny dining-room a moment to give Mr. Irons opportunity to convey his +ungainly length into its proper niche. Her shot had been purely a +random one and, unless one believes in telepathy, so was the question +by which she abruptly changed the subject. + +"Do you know my cousin, Mrs. Frederick Staggchase?" + +He held himself in hand wonderfully. + +"Oh, yes," was his reply. "I know Mrs. Staggchase very well, but I +didn't know she was your cousin. All the good gifts of life seem to +fall to her lot." + +"Thanks for nothing. She has not been to see me. She invited me to dine +and I declined, and then she wrote and asked me to visit there when I +finished my stay here." + +"Shall you do it?" + +The thought with which Rangely asked this question was one oddly +mingled of regret and of hope. He had flirted too seriously with Miss +Merrivale to wish to meet her at Mrs. Staggchase's, although he had +never seriously cared for her; and he reflected with a humorous sense +of relief that if the pretty New Yorker should really visit her cousin, +he was likely to be put in a position to give his undivided attention +to wooing Miss Mott, a consummation for which he wished without having +the strength of mind to bring it about. As she let his question pass in +silence, he smiled to himself at the ignominious manner in which he +must retreat from his attitude as the devoted admirer of Mrs. +Staggchase and of Miss Merrivale, feeling that to set about the earnest +attempt to win Ethel would be quite consolation enough to enable him to +reconcile himself to even this. The comfort of having circumstances +make for him a decision which he should make for himself, is often to a +self-indulgent man of far more importance than the decision itself. + +As the dinner progressed, Miss Penwick, warming with the good cheer-- +for Mrs. Sampson was too thoroughly a man's woman not to appreciate the +value of palatable viands--become decidedly loquacious; and at last, by +a happy coincidence for which her hostess could have hugged her on the +spot, she introduced the name of Orin Stanton. + +"I hear you are on the _America_ committee, Mr. Irons," she said. "We +ladies are so much interested in that just now. I called on Mrs. +Bodewin Ranger yesterday, and she is really enthusiastic over this +young Stanton that's going to make it. He is going to make it, isn't +he?" + +Irons laughed his vulgar laugh, which Fenton once said was the laugh of +a swineherd counting his pigs. + +"It has not been decided," he answered. "Stanton seems to have a good +many friends." + +"Oh, he has, indeed," responded Miss Penwick eagerly. "He is a young +man of extraordinary genius. I saw a beautiful notice of him in the +_Daily Observer_ the other morning, Mr. Rangely," she continued, +turning to Fred, "and Mrs. Frostwinch said she thought you wrote it. It +was very appreciative." + +"Yes, I wrote it," he responded, not very warmly. "Mr. Stanton is +endorsed by Mr. Calvin, you know, Mr. Irons; and Mr. Calvin is our +highest authority, I suppose." + +Of those present no one except the hostess was surprised at this +admission, which marked the great change in Rangely's position since +the days when, like Arthur Fenton, he was a pronounced Pagan and +denounced Peter Calvin as the incarnation of Philistinism in art. On +one occasion Rangely had boldly reproached his friend with having gone +over to the camp of the Philistines; and he had been met with the +retort,-- + +"We have found it pleasant in the camp of Philistia, have we not?" + +"We?" Rangely had echoed, with an accent of indignation. + +"Yes," Arthur had replied, with cool scorn. "You Pagans pitched into me +because I made my way over; but I am not so stupid as not to see that +there has been considerable sneaking after me." + +"But at least," Fred had urged, "we fellows preserved the decency of a +respect for the principles we had professed." + +"Ah, bah! The principles we had professed Were the impossible dreams of +extreme youth. Honesty is a weakness that is outgrown by any man who +has brains enough to do his own thinking. You still profess the +principles, and betray them, while I boldly disavow them at the start." + +"At least," Rangely had said, driven to his last defences, "if we have +fallen off, we have done it unconsciously, and you"-- + +"I," Fenton had flamed out in interruption, "have, at least, made it a +point to be honest with myself, whether I was with anybody else or not. +I find it easier to be mistaken than to be vague, and I had far rather +be." + +The thought of Fenton floated through Fred's mind as he endorsed Peter +Calvin, and with no especial thought of what he was saying, he +observed-- + +"Arthur Fenton wants Grant Herman to have the commission, and I must +say Herman would be sure to do it well." + +"If Fenton wants Herman," Irons returned, with an attempt at lightness +which only served to emphasize the genuine bitterness which underlaid +his words, "that settles my voting for him." + +"Don't you and Mr. Fenton agree?" the hostess asked. "I supposed you +were one of his admirers or you wouldn't have had him paint your +portrait." + +"I admire his works more than I do him," Irons answered, adding with +clumsy jocularity "I am waiting for offers from the friends of +candidates." + +"I am interested in young Stanton," Mr. Greenfield said; "I might make +you an offer." + +"Oh, to oblige you," the other responded, "I will consent to support +him without money and without price." + +The talk meant little to any one save the hostess and Irons, but they +both felt that this move in their game, slight as it seemed, was both +well made and important. Later in the evening Irons took occasion to +assure Greenfield that he would really support Stanton in the +committee, adding that with the vote of Calvin this would settle the +matter. When a few days later Irons asked the decision of Greenfield in +regard to the railroad matter, he found that the attitude of the +chairman of the committee was satisfactory. And honest Tom Greenfield +had the satisfaction of believing that he had been instrumental in +furthering the interests of Orin Stanton, in whose success he felt the +pride common to people in a country district when a genius has appeared +among them and secured recognition from the outside world sufficient to +assure them that they are not mistaken in their admiration. Nor was the +mind of the country member disturbed by any suspicion that he had been +managed and deceived, and that he had really played into the hands of +that most unscrupulous corporation, the Wachusett Syndicate. + + + + +XXI + + A MINT OF PHRASES IN HIS BRAIN. + Love's Labor's Lost; i.--I. + +It was a peculiarity which the St. Filipe shared with most other clubs +the world over, that the doings of its committees in private session +were always known within twenty-four hours and discussed by the knot of +habitues of the house who kept close watch upon its affairs. It did not +long remain a secret therefore, that the Executive Committee had taken +a firm stand in regard to the troublesome matter of introducing +strangers illegally, and that Fenton had been summoned to appear before +them to answer to the charge of introducing Snaffle. + +The excitement was intense. Fenton was a man whose affairs always +provoked comment, and while there was much discussion in regard to what +would be done, there was quite as much as to how he would take it. The +men who had been in the card-room on the night in question chanced not +to be on hand to say that Snaffle had appeared alone, and the word of +the servant was accepted as conclusive. + +"Fenton's a queer fellow anyway," one man observed reflectively. "He's +a damned arrogant cuss." + +"He has not only the courage of his convictions," Ainsworth responded, +"but he has also the courage of his dislikes." + +"He will never give up the assumption that he is above all rules," the +first speaker continued. "He feels that he is being bullied if he is +ever asked to submit to a law of any kind." + +"The committee are bound to put things through this time. They've been +waiting for a chance to jump on somebody for a long time, and Fenton +put a rod in pickle for himself when he tried to run Rangely in for +secretary last election." + +"One thing is certain," Ainsworth said, rising and buttoning his coat; +"Fenton isn't an easy man to tackle, and if we don't have some music +out of this before we are done, I shall be surprised." + +There was a general feeling that something unusual would come of this +action on the part of the Executive Committee. Fenton was a man of so +much audacity, so fertile in resource, and so persistent in his +efforts, that while nobody knew what he would do, it was generally +supposed that he would make a fight; and expectation was alive to see +it. + +As to Fenton, he was at first completely overwhelmed by the summons +from the committee. Disgrace, reproof,--even examination was a horrible +and unspeakable humiliation, which it seemed to him impossible to bear. +He hated life and was so thoroughly wretched as to be physically almost +prostrated, although his strong will kept him upon his feet still. + +As he reflected, however, the hopeful side of the situation presented +itself to his mind. He had been confident that his tracks were so well +hidden that his share in introducing Snaffle into the Club would not be +suspected, unless the guest had himself mentioned it. He made the +Princeton Platinum stock a pretext for calling upon the speculator, and +endeavored to discover whether the latter had spoken, but he learned +nothing. He was not quite ready to ask frankly whether Snaffle had +betrayed him, and short of doing so he could not discover. Still Fenton +told himself that the only thing he had to fear was some hearsay that +might have reached the ears of the Executive Committee, and he trusted +to his cleverness to answer this. + +He presented himself at the meeting of the committee with a bold front +and an air of restrained indignation, which became him very well. All +his histrionic instincts were aroused by such an occasion as this. He +delighted to act a part, and the fact that real issues were the stake +of his success, added a zest which he could not have found on the +boards. He spoke to the gentlemen present or replied to their greeting +with a manner of dignity which was effective because it was not in the +least overdone, and then sat down very quietly to await what might be +said. + +He had not long to wait. The Secretary of the St. Filipe heartily +disliked Fenton, chiefly because Fenton openly disliked him. He was a +man who was petty enough to take advantage of his office to gratify his +personal spite, and shallow enough not to perceive that he had done so. +His whole fat person quivered with indignant gratification as he saw +Fenton in the _role_ of a culprit, and he bent his look upon the notes +spread out before him because he was aware that his eyes showed more +satisfaction than was by any means decorous. + +The meeting partook of that awkward unofficial nature which makes +matters of discipline so hard in a social club. The men present were +Fenton's companions and associates, and the dignity with which their +position invested them was hardly sufficient to put them at their ease. +They heartily wished to be done with the disagreeable business, and +were not without a feeling of personal vexation against the culprit for +forcing upon them anything so unpleasant as sitting in judgment upon +him. + +The chairman, Mr. Staggchase, opened the case by saying in an offhand +manner, that they were all very sorry for the turn things had taken, +but that the evil of having strangers introduced into the club had +grown to proportions which made it impossible longer to overlook it, +and that this was especially true of the bringing into the house men +who not only were there in violation of the rules, but who were of a +character which made it more than a violation of good taste to +introduce them into the club at all. He added that he was convinced +that the present case was the result of a misunderstanding, and he +hoped the gentleman who had been asked to meet the committee would +comprehend that he was there rather to assist the government of the +club in maintaining discipline, than for any other reason. + +He looked at Fenton and smiled as he concluded, and the artist bowed to +him with a glance of answering friendliness. Thus far all had been +pleasant, so pleasant indeed that the corpulent Secretary had ceased +smiling. The remarks of Mr. Staggchase had been conciliatory and +gracious, and showed so distinct a leaning toward the accused, that the +Secretary felt himself to be personally attacked in this slighting way +of holding charges which he had given. He drew his thin lips together +and cleared his throat in a preparatory cough, rustling his papers as +if to call attention to them. + +"If the Secretary is ready," Mr. Staggchase said, "he may read the +memorandum of the matter about which we wished to consult Mr. Fenton." + +"The charge against Mr. Fenton," the Secretary responded, with +deliberate insolence, "is that on the evening of March 13th he brought +Mr. Erastus Snaffle into the club house, knowing that that individual +had already been several times in the club within the time specified by +the by-laws, and knowing him to be a man unfit to be introduced into a +gentleman's club at any time." + +"I have the honor of Mr. Erastus Snaffle's acquaintance," Fenton +interpolated, in a perfectly cool, self-controlled voice, "in virtue of +having had him presented to me by the Secretary of this club in the +pool-room upstairs." + +The members of the committee smiled, but the Secretary flushed with +anger. The statement was literally true, and he could not at the moment +go into the rather lengthy explanation which would have made it evident +that his thus standing sponsor for Mr. Snaffle was entirely the result +of a provoking accident rather than of his choice. He hurried on to +cover the awkward interruption. + +"Mr. Fenton further broke a rule of the club in neglecting, or I should +say omitting to register his guest, and his share in the matter might +not have been known had not Mr. Snaffle told the servant at the door +that he came at Mr. Fenton's invitation." + +Arthur had settled himself in an attitude of placid attention, secretly +enjoying the clever thrust he had given his adversary. At these last +words he sat upright. + +"Mr. Staggchase," he said, turning toward the chairman, and speaking +with sudden gravity, "do I understand that I have been summoned before +this committee in consequence of the report of a servant." + +"I think such is the fact, Mr. Fenton," was the reply, "but of course +your simple word will be received as ample exoneration." + +"Exoneration!" echoed Fenton, starting to his feet, his face pale with +excitement which easily passed for virtuous indignation. "Do you fancy +I would stoop to exonerate myself from such a charge? Since when has +the testimony of servants been received in a club of gentlemen?" + +He had his cue, and he felt perfectly safe in letting himself go. He +was frightened at the possible consequences of the coil in which he had +become involved, since he foresaw easily enough that while his only +course was to carry things through with a high hand, his words had +already bitterly incensed the Secretary and might in the end set the +committee also against him. He experienced a wild delight, however, in +giving vent to his excitement in any form, and this simulation of +burning indignation served to relieve his pent-up nervousness. He did +believe the principle upon which with so much quickness he had hit as +his best defence, and could with all his force sustain it. He looked +about the room in silence a moment, but nobody was quick enough to pin +him down to facts and insist upon his denying or allowing the charge +brought against him. The indisputable correctness of his position that +a servant's testimony could not be taken against a member in a club of +gentlemen confounded them, and before any one thought of the right +thing to say, Fenton continued, with growing indignation,-- + +"Why I personally should be chosen for insult by this committee I will +not attempt to decide, although the source of the malice is to be +guessed from the manner in which the evidence was brought to their +notice. When the Secretary has a charge to bring against me that a +gentleman would bring, I shall be ready to answer it. A charge like +this it is an insult to expect me to notice." + +He walked toward the door, as he finished, and turned to bow as he put +his hand on the latch. + +"Oh, come now, Fenton," Mr. Staggchase said confusedly, "don't go off +that way. Of course"-- + +He hesitated, not knowing how to continue, and another member took up +the word. + +"All that is nonsense, of course. If the servant was mistaken, why +can't you say so, and put yourself right with the committee?" + +"Because," Fenton answered, throwing up his head, "I prefer retaining +my self-respect even to putting myself right with this or any other +committee. Good morning." + +He went out quickly. He felt that this was a good point for an exit, +and he wished to get away lest he should be unable to keep up to the +level of the scene as he had played it. So thoroughly was his whole +attitude consciously theatrical, that he smiled to himself outside the +door as the whimsical reflection crossed his mind that he really +deserved a call before the curtain. Then he remembered how awkward he +should find it to be called back; and with a smile he ran down stairs +to get his hat and coat, and hurried out of the house into the +darkening spring afternoon. + +When Fenton had gone, the members of the committee sat looking at each +other in that condition of bewilderment which could easily turn to +either indignation or contrition as the direction might be determined +by the first impulse. Unfortunately for Fenton, it was his enemy the +Secretary who spoke first. + +"Heroics are all very well," he sneered, "but they don't change facts. +He's evidently played poker enough to know how to bluff in good shape." + +There was a rustle of impatience in the room. The men seemed to be +reminded that a very high tone had been taken with them, and that they +had all come in for a share of the rebuke which Fenton had +administered. They were irritated by the mingling of a secret +concurrence with the artist's position that a member of the club should +not be impeached on the testimony of a servant, and the conviction that +Fenton was really guilty of the charge brought against him, so that it +was contrary to both justice and common sense to allow him to escape on +a mere technicality. + +"Fenton is so hot-headed," Mr. Staggchase began; and then he added: "I +can't say that I blame him so very much, though. I don't fancy I should +be very amiable myself if I were brought up on the word of one of the +servants." + +"But it was the duty of the servant to inform me," the Secretary +returned doggedly, "and why shouldn't the committee take action on +information which comes to it that way as well as any other. We didn't +set the servant to spy on the members, and I can't for the life of me +follow anything so fine spun as Fenton's theory. He only set it up, in +my opinion, to get himself out of a bad box." + +"He might at least have had the grace to deny it, if he could," another +man said. "It leaves us in a devilish awkward fix as it is. We can't +drop the matter, and if he shouldn't be guilty"-- + +"Oh, he's guilty, fast enough," the Secretary interrupted, his little +green eyes shining under their fat lids. "He's one of the set that have +been playing poker in the club until it's begun to be talked about +outside, and I saw him go out with Snaffle that night myself." + +There was some deliberation, some doubting, and some hesitation in +regard to the proper course in such a case. The committee felt that +their own dignity had suffered, that their authority should be +asserted, and their majesty avenged. Mr. Staggchase was the most +lenient in his views of the situation, and even he admitted that +whether Fenton were innocent of the offence with which he was charged +or not, he had at least treated the committee most cavalierly, and +against the ground taken by most of the members, that if Fenton had +been able to deny the charge he would have done so, he could only +reply,-- + +"I don't think that at all follows. In the first place he wasn't asked. +He is just the man to feel that a summons before this committee is in +itself a pretty severe reprimand, as plenty of men would. He's high +spirited and sensitive as the devil, and there was nothing in what he +said to-day that wasn't compatible to my mind with his being perfectly +innocent. Indeed, I don't believe he has cheek enough to carry it off +so, if he were not sure of his position." + +"Oh, as to cheek," retorted the Secretary, venomously, "Arthur Fenton +has enough of that for anything. And, as for that matter, almost any +man will fight when he is cornered." + +In the end the Secretary prevailed, and the committee, albeit somewhat +doubtingly, passed a vote of censure upon Fenton. The Secretary was +directed to communicate this fact to the artist, and he took it upon +himself also to include the information in the printed notices of the +monthly meeting which were sent out a few days later, an innovation +which stirred the club to its very depths and became town talk within +twenty-four hours. + + + + +XXII + + HIS PURE HEART'S TRUTH. + Two Gentlemen of Verona; iv.--2. + +Helen Greyson was at work in her studio modelling the hand of a statue. +The pretty hand of Melissa Blake lay before her, so near that Milly's +face came close to her own as she sat beside the modelling stand. It +was one of those anomalies of which nature is fond the world over, and +in which she displays nowhere more whimsical wilfulness than in New +England, that Melissa, born of a race of plain country farmers, should +have the hand of a princess. It was slender and beautiful, with +exquisite taper fingers which had not as yet been spoiled by hard work, +although were the present generation of New England maidens called upon +to labor as vigorously as did their grandmothers the girl's hands would +hardly have retained their comeliness so long. + +Helen was working silently, absorbed in thought, and going on with her +modelling mechanically. She was pondering the old question, whether she +had done well in coming back to America, or whether she should have +still kept the ocean between herself and Grant Herman. While she was in +Europe, the longing to see him, to feel that he was near, to breathe +the same air, had become ever more strenuous, until at last it could +not be resisted. The sense of safety she had while so far away +prevented her from appreciating that she was returning to the same +danger from which she had fled. She told herself that time had so +softened and changed her feelings, that Herman with wife and son was so +different from the lonely man who had sought her love, and whom she had +bravely renounced from a stern sense of duty, whether wise or not, that +there could be no danger. She was a woman, and she had kept temptation +at a distance until the nerve of resistance was worn out; then she had +come home. + +Now she asked herself what she had gained. She had renounced the +passive acquiescence which she had won by years of hard struggle, and +she had in exchange only a fierce unrest which was well-nigh +unendurable. To be near Herman and yet to be as far removed from him as +if the universe were between was a torture such as she had not dreamed +of. All the old love awoke, and something of the old conviction which +had made renunciation possible had failed her with time. + +Nothing is more common than for the conscience half unconsciously to +assume that a heroic self-sacrifice has been of so great efficacy that +even the conditions which made it right are thereby altered. Without +realizing it, Helen's mental attitude was that in giving up Herman's +love and bringing about his marriage to Ninitta that his honor might be +unstained, she had accomplished a self-denial so tremendous that even +the need of making it was thereby destroyed. The idea was paradoxical, +but that a proposition is paradoxical is no obstacle to its being held +firmly by the feminine mind. + +But by coming home Helen had also been put in a position where she +could not avoid seeing something of Herman's married life, and it was +at once impossible for her to help perceiving that it was a failure, or +to evade the conclusion that if it were a failure she was to blame for +the part she had taken in bringing it about. It is always dangerous to +judge of actions by their results, since by so doing one refers them to +the code of expediency rather than to that of ethics. Helen was not +prepared to pronounce her old decision wrong; but the feeling that her +renunciation had been vain forced itself more and more strongly upon +her. + +She was losing sight of her conviction that the need of doing what one +felt to be right was in itself so imperative that no course of action +could be wrong which was based upon this principle. The truth is that +all mortals, and perhaps women especially, feel that a virtuous +resolution, a noble self-denial, must bring with it a spiritual +uplifting which will render it possible to hold to it. The hour of +self-conquest is one of inner exaltation which is so vivid that it is +impossible to realize that it can be otherwise than perpetual; a life +of self-conquest is a continuous struggle against the double doubt +which is the ghost of the short-lived exaltation that promised to be +immortal. + +From her reverie, Helen was aroused by a question of Melissa which +almost seemed as if suggested by thought transference. + +"Do you know," Melissa asked, "why the commission was not given to Mr. +Herman?" + +"The commission?" Helen repeated, so startled by the mention of the +name which had been in her mind that for the moment she did not +comprehend the question. + +"Why, for the _America_," returned Melissa. "I thought you knew Mr. +Herman, and Orin said that you had withdrawn." + +Helen looked at her with a puzzled air. + +"I did withdraw," she said, "but I did not know the matter had been +decided. Who is Orin? Orin Stanton?" + +"Yes, he is to make the statue." + +"Did he tell you so?" + +"Yes, he thinks I helped him by speaking to Mrs. Fenton; but she said +Mr. Calvin already wanted Orin, so it made no difference." + +"How long has it been decided?" asked Helen. + +"He showed me the letter from Mr. Calvin day before yesterday. The +committee hadn't met, but Mr. Irons had promised his vote, and he and +Mr. Calvin make a majority. Orin had been afraid Mr. Irons would vote +for Mr. Herman, and I did not know but what you could tell. We are all +so much interested in the statue." + +Helen laid down her tools with an air of sudden determination. + +"Why are you?" she asked, rather absently. "When Mrs. Fenton told me +she had asked you to let me model your hands, she didn't mention your +being interested in my art." + +"Oh, I don't know anything about it," returned the other, with the +utmost frankness, "only that Orin's a sculptor." + +Helen smiled at the girl's _naivete_. + +"And am I to congratulate you on Orin's success?" + +Melissa blushed. + +"Of course I am pleased," she answered, "especially for John's sake." + +"And John?" Helen pursued, finishing her preparations for leaving her +work. + +"John is Orin's half-brother," Milly replied, in a voice and with a +manner which made it unnecessary for Mrs. Greyson to question farther. + +"I shall not work any more this morning," she said. "I have to go out." + +She dressed herself for the street, and, for the first time in six +years, took the well-remembered way toward Herman's studio down among +the warehouses and wharves. She was indignant at the action of the +committee, of which she felt that Herman should be told. As, however, +she neared the place, old associations and feelings made her heart beat +quickly. When she put aside the great Oran rug and entered the studio, +she felt a choking sensation in her throat, and the tears sprang to her +eyes. She remembered so vividly the day when she had stood in this very +spot and parted from her lover, that it almost seemed to her for the +moment as if she had come to enact that scene again. + +The place was more bare than of old. The pictures from the walls and +many of the ornaments had been removed to the house which Herman had +fitted up on his marriage with Ninitta; but in his usual place stood +the sculptor, at work by his modelling stand, and over the rail of the +gallery above, toward which her eyes instinctively turned as the old +memories wakened, she saw the sculptured edge of a marble Grecian +altar. The recollections were too poignant, and she started forward +quickly, as if to escape an actual presence. + +The studio was so large that Herman had fallen into the way of saving +himself the trouble of answering the bell by putting up the sign "Come +in" upon the door, and he was not aware of Helen's presence until he +saw her standing with her hand upon the portiere, as he had seen her +six years before when she had renounced him, placing his honor before +their love. With an exclamation that was almost a cry, he dropped his +modelling tool and started forward to meet her. + +"Helen!" he cried, and the intensity of his feelings made it impossible +for him to say more. + +Yet, however strong the emotions which were aroused by this meeting,-- +and for both of them the moment was one of keenest feeling,--they were +schooled to self-control, and after that first exclamation the sculptor +was outwardly calm as he went to greet his visitor. Even for those who +are not guided by principle, self-restraint comes as the result of +habit, and none of us in this age of the world assert the right of +emotion to vent itself in utterance. The Philoctetes of Sophocles might +shriek to high heaven, and Mars vent the anguish of his wounds in cries +and sobs, but we have changed all that. Even the muse of tragedy is +self-possessed in modern days; good breeding has conquered even the +fierce impulse of passion to find outlet in words. + +Both Herman and Helen were alive to the danger of the situation, and +their meeting was one of perfect outward calm. + +"Good morning," she said, "it seemed so natural to walk in, that I +should almost have done it if your card hadn't been on the door." + +She held out her hand as she spoke. + +"I cannot shake hands," he said, "I am at work, you see." + +She answered by a little conventional laugh which might mean anything. +Both of them hesitated a moment, their real feeling being too deep for +it to be easy quickly to call to mind conventionalities of talk. Then +the sculptor turned to lead the way up the studio, waving his hand as +he did so toward the place where he had been working. + +"You couldn't have come more opportunely," remarked he. "You are just +in time to criticise my model for _America_. I was just looking it over +for the last touches." + +"It was that I came to talk about," Helen returned, moving forward +toward the modelling stand on which was a figure in clay. "I have just +learned that the commission has already been awarded; and I thought you +ought to know how the committee is acting." + +"I do know," he answered. "Mr. Hubbard came and told me, although the +committee meant to keep the decision quiet until after the models were +in." + +"But you are finishing yours." + +"Yes, I declined to enter a competition and was hired to make a model. +Of course I finish that, whatever the decision of the committee. Mr. +Hubbard told me because he had before assured me of his support, and he +wished to avoid even the suspicion of double dealing." + +"The action of the committee is outrageous!" Helen protested, +indignantly. "They might as well put up a tobacconist's sign as the +thing Orin Stanton will make. It shows that you are right in refusing +to enter a competition, since they have decided without even seeing the +models they asked for." + +"Yes," was Herman's reply. He paused a moment, and added, "Was that the +reason you withdrew?" + +Helen flushed slightly, and turned her face aside. + +"It hardly seemed worth while," she began; but he interrupted her. + +"I would not have gone in," he said, "even as I did, if I had known +there was a chance of your competing." + +She turned toward him, and her eyes unconsciously said what she had +been careful not to put into words. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, with sudden comprehension. "You knew I was in it +and that is why you withdrew." + +"Well," she said, trying to laugh lightly, "it would not have been +modest for me to compete against my master." + +She moved away as she spoke. She had a tingling sense of his nearness, +a passionate yearning to turn toward him and to break down all barriers +which made her afraid. She felt that she had been rash in coming to the +studio, and had overestimated her own strength. She glanced around +quickly, as if in search of something which would help to bring the +conversation to conventional levels; but her eye fell upon a terra- +cotta figure which sent the blood surging into her head so fiercely +that a rushing sound seemed to fill her ears. It was the nude figure of +a soldier lying dead upon a trampled mound, with broken poppies about +him, while across the pedestal ran the inscription,-- + + "I strew these opiate flowers + Round thy restless pillow." + +It was the figure beside the clay model of which, yet wet from his +hand, the sculptor had told her, that day long ago, of her husband's +death. In the years since, she had believed herself to have worn her +love into friendship, to have beaten her passion into affection; but +every woman, even the most clear-headed, deceives herself in matters of +the heart, and now Helen knew what pitiful self-deception her belief +had been. + +Over and over and over again has it been noted how great a part in +human life and action is played by trifles, and despite this constant +reiteration the fact remains both true and unappreciated. And yet it +is, after all, more exact to consider that the thing is simply our +habit of noticing the obvious trifles rather than the underlying +causes, as it is the straws on the surface of the current that catch +our eye rather than the black flood which sweeps them along. It was the +chance sight of the figure of the dead soldier which now broke down +Helen's self-control, but the true explanation of her outburst lay in +long pent up and well-nigh resistless emotions. + +She turned toward her companion with a passionate gesture. + +"It is no use," she broke forth, "I did wrong to come home. I should +have kept the ocean between us. I must go back." + +Herman grasped the edge of the modelling stand strongly. + +"Helen," he said, in a voice of intensest feeling; "We may as well face +the truth. We were wrong six years ago." + +"Stop!" she interrupted piteously, putting up her hand. "You must not +say it. Don't tell me that all this misery has been for nothing, and +that we have sacrificed our lives to an error. And, besides," she went +on, as he regarded her without speaking, "however it was then, surely +now Ninitta has claims on you which cannot be gainsaid." + +"Yes," he said bitterly, "and of whose making?" + +She looked at him, pale as death, and with all the anguish of years of +passionate sorrow in her eyes. He faltered before the reproach of her +glance, but he would not yield. The disappointment of his married life, +his sorrow in the years of separation, the selfish masculine instinct +which makes all suffering seem injustice, asserted themselves now. The +effect of the fact that he was forbidden to love this woman was to make +him half consciously feel as if he had now the right to consider only +himself. He almost seemed absolved from any claims for pity which she +might once have had upon him. Even the noblest of men, except the two +or three in the history of the race who have shown themselves to be +possessed of a certain divine effeminacy, instinctively feel that a +disappointment in passion is an absolution from moral obligation. + +"See," he said, with a force that was almost brutal; "we loved each +other and we have made that love simply a means of torture. My God! +Helen, the besotted idiots that fling themselves under the wheels of +Juggernaut are no more mad than we were." + +She hurried to him and clasped both her hands upon his arm. + +"Stop!" she begged, her voice broken with sobs, "for pity's sake, stop! +It is all true. I have said it to myself a hundred times; but I will +not believe it. Don't you see," she went on, the tears on her cheek, +"that to say this is to give up everything, that if there is no truth +and no right, there is nothing for which we can respect each other, and +our love has no dignity, no quality we should be willing to name." + +He looked at her with fierce, unrelenting eyes. + +"Ah," he retorted cruelly, "my love is too strong for me to argue about +it." + +She loosed her hold upon his arm and stepped backward a little, +regarding him despairingly. She did not mind the taunt, but the moral +fibre of her nature always responded to opposition. She broke out +excitedly into irrelevant inconsistency. + +"It is right," she cried. "We were right six years ago, and you shall +not break my ideal now. I must respect you, Grant. Out of the wreck of +my life I will save that, that I can honor where I love." + +She stopped to choke back the sobs which shook her voice, and to wipe +away the tears which blinded her. The sculptor stood immovable; but his +face was softened and full of yearning. + +"And, oh," Helen said, the memory of sorrowful years surging upon her, +"you would not try to shake my conviction if you realized how +absolutely it has been my only support. It is so bitter to doubt +whether the thing that wrings the heart is really right after all." + +Herman made a sudden movement as if he would start forward, then he +restrained himself. + +"Forgive me," he said, in a strangely softened voice. "You have +forgiven me for being cruel before. To have done a thing because you +believe it is right is of more consequence than anything else can be. +The truth is in the heart, not the thing." + +She tried to smile. She felt as if she were acting again an old scene, +the trick of taking refuge from too dangerous personal feeling in the +expression of general truths carrying her back to the time when the +expedient had served them both before. + +"But people who have faith," she said, "who believe creeds and +doctrines, can have little conception how much harder it is for us than +for them to do what we think is the right." + +He did not answer her, and a moment they stood in silence with downcast +looks. Then she moved slowly down the great studio toward the door, and +he followed by her side. + +As she put her hand upon the Oran rug to lift it, she raised her eyes +and met his glance. The blood rushed into their faces. They remembered +their parting embrace and the burning kisses of long ago. + +"Good-by," she said, and even before he could answer her she had gone +out swiftly. + + + + +XXIII + + AS FALSE AS STAIRS OF SAND. + Merchant of Venice; v.--2. + +The fact that her mother was a Beauchester Mrs. Staggchase never +forgot, although she seldom spoke of it. It formed what she would have +called a background to her life, and gave her the liberty of doing many +things which would have been unallowable to persons of less +distinguished ancestry. It was, perhaps, in virtue of her Beauchester +blood, for instance, that she made the somewhat singular selection of +guests brought together at a luncheon which she gave in honor of Miss +Frances Merrivale when that young lady came to pay her a visit, at the +conclusion of her stay with Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson. + +Miss Merrivale had been in doubt whether she could properly accept this +invitation, in view of the fact that her cousin's wife had neglected to +call upon her since her arrival in Boston. The reflection, however, +that this visit to the Staggchase's was the chief object of her +becoming Mrs. Sampson's guest at all had decided the young lady upon +overlooking considerations of etiquette, and from the flat of the widow +she had removed to the more aristocratic region of Back Bay. + +Miss Frances had been shrewd enough to forestall all possible +objections by accepting the invitation before mentioning it to Mrs. +Sampson; and however deep the chagrin of that enterprising individual, +she was too astute to protest against the inevitable. Mrs. Sampson +even, in her secret heart, considered the advisability of calling upon +her late guest in her new quarters, but reluctantly abandoned the idea +as being likely, on the whole, to be productive of no good results +socially. That Miss Merrivale would probably forget her as quickly as +possible she was but too well assured, and it pretty exactly indicates +the position of the widow toward society that this prospective +ingratitude moved her to no indignation. It was so exactly the course +which in similar circumstances she herself would have pursued, that no +question of its propriety presented itself to her mind. Even the faint +air of conscious guilt with which the girl announced her intention did +not arouse in Mrs. Sampson any feeling of surprise or bitterness. +Society to her mind was a ladder, and being so, to climb it was but to +follow the use for which it was designed. + +Miss Merrivale was of better stuff, and if not well bred enough to live +up to the obligations she had assumed by becoming Mrs. Sampson's guest, +she was at least conscious of them; and she said good-by with an air of +apologetic cordiality, quieting her conscience by the secret +determination some time to repay the widow's kindness in one way or +another, although she should be obliged to repudiate her socially. Had +she known Mrs. Staggchase better, and been aware how much she fell in +that lady's estimation by throwing Mrs. Sampson overboard, her decision +might have been different. + +"She is coming, my dear," Mrs. Staggchase had said to her husband, on +receiving Miss Merrivale's acceptance of her invitation. "I shouldn't +have expected it of one of your family." + +"You know we can't all be born Beauchesters," he had returned, with +good-natured sarcasm. + +Once at Mrs. Staggchase's, Miss Merrivale began to see Boston society +under very different auspices. She had been at a luncheon at Ethel +Mott's, given in compliment to herself, where she had sat nearly +speechless for an hour and a half while half a dozen young ladies had +discussed the origin of evil with great volubility, and what seemed to +her, however it might have impressed metaphysicians, astounding +erudition and profundity. She had assisted at that sacred rite of +musical devotees, the Saturday night Symphony concert, where a handful +of people gathered to hear the music, and all the rest of the world +crowded for the sake of having been there. She had been taken by Miss +Mott to a select sewing-circle--that peculiar institution by means of +which exclusive Boston society keeps tally of the standing of all its +young women. She was somewhat bewildered, but enjoyed what might be +called a hallowed consciousness that she was doing exactly the right +thing; and it was, perhaps, only a delicate consciousness of the +fitness of things that made her answer all questions as to the time of +her arrival in Boston with the date of her coming to Mrs. Staggchase, +ignoring her previous visit to a woman of whose existence it was only +proper to assume her new acquaintances to be entirely unaware. + +Fred Rangely was shrewdly and humorously appreciative of her attitude, +being the more keenly conscious of the exact situation because he +himself made a point of ignoring his acquaintance with Mrs. Sampson. He +had debated in his mind what change in his conduct was advisable now +that Miss Merrivale was visiting Mrs. Staggchase. He had astutely +decided that the latter, at least, would make no remarks about him to +her guest; and, in view of the fact that it was scarcely possible to +conceal his flirtation with the New Yorker from the penetration of her +hostess, he decided to content himself with hiding from the stranger +his devotion to his older friend. He still assured himself that his +serious intentions were directed toward Miss Mott, and he secretly +smiled to himself with the foolish over-confidence of a vain man, when, +from time to time, he heard allusions to the devotion of Thayer Kent to +Ethel. Kent had been in the field before Rangely presented himself as a +rival candidate for the damsel's good graces; and the novelist might +have been less confident had not personal interest blinded him to a +state of things which he would have apprehended easily enough where +another was concerned. The easy familiarity, born of long friendship +and perfect understanding, which Ethel showed toward Kent, Fred mistook +for indifference. His own sudden popularity had somewhat turned his +head, so that he failed to distinguish between the attentions shown to +the author and those bestowed upon the man, and constantly felt himself +to be making personal conquests when he was simply being lionized. + +Mrs. Staggchase invited the guests for her luncheon before she spoke of +them to Miss Merrivale. + +"I have asked Mrs. Bodewin Ranger," she explained, "although she is old +enough to be your grandmother, because she is the nicest old lady in +Boston, and it is a liberal education to meet her." + +The other guests were Mrs. Frostwinch, Ethel Mott, and Elsie Dimmont. + +"Elsie Dimmont," Mrs. Staggchase observed, "needs to be looked after. +She is either going to make a fool of herself by marrying that odious +Dr. Wilson or she is allowing herself to be made a fool of by him, +which is quite as bad." + +Secretly Mrs. Staggchase, for all her Beauchester blood, had a good +deal of sympathy for the girl who was defying her family in receiving +the attentions of a man of no antecedents, although, having done the +same thing herself, she was the more strongly bound outwardly to +discountenance any such insubordination. + +Guests may be selected on the principle of harmony of taste and +feeling, or simply with an eye to variety; in the present instance it +was distinctly the latter method which had obtained; and it was perhaps +to be regarded as no mean triumph of social civilization that a harmony +apparently so perfect resulted from the strange combination which the +hostess had brought about. Whether from a secret intention of rebuking +Miss Dimmont for her associations with one socially so impossible as +Chauncy Wilson, or with the less amiable design of disciplining Miss +Merrivale for her friendship with Mrs. Sampson, the hostess adroitly +and deliberately turned the conversation to social themes, and thence +on to what perhaps were best described as the proprieties of caste. + +She was too clever a woman to do this crudely, and indeed would have +seemed to any but the most acute observer to follow the conversation +rather than to lead it. Ethel and Elsie chatted briskly of the current +gossip of the day, and it was Mrs. Bodewin Ranger who was skilfully led +on to strike the keynote of the talk by saying,-- + +"Doesn't it seem to you that the modern fashion of admitting artists +into society is mixing up things terribly? Nowadays one is always +meeting queer people everywhere, and being told that they are writers +or painters." + +The fine old lady smiled so genially that one seeing her benign +countenance framed in its beautiful snowy curls, must know her well to +realize that in truth she meant exactly what she said. Mrs. +Frostwinch's answering smile was not without a tinge of sarcasm,-- + +"It is worse than that," she said. "You even meet actors in quite +respectable houses." + +"Oh, actors!" threw in Ethel Mott, briskly; "nowadays they even go +below the level of humanity and invite those things called +elocutionists." + +"But of course," ventured Miss Merrivale, wishing to put herself on +record and striking a false note, as usually happens in such cases, +"one doesn't really know these people. They are only brought in to +amuse." + +"One never knows undesirable people, my dear," Mrs. Staggchase +responded, without the faintest shadow of the sarcastic intent which +her guest yet secretly felt in her words. + +"Bless me!" broke in Elsie Dimmont, with characteristic explosiveness. +"What an abandoned creature I must be! I am actually going to the +Fenton's to dine to-night." + +"Mr. Fenton," Mrs. Bodewin Ranger responded, in her soft voice, "is a +gentleman by birth, and his wife was a Caldwell; her mother was a +Calvin, you know." + +Ethel Mott laughed. + +"And so he passes," she said, "in spite of his being an artist. How +pleased he would be if he knew it." + +"It would be worth while to tell him," Mrs. Frostwinch interpolated, +"just to hear his comments." + +"We owe Arthur Fenton more scores than we can ever settle," observed +the hostess, "for the things he says about women. He said to me the +other day that the society of lovely woman is always a delight except +when a man was in earnest about something." + +"I said to him, one night," added Elsie Dimmont, "that Kate West wasn't +in her first youth. 'Oh, no!' he said, 'her third or fourth at least.'" + +The others smiled, except Mrs. Ranger. + +"Poor Kate!" she said; "all you girls seem to dislike her somehow. Mrs. +West was a somebody from Washington," she added, reflectively, as if +she unconsciously sought in the girl's pedigree some explanation of her +unpopularity. + +"Is it so dreadful to come from Washington?" asked Miss Merrivale; and +then wondered if she ought to have said it. + +"It is not the coming from Washington," was Mrs. Frostwinch's reply, +delivered in the same faintly satirical manner which she had maintained +throughout the discussion; "it is the being merely a somebody instead +of having a definite family name behind her." + +"It is all very well for you to make fun of my old-fashioned notions, +Anna," Mrs. Ranger returned, good-naturedly. "You think just as I do." + +"I should be sorry not to think as you do about everything," was the +answer. "And, to be perfectly honest, I can't help being a little +ashamed that a cousin of mine has gone on to the stage. She was always +dreadfully headstrong." + +"Has she talent?" asked Mrs. Staggchase. + +"Yes, she has talent; but is anything short of genius an excuse for +taking to the boards?" + +"I wish I could act," put in Miss Dimmont, emphatically. "I'd go on to +the stage in a minute." + +Mrs. Ranger looked shocked and grieved as well. + +"My dear," she said, "you can't realize what you are saying. The stage +has always been a hotbed of immorality from the very beginning of +theatrical art, and nothing can reform it." + +"Reform it," echoed Mrs. Staggchase, suavely; "we don't want to reform +it. Nothing would so surely ruin the actor's art as the reformation of +his morals." + +"Oh, my dear!" remonstrated Mrs. Ranger. + +"Really, Diana," Mrs. Frostwinch said, good-naturedly, "your sentiments +are too shocking for belief." + +"But she doesn't mean them," added Mrs. Ranger. + +"I am sorry to shock anybody," the hostess responded, "but I really do +mean what I say. Not that I can see," she added, "that society can +afford to be too squeamish on the question of morals." + +A look of genuine distress began to shadow + +Mrs. Ranger's face, and it deepened as Miss Merrivale said, +flippantly,-- + +"Is Boston such an abandoned place?" + +"Really, Diana," the old gentlewoman remarked, with a manner in which +playfulness and earnestness were pretty equally mingled, "I don't think +you ought to talk so before these girls. When I was your age, half a +century ago, it wouldn't have been considered at all proper." + +Mrs. Staggchase laughed softly. + +"But, nowadays," she returned, "the girls are so sophisticated that +what we say makes no difference." + +There was a moment of silence while the servant changed the plates, and +then Miss Dimmont broke out, saying, with unnecessary force,-- + +"I don't care who people are if they only amuse me, and I'll know +anybody I like, whether they had any grandfathers or not." + +"Since when?" Ethel whispered significantly into her ear. + +Elsie crimsoned, but she gave no other sign that she had heard or +understood the thrust. + +"Then there is Fred Rangely," Mrs. Staggchase remarked, in a tone so +even that it showed she meant mischief. "He comes here to see Frances, +and you can't think, Mrs. Ranger, that it's my duty to be rude to him +just because he writes for the newspapers." + +"It is impossible to imagine Mrs. Staggchase being rude to anybody," +quickly interpolated Ethel, with smiling malice; "and I supposed Mr. +Rangely had won at least a brevet right to be considered in the swim +from his long intimacy with social leaders." + +The hostess was too old a hand not to be pleased with a clever stroke, +even at her own expense, and she took refuge in an irrelevant +generality which might mean anything or nothing. + +"One learns so much in life," she said, "and of it appreciates so +little." + +And Frances Merrivale looked from Miss Mott to Mrs. Staggchase with an +uncomfortable wonder what allusions to Fred Rangely lay behind this +talk, which she could not understand. + + + + +XXIV + + THERE BEGINS CONFUSION. + I Henry VI.; iv.--1. + +Fred Rangely began to find himself in the condition of being controlled +by circumstances, instead of himself controlling them. Nor with all his +astuteness could he decide how far he was being managed by Mrs. +Staggchase, or led on by Miss Merrivale. He went about in a state of +continual astonishment at the extent to which he had committed himself +with the latter, and fell into that dangerous mental condition where +one seems passively to regard his own actions rather than to direct +them. Rangely had been so long settled in the conviction that he was to +marry Ethel Mott, even the not infrequent rebuffs of that lady +producing in his mind only temporary misgiving, that his present doubts +bewildered him. He was less of a coxcomb than might seem to follow from +this statement, albeit there was no timidity and little burning passion +in his feeling toward her. His was simply the cool masculine assurance +of a man selfish enough to regard even love in a cold-blooded manner. +He approved of his own choice socially, financially, and aesthetically; +and since he loved himself rather more for having selected Ethel, he +fell into the not unnatural error of supposing himself to be in love +with her. + +His entanglement with Miss Merrivale, on the other hand, was largely a +matter of vanity. What had begun as an idle flirtation, designed to +kill the leisure of summer days in the mountains, was continued from a +half-conscious fear that he should appear at a disadvantage by breaking +it off. It so keenly wounded Rangely's self-love to be thought ill of +by a woman, that he was often forced to play at devotion which he not +only did not feel but of which the simulation was almost wearisome to +him. Nevertheless he was not, in this instance, without a shrewd +appreciation of all the possibilities of the situation. He said to +himself philosophically, that if worst came to worst and the fates had +really decided to marry him to Miss Merrivale, she had money, good +looks, and a fair position, and might on the whole prove more +manageable as a wife than one so clever and so high spirited as Ethel. + +Miss Merrivale, on her part, was foolishly and fondly in love with the +broad-shouldered egotist. She had made up her mind from a variety of +causes that she should, on the whole, prefer to marry in Boston, +although in reality this meant simply that she wanted to marry Fred +Rangely. She pored over his books in secret, talked to him of them with +a want of comprehension only made tolerable by the fervor of her +admiration, and took pains to show him that she regarded him as the +literary hope of his generation of novelists. In vulgar parlance, she +flung herself at his head; and in such a case a girl's success may be +said to depend almost wholly on opportunity and the extent of her +lover's vanity. + +Rangely had vanity enough and Mrs. Staggchase supplied the opportunity. +If a feminine mind could ever properly be called spherical, that +epithet should be applied to Mrs. Staggchase's inner consciousness. She +was so sufficient unto herself, she so absolutely scored success or +failure simply as a matter of her own sensations that her self-poise +was perfect. She had even the quality, rare in a woman, of being almost +indifferent whether others shared her opinions or not. She was content +with the knowledge that she had succeeded in doing what she wished, +while often the results and effects were so subtile and remote as to be +imperceptible to others. Life was to her a toy with which she amused +herself, and she found her chief enjoyment in trying experiments upon +it of which the results were intangible to all but herself. + +In the present case it amused Mrs. Staggchase and gave her some +feminine satisfaction as well, to think that Rangely should marry +Frances Merrivale. By promoting this marriage into which she was aware +that he had no intention of being drawn, she avenged herself upon him +for having presumed to show attentions to another while she honored him +with her intimate friendship. It was not so much the nature of the +punishment which pleased her as the fact that she was able to constrain +him to her will. She found an ungenerous satisfaction in proving to +herself that it lay within her power to do with him what she would; and +if this conclusion did not inevitably follow from the premises, her +logic was at least satisfactory to herself, and that was sufficient to +determine her course of action. She found some pleasure, too, in +feeling that she was taking away a lover from Ethel Mott, for whom she +had a dislike which in another woman would have been petty but which in +Mrs. Staggchase was merely intellectual, since she was not a woman +without understanding that one of her sex must feel the loss of even an +admirer for whom she has no love. She did not share Rangely's mistake +of supposing that Ethel would marry him, yet it was distinctly her +intention that Miss Mott should not have the satisfaction of +undeceiving him, but that Fred should carry through life the regretful +and tantalizing conviction that he had thrown away this chance. It +required only a little cleverness in bringing together the young man +and Miss Merrivale, with a little skill in dropping now and then a word +assuming his devotion to her guest, and Mrs. Staggchase's plan was +evidently in a fair way of accomplishment. + +On the morning of the day of her luncheon, for instance, she had +managed that Rangely should take Frances to some of the studios. The +girl had little acquaintance with artistic life, but it attracted her +by that romantic flavor which it is so apt to have for the uninitiated. + +"I should think," she observed, as they walked along in the bright +sunny morning, "that you would want to go to the studios all the time, +if you know so many artists. I'm sure I should." + +"Oh, it very soon gets to be an old story," was his answer. "One studio +is very like another." + +"But their work? That must be awfully interesting." + +"Yes, to a novice, but that soon gets to be an old story too. An artist +is only a man who puts paint or charcoal on cardboard or canvas with +more or less cleverness, just as an author is a man who has more or +less skill in getting ink on to paper." + +Miss Merrivale laughed, with more glee than comprehension. + +"You are always so witty," she said. "I don't wonder your books sell. I +think that girl who couldn't tell which man she liked best was just too +funny for anything. I can't for the life of me see how you think of +such things, anyway." + +"The trouble isn't to think what to say, but to tell what not to say." + +"I'm sure I don't know what you mean. Now of course an artist just sees +things, and all he has to do is to make pictures of them; but you have +to make up things." + +"But we see things too," the novelist responded, smiling upon her, and +reflecting that she was looking uncommonly pretty that morning. + +"Oh, but that's different. Now you never knew a girl who was hesitating +which of two lovers to choose, and she wouldn't tell you how she felt +if you did; but there it is all in your book so natural that every girl +says to herself that's just the way she should feel." + +The flattery was too evidently sincere not to be pleasing. So long as +praise is genuine, few men are so exacting as to insist that it be also +intelligent. + +"Thank you," he said; "you at least understand the art of saying nice +things. Though that," he added, with his warmest smile, "is perhaps +only natural in one who must have had so many nice things said to her." + +She laughed, her ready, girlish laugh, which always seemed to him so +young; and they climbed the crooked stairs of Studio Building, their +breath hardly being any longer sufficient for much speech. + +"I'm going to take you to Arthur Fenton's first," Rangely observed, as +they paused to rest on one of the landings. "These stairs are awful. I +wonder how he gets his elderly sitters up here." + +Miss Merrivale seated herself upon a bench benevolently placed on the +landing. + +"They sit down here, of course," she responded. + +"This is a sort of life-saving station," he remarked, seating himself +beside her. + +"Oh, Mr. Rangely, how awfully funny you are." + +"It's my trade; I have to be to earn my living. Now you and I are the +only survivors from a wreck." + +"Alone on a desert island?" + +"Life-saving stations are not generally on desert islands; but I hope +you wouldn't mind so very much if it were." + +She looked at him with bright eyes, and then let her glance fall. + +"That would depend," she responded demurely. + +"Upon what? How I behaved?" + +"Oh, of course you'd behave well." + +"Of course; but how would I have to behave to make you contented on a +desert island?" + +She shot him a keen quick glance from beneath her bent brows. + +"I never said I should be contented." + +"But you implied it." + +She whirled her muff over and over upon her two hands like the wheel of +a squirrel cage, regarding it intently with her pretty head on one +side. + +"No, I didn't imply it either. I don't believe I could be contented." + +"Not even with me?" + +She flushed, but evidently not with displeasure. + +"Why with you more than anybody else?" she softly inquired, with great +apparent artlessness. + +"Because," he began, "I should"--He was going to add, "be so fond of +you," but reflected that this was perhaps going a little too fast and +too far, and concluded instead--"take such good care of you." + +Perhaps it was because approaching footsteps sounded on the stairs +below them; perhaps it was because her subtile feminine sense +appreciated the fact that he was on his guard; but for some reason or +for no reason she tossed her head and rose to her feet. + +"I am fortunately not obliged to go so far as a desert island to get +taken care of," she said. + +Her companion was not unwilling that the talk should be broken in upon. +He smiled to himself as he followed her lead, and in a moment more he +was knocking at the door of Fenton's studio, which was well up toward +the roof. There was no response, and, as Fred rapped the second time, a +carpenter who was at work on the casing of a door near by looked up, +and said,-- + +"Mr. Fenton has a sitter, sir." + +"He is in then?" said Rangely. + +"Yes," answered John Stanton, straightening himself up, with his plane +in his hand, "but since Mrs. Herman went in half an hour ago, he hasn't +opened the door to anybody." + +"Mrs. Herman?" echoed Rangely, in astonishment. + +"Yes, sir." + +It was a capricious fate which brought John Stanton to tangle the web +of Fenton's life. His brother Orin's relations with artists had given +John a sort of acquaintanceship with them at second-hand, a kind of +vicarious proprietorship in the privileges of art circles. He had long +known Fenton by sight, while that he recognized Mrs. Herman also was +the result of accident. He had been standing with Orin a few days +before on a street corner, when the sculptor had lifted his hat to Mrs. +Herman and named her in answer to John's question. There had not been +in his honest mind the faintest tinge of suspicion when he saw her +enter the studio, and he never had any intimation of the mischief he +had clone in mentioning her name to Rangely. + +Fred and Miss Merrivale went on to Tom Bentley's curio-crowded rooms, +while the sound of their knock still lingered in the double ears of the +two people who sat confronting each other within the studio, with looks +on the one hand sullen; on the other, pleading. Fenton's picture of +_Fatima_ was finished, yet Ninitta continued to come to the studio. His +brief passion, which had been more than half mere intellectual +curiosity how far his power over the Italian could go, had ended with +that curiosity. In its place was a gradually increasing hatred for this +woman, who seemed to assert a claim upon him, this model whom he never +had loved, and whom he could now scarcely tolerate, since he had ceased +to respect her. He cursed himself vehemently after the fashion of such +offenders, when eager, vibrating passion has given place to a sense of +irksome obligations, but more vigorously still did he upbraid fate, to +whose score he set down all annoyance. + +As for Ninitta, she, perhaps, no more truly loved Fenton than he had +cared for her, but she clung to him as a frightened child might clutch +the arm of one with whom it has wandered into the darkness of some +vault beset with pitfalls. Ninitta's moral sense was of the most +rudimentary character. She was, perhaps, incapable of appreciating an +ethical principle, and her spiritual life never soared beyond the +crudest emotions and the simplest questions of personal feeling. She +had come to live without the guidance of a priest, and this fact, in +itself, had left her without moral support. She had now no particular +consciousness of having done wrong, although she was moved by the fear +of the consequences of the discovery of her transgression. + +It has been said that Ninitta's affection for her husband might have +been more enduring had he been less gentle with her. She came of a race +of peasants whose women understood masculine superiority in the old +brutal, physical sense, and whenever Herman bore patiently with his +wife's caprices he lessened a respect which he could have retained only +at the expense of a blow. With all Arthur Fenton's soft and caressing +ways toward Ninitta, there was always an instinctive masterfulness in +his attitude toward any woman and especially since he had tired of her +did he keep Mrs. Herman figuratively at his feet. The more strongly her +appealing attitude seemed to press upon him claims which he could not +satisfy and had no mind to acknowledge, the more harsh he became, and +the more she bent before him. The language of brutality was one which +she Understood by inherited instinct. + +"But why," Fenton was saying impatiently, when Rangely's knock startled +them, "do you come here, when I haven't sent for you? There's somebody +at the door, now, and we haven't even the shadow of an excuse, since +the picture is done." + +"I wanted to see you," Ninitta answered humbly, her plain face working +with her effort to keep back the tears. "It is so lonely at home, and +they take even Nino away from me." + +The artist started up impatiently, and took his wet palette from the +stand beside him. + +"Well!" he said, answering as she had spoken, in Italian, "you must be +anxious that your husband shall know of your coming here, or you would +not take such pains to have him find it out." + +He began painting sullenly, putting in the last touches upon the +background of the portrait of a beautiful girl. The lovely face of +Damaris Wainwright, so pathetic, so pure, and so noble, looking at him +from the canvas stung him inwardly into an impotent fury. His fine +sense of the fitness of things was outraged by the presence of Ninitta +beside the spiritual personality which shone upon him from the +portrait. He could even feel the incongruity between himself and his +work, though this appealed to his sense of humor as the other aroused +his anger. + +Ninitta watched in silence a moment; then she rose from her seat, her +wrap falling away from her shoulders. Her tears were done, and a white +look of intense feeling showed the despair that she felt. All the +isolation which tortured her, that pain which souls like hers, blind, +groping, and helpless, are least able to bear, had left its stamp upon +her. Perhaps even her sin had been a desperate and only half-conscious +attempt once more to draw in sympathy really near a human heart. She +had learned little from the changed conditions into which the fates of +her life had brought her, but she had been separated, in mind no less +than in body, from her own kind without being fitted for other +companionship. She was utterly and fatally alone, and a terrible sense +of her remoteness from all human fellowship smote her now at Arthur's +cruelty. She hesitated an instant, supporting herself by the arms of +the big carved chair in which she had been sitting; then, with an +impulsive gesture, she threw her arms above her head, wringing her +hands together. + +"Oh, my God!" she cried, "what shall I do?" + +Fenton turned quickly toward her. + +"Oh, _mon Dieu!_" was his inward comment; "what a divine pose! What a +glorious figure! But ah, how tiresome she is!" Then, aloud, he said: +"Come, come, don't be foolish, Ninitta! You know as well as I do that +there is no danger, if you are only careful." + +And putting aside his palette again, he soothed her with soft words +until she was calm enough to be sent home. + +When she was gone, he shrugged his shoulders, and spread out his hands +with a deprecatory gesture. + +"After all," he soliloquized aloud, "it is difficult for civilization +to get on without the sultan's sack and bowstring." + + + + + XXV + + AFTER SUCH A PAGAN CUT. + Henry VIII.; i.--3. + +The announcement by the Secretary of the St. Filipe Club that a vote of +censure had been passed upon Fenton had not only caused a tempest of +excitement, but had brought about the unexpected result of eliciting +testimony to prove that the charge against him was without foundation. +Men came forward to testify that Snaffle entered the club alone on the +evening when Fenton was said to have brought him there, while Tom +Bently, Ainsworth, and others had seen the artist come in afterward, +and had spoken with him before he went upstairs with Fred Rangely to +the card-room. The Executive Committee found itself in a most awkward +predicament, and its members took what comfort they could in pitching +upon the Secretary, who had, without authorization, announced the vote +of censure on the call for the monthly meeting. He was now directed to +write to Mr. Fenton a letter of apology, which he did with such small +grace as he could command, taking the precaution to mark the note +"confidential." + +The artist experienced more than a feeling of conscious virtue at being +thus exonerated from a fault which he had committed; and it was with +mingled glee and a certain dare-devil desperation that he resolved upon +his own course of action. + +The monthly meeting of the St. Filipe came on the evening of the day +when Mrs. Staggchase gave her luncheon. By a misunderstanding of +Fenton's wishes, his wife had invited friends to dine that night. He +meant to excuse himself after dinner and go to the club for a short +time, returning to his guests after he had said a few words upon which +he had determined. + +The guests were Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Hubbard, Helen Greyson, Ethel +Mott, Miss Catherine Penwick, Thayer Kent, the Rev. De Lancy Candish, +and Fred Rangely. It was wholly by chance, and without malicious intent +that Edith assigned Ethel to Mr. Kent, while Rangely took Mrs. Greyson +in to dinner. Mrs. Fenton, of course, knew that gossip had sometimes +connected the names of Ethel and Rangely in a speculative way, but she +partly suspected and partly knew by feminine intuition that Fred was +practically out of the running, and that Ethel's heart was given to +Thayer Kent. It was hardly to be expected that Rangely should be +pleased at the sight of his rival's advantage; but having passed the +morning in squiring Miss Merrivale, his conscience was hardly case- +hardened enough to have made him at his ease had he been able to +exchange places with Kent. + +To Mr. Candish was given the care of Miss Penwick, since with her Edith +knew that his sensitive awkwardness would be as comfortable as was +possible with any one; and the guests were so arranged that the +clergyman sat upon his hostess's left hand, being thus in a manner +intrenched between her and Miss Penwick against the raillery which Mrs. +Fenton knew her husband would press as far as his position as host +would allow. Edith always made it a point to do all that she could for +Mr. Candish's comfort, and it was largely on his account that she had +included Miss Penwick in the list of guests. She had a certain +tenderness for the forlorn old lady, but it might not have found active +expression had not the rector's pleasure come into the question. Arthur +had laughed when the proposed arrangement was submitted to him. + +"Does your care for your pastor's spiritual welfare go so far," he +asked jocosely, "that you don't dare trust him with a young woman? +Really, it looks as if you were jealous of the red-haired angel." + +"Mr. Candish is not a young woman's man," had been Edith's answer; +whereat her husband laughed again. + +The talk at dinner was less animated than was usual at Fenton's table. +The host was preoccupied, despite his efforts not to appear so, and the +company was somehow not fully in touch. No conversation could be wholly +dull, however, which Arthur led; and while the "lady's finger" in his +cheek told his wife and Helen that he was laboring under some intense +excitement, he held himself pluckily in hand. + +The conversation at first was between neighbors, but soon the host, +according to his fashion, began to answer any remark that his quick +ears caught, no matter from whose lips. + +"You talk about marriage like a Pagan," he heard Helen say to Rangely. + +"Oh, no," Fenton broke in, "he doesn't go half far enough for a Pagan. +The Pagan position is that matrimony is a matter of temperament and +convenience; it is essentially Philistine to consider that a marriage +ceremony imposes eternal obligations." + +"There, Mr. Fenton," Mrs. Hubbard rejoined, "I haven't heard you say +anything so heathenish for half a dozen years. I hoped your wife had +reformed you." + +"Or that he had come to years of discretion," suggested Mr. Hubbard, +with his charming smile. + +"Oh, but I find years of indiscretion so much more interesting," Fenton +retorted. + +A moment later Helen said something about the truth, and Rangely +retorted,-- + +"Truth is generally what one wishes to believe." + +"Except in Puritanism," broke in Arthur, "there it was whatever one +didn't wish to believe." + +"Don't you think," questioned Mr. Hubbard, "that you are always a +little hard on the Puritans? You must admire their conviction and their +bravery." + +"Oh, yes," was Fenton's reply; "there is something superb in the +earnestness of the Puritans, and their absorption in one idea; but that +idea has left its birthmark of gloom on all their descendants, and one +cannot forget that Puritanism was the soil from which sprang the +unbelief of today." + +"Bless us!" cried Rangely, "is Saul also among the prophets? Are you +also condemning unbelief?" + +"Not at all," said Fenton, coolly, "I only want those who defend +Puritanism to accept its legitimate results." + +"It seems to me," protested Mr. Candish, who had become very red +according to his unfortunate wont; "that if you argue in that way, you +must always condemn good, because evil may come after it." + +"Oh, I do," retorted Fenton, airily. + +Everybody except the clergyman laughed at the unexpectedness of this +reply; but Mr. Candish was wounded by the most faint suspicion of +anything like trifling with sacred things. + +"My husband is utterly abandoned, as you see, Mr. Candish," said Edith, +coming to the rescue, as she always did when Arthur showed signs of +baiting the rector. "Is the decision made in regard to the _America_?" +she continued, turning to Mr. Hubbard, by way of changing the subject. + +"Yes," he answered, "the commission is to be given to Orin Stanton." + +"Orin Stanton?" asked Kent. "Who is he?" + +"Oh, he," returned Fenton, "is a man that had the misfortune to be born +with a wooden toothpick in his mouth instead of a silver spoon." + +"Is he Irish?" + +"No, but he ought to be to have won favor in the sight of a committee +appointed by the Boston City Government." + +"Come," said Helen; "that is rather severe when Mr. Hubbard is on the +committee." + +"Oh, I don't mind," returned Hubbard. "I know Fenton wouldn't lose a +chance of having his fling at the Irish." + +"Well," Fenton explained, defensively, "I am always irritated at the +pity of the United States having expended so much blood and treasure to +free itself from the dominion of the whole of Great Britain simply to +sink into dependence upon so insignificant a part of that kingdom as +Ireland." + +"Mercy!" exclaimed Miss Penwick. "What extreme sentiments!" + +They smiled at the old lady's words, and then Edith went back to the +statue. + +"I fancy young Stanton hasn't been above some wire-pulling," she +remarked. "He sent his prospective sister-in-law, Melissa Blake, to ask +me to use my influence with Uncle Peter in his behalf." + +"He needn't have troubled," Mr. Hubbard returned. "Mr. Calvin supported +him from the first." + +"Oh, yes," Ethel said; "Mrs. Frostwinch and Mrs. Bodewin Ranger chose +Stanton long ago and persuaded Mr. Calvin to help them." + +"I can't fancy Mr. Calvin as anybody's tool," commented Kent, who would +have regarded his companion's words as a trifle too frank to be spoken +at the table of Mr. Calvin's niece, had his mind been in a condition to +take exception to anything that she said. + +"Isn't that Melissa Blake," asked Mr. Hubbard of Edith, "the one you +recommended to me as a copyist?" + +"Yes, I hope you found her satisfactory." + +Mr. Hubbard smiled somewhat grimly. + +"Indeed he did not," broke in Mrs. Hubbard speaking for him. "She broke +confidence." + +"Broke confidence!" echoed Edith, in astonishment. "Melissa Blake?" + +"Yes," Hubbard returned. "I really didn't mean to tell you, but my +wife, you see, has all the indignation of a woman against a woman." + +"But how did she break confidence?" demanded Edith. "I would trust her +as implicitly as I would myself." + +"The papers she copied," was the reply, "were the plans for a syndicate +to put up mills at Fentonville. We kept the scheme quiet until the +route of the new railroad should be decided, and when we came before +the Committee of the House, the whole thing had been given away, and +the Wachusett men had even secured the chairman, Tom Greenfield. He +lives in Fentonville himself, and we had counted him at least as sure." + +"That must have been the thing," placidly observed Miss Penwick to +Rangely, "that Mr. Irons was talking to Mrs. Sampson about, the night +we dined there to meet Miss Merrivale." + +Rangely glanced up in vexation, to see if Miss Mott were listening, and +caught a gleam of mischievous intelligence from her eyes. + +"I don't remember it," he answered ambiguously. + +"But how do you know," persisted Edith, "that the information came from +Miss Blake?" + +"Because Mr. Staggchase found out at Fentonville afterward that she +came from there, and that a young man she is engaged to had just +forfeited on a mortgage some of the meadows our company was to buy." + +"The evidence doesn't seem to me conclusive," remarked Fenton, "and +simply as a matter of family unity I am bound to believe in my wife's +_proteges_." + +Even the faint sense of humor which he felt at the situation could not +prevent him from experiencing the sting of self-shame. Had it been an +equal who was unjustly accused of a fault he had committed he would +have felt less humiliated. To the degradation of having betrayed +Hubbard, the addition of this last touch of having also unconsciously +injured an inferior came to him like the exquisite irony of fate. He +wondered in an abstract and dispassionate way whether the ghost of all +his misdeeds were continually to rise before him. "Really," he said to +himself with a smile that curled his lips "in that case I shall become +a perfect Macbeth." And at that instant the ghost most dreadful of all +rose at the feast like that of Banquo as Rangely said,-- + +"I knocked at your studio this morning but couldn't get in." + +There flashed through Fenton's mind all the possibilities of discovery +and disaster that might lie behind this remark, and his one strong +feeling was that it would be unsafe to venture on a definite statement; +he took refuge in the vaguest of general remarks. + +"I am sorry not to have seen you," he said. + +He tried to reflect, while Edith said something further in defence of +Melissa. He joked with Ethel about the probable appearance of the +statue young Stanton would make, which was to be set up directly +opposite her father's house. He noticed that Helen was very silent, and +he even reflected how handsome a man was Thayer Kent; but through it +all he seemed to hear the echo of that knock upon his studio door and a +foreboding which he could not shake off made him reflect gloomily how +utterly defenceless he should be in case of discovery. + +A brief silence suddenly recalled him to his duties as host, and he +caught quickly at the first topic which presented itself to his mind, +going back to the question of the _America_, which had been much +discussed because the funds to pay for it had been bequeathed to the +city by a woman of prominent social position. + +"I suppose," he observed, turning to Hubbard, "that with two such +lights of the art world as Peter Calvin and Alfred Irons on the +committee, the new statue will be regarded as the flower of Boston +culture. Of all droll things," he added, "nothing could be funnier than +coupling those two men. It is more striking than the lion and the lamb +of Scriptural prophecy." + +"Who is the lion and who the lamb?" asked Candish. + +"It is your place to apply Scripture, not mine," retorted Fenton. + +"I represent the minority of the committee," was Hubbard's reply to his +host's question. "There is no other position so safe in matters of art +as that of an objector." + +"That is because art appeals to the most sensitive of human +characteristics," Arthur retorted smiling,--"human vanity." + +"Vanity?" echoed Mrs. Hubbard. + +"That from you?" exclaimed Miss Mott. + +"Really, Mr. Fenton," protested Miss Penwick, in accents of real +concern, "you shouldn't say such a thing; there are so many people who +would suppose you meant it." + +The simple old creature knew no more of the real meaning of art than +she did of that of the hieroglyphics on an Egyptian obelisk, but she +had lectured on it, and she felt for it the deep reverence common to +those who label their superstition with the name "culture." + +"But I do mean it," returned Fenton, becoming more animated from the +pleasure of defending an extravagant position. "What is the object of +art but to perpetuate and idealize the emotions of the race; and how +does it touch men, except by flattering their vanity with the +assumption that they individually share the grand passions of mankind." + +A chorus of protests arose; but Arthur went on, laughingly over-riding +it. + +"Really," he said, "we all care for the Apollo Belvidere and the Venus +of Milo because it tickles our vanity to view the physical perfection +of the race to which we belong; it is our own possibilities of anguish +that we pity in the Laocoon and the Niobe; it is"-- + +"Oh, come, Fenton," interrupted Rangely; "we all know that you can be +more deliciously wrongheaded than any other live man, but you can't +expect us to sit quietly by while you abuse art." + +"That is more absolute Philistinism," put in Hubbard, "than anything I +have heard from Mr. Irons even." + +"Oh; Philistinism," was Fenton's rejoinder, "is not nearly so bad as +the inanities that are talked about it." + +"That sounds like a personal thrust at Mr. Hubbard," Kent observed; and +as Arthur disclaimed any intention of making it so, Mrs. Fenton gave +the signal for rising. + + + + +XXVI + + O, WICKED WIT AND GIFT. + Hamlet; i.--5. + +It was fortunate for Fenton's plans that most of his guests had early +engagements that evening, and by nine o'clock he was able to leave the +house with Rangely to take his way to the meeting of the Club. As they +came out of the house, Thayer Kent was just saying good-by to Miss Mott +after putting her into her carriage. Fenton's fear lest he should be +too late for the business meeting had made him follow rather closely in +the steps of his departing guests, and he and Rangely were just in time +to hear Ethel say,-- + +"But I am going that way and I will drop you at the club." + +Kent hesitated an instant, and then followed her into the carriage. +Fenton laughed as they drove away. + +"With Ethel Mott," he said, "that is equivalent to announcing an +engagement." + +"Nonsense!" protested Fred, incredulously. + +Fenton laughed again, a little maliciously. + +"Oh, I've been looking for it all winter," he said. "Ever since you +devoted yourself to Mrs. Staggchase, and gave Thayer his innings. Well, +since you didn't want her, I don't know that she could have done +better." + +Fenton pretty well understood the truth of the matter in regard to +Rangely's relations to Ethel, and this little thrust was simply an +instalment toward the paying of sundry old scores. He had never +forgiven Fred for having taunted him, long ago, with going over to +Philistinism; especially, as he inwardly assured himself, that the +difference between their cases was that he had had the frankness openly +to renounce Paganism, while his companion would not acknowledge his +apostasy even to himself. In Fenton's creed, self-deception was put +down as the greatest of crimes, and he had fallen into the way of half +unconsciously regarding his inner frankness as a sort of expiation for +whatever faults he might commit. + +He chuckled inwardly at the discomfort which he knew his remark brought +to Fred, humorously acknowledging himself to be a brute for thus taking +advantage of circumstances with a man who had just eaten his salt. The +excitement of the thing he was about to do had mounted into his head +like wine, and he hastened toward the club with a feeling of buoyancy +and exhilaration such as he had not known for months. He laughed and +joked, ignoring Rangely's unresponsiveness; and when he entered the +club parlors his cheeks were flushed and his eyes shone as in the old +Pagan days. + +He was just in season. The monthly business meeting was about being +completed, and Fenton had scarcely time to recover his breath before +the President said,-- + +"If there is no other business to come before this meeting we will now +adjourn." + +Then Fenton stepped forward. + +"Mr. President," he said, in his smooth, clear voice, only a trifle +heightened in pitch by excitement. + +The President put up his eyeglasses and recognized him. + +"Mr. Fenton." + +There was an instant hush in the room. Every member of the club knew of +the vote of censure, which had excited much talk, and of which the +propriety had been violently discussed. A few were aware that the +censure had been withdrawn, and all were sufficiently well acquainted +with Fenton's high-spirited temperament to feel that something exciting +was coming. + +Fenton was too keenly alive to what he would have called the stage +effect to fail of appreciating to the utmost the striking situation. He +threw up his head with a delicious sense of excitement, the pleasing +consciousness of a vain man who is producing a strong and satisfactory +impression, and who feels in himself the ability to carry through the +thing he has undertaken. With a sort of tingling double consciousness +he felt at once the enthusiasm of injured virtue at last triumphant, +and the mocking scorn of a Mephistopheles who bejuggles dupes too dull +to withstand him. He looked around the meeting, and in a swift instant +noted who of friends or foes were present; and even tried to calculate +in that brief instant what would be the effect upon one and another of +what he was going to say. + +"Mr. President," he began, deliberately, "if I may be pardoned a word +of personal explanation, I wish to say that the motion I am about to +make is not presented from personal motives. I might make this motion +as one who has the right, having suffered; but I do make it as one who +believes in justice so strongly that I should still speak had my own +case been that of my worst enemy. I move you, sir, that the St. Filipe +Club pass a vote of unqualified censure upon its Executive Committee +for admitting in the investigation of an alleged violation of its rules +the testimony of a servant, thereby assuming that the word of a +gentleman could not be taken in answer to any question the committee +had a right to ask." + +He had grown pale with excitement as he went on, and his voice gained +in force until the last words were clear and ringing to the farthest +corners of the room. + +A universal stir succeeded the silence with which he had been heard. +Half a dozen men were on their feet at once amid a babble of comment, +protestation, and approval. The Secretary managed to get the floor. + +"Mr. President," he said, his round face flushed with anger, and his +fat hands so shaking with excitement that the papers on the table +before him rustled audibly, "since it must be evident that the +gentleman's remarks are instigated by anger at the committee's +treatment of himself, it is only justice to the committee to state what +many of the members may not know, that a letter of ample apology has +been sent by them to Mr. Fenton." + +The men who had been eager to speak paused at this, and everybody +looked at the artist. + +"Mr. President," he said, with a delightful sense of having himself +perfectly in hand, and of being in an unassailable position, "I have +been insulted by the committee under cover of a charge which they now +acknowledge to be false; and, contrary to the usage of the club, a +printed notice of this has been sent to every member. I have received a +note of apology from the Secretary." + +He paused just long enough to let those who were taking sides against +him emphasize their satisfaction at this acknowledgment by half- +suppressed exclamations; then, in a voice of cutting smoothness, he +continued,-- + +"At the head of that note was the word 'confidential,' which forbade +me, as a gentleman, to show it. This was evidently the committee's idea +of reparation for the outrage of that printed circular." + +He paused again, and the impression that he was making was evident from +the fact that nobody attempted to deprive him of the floor; then he +went on again,-- + +"I have already said that my motion was not a personal matter; if my +case serves as an illustration, so much the better, as long as the +principle is enforced." + +"The motion," interposed the President, gathering his wits together, +"has not been seconded, and is therefore not debatable." + +"I second it," roared Tom Bently in his big voice, adding _sotto voce_: +"We won't let the fun be spoiled for a little thing like that." + +The half laugh that followed this sally seemed to recall men from the +state of astonishment into which they had been thrown by the audacity +of Fenton's attack. There were plenty of men to speak now;--men who +thought Fenton's position absurd;--men who believed in upholding the +dignity of the Executive Committee;--men, more revolutionary, who were +always pleased to see the existing order of things attacked;--men who +wanted explanations, and men who offered them;--men who rose to points +of order, and men who proposed amendments; with the inevitable men who +are always in a state of oratorical effervescence and who speak upon +every occasion, quite without reference to having anything to say. + +Fenton was keenly alive to everything that was said, and in his +excitement fell into the mood not uncommon with people of his +temperament of regarding the whole debate from an almost impersonal +standpoint. His sense of humor was constantly appealed to, and he +laughed softly to himself with a feeling of amusement scarcely tinged +by concern for the result of the contest when Mr. Ranger, stately and +ponderous, got upon his feet. He could have told with reasonable +precision the inconsequent remarks which were to come; and the +interruption which they made appealed to his sense of the ludicrous as +strongly as it irritated many impatient members. + +"I am confident," began Mr. Ranger with dignified deliberation, "that +all the excitement which seems to be manifest in many of the remarks +that have been made is wholly uncalled for. I am sure no member of this +club can suppose for an instant that its Executive Committee can have +intentionally been guilty of any discourtesy, and far less of any wrong +to a member. And we all have too much confidence in their ability to +suppose that they could fall into error in so important a thing as a +matter of discipline. And I need not add," he went on, not even the +real respect in which he was held being able wholly to suppress the +movement of impatience with which he was heard, "that we all must hold +Mr. Fenton not only as blameless but as painfully aggrieved." + +"Mr. Facing-both-ways," said Fenton to himself as the speaker paused, +apparently to consider what could be added to his lucid exposition of +the situation. + +One or two men had the hardihood to rise, but the President had too +much respect for Mr. Ranger's hoary locks to deprive him of the floor. + +"It seems to me," the speaker continued, placidly, "that this is a +matter which is better adjusted in private. The discipline of the club +must be maintained, and individual feeling should be respected; but +where we all have the welfare of the club at heart, it seems to me that +members would find no difficulty in amicably adjusting their +differences with the club officials in private conference." + +He gazed earnestly at the opposite wall a moment, as if seeking for +further inspiration. Then as no handwriting appeared thereon, he +resumed his seat with the same deliberate dignity that had marked his +rising. + +Mr. Staggchase, alert and business-like as usual, next obtained the +floor. + +"As chairman of the Executive Committee," he said, "perhaps I am too +much in the position of a prisoner at the bar for it to be in good +taste for me to speak on this motion. Naturally I do know something, +however, about the circumstances of this case, and I am willing to say +frankly that I cannot blame Mr. Fenton for feeling aggrieved at the +painful position in which he has been placed entirely without fault on +his part. It is only just to the committee, however, to state that the +charge as presented to them in the first place was supported by +evidence which appeared to them convincing; that Mr. Fenton never +denied it; and that I and, I presume, every member of the committee +supposed until this evening that the letter of apology sent him had +been ample and satisfactory. That it was marked 'confidential' was +certainly not the fault of the committee, who now learn this fact for +the first time." + +This statement evidently produced a strong impression. Fenton felt that +it told against him, yet he was more irritated at what he considered +the stupidity of the members in not seeing that Mr. Staggchase had not +touched upon the point at issue at all, than he was by the injury done +to his cause. In the midst of the excitement raging about him he sat, +outwardly perfectly calm and collected. He refused to admit to himself +that after all there was little probability of his motion's being +carried; although in truth at the outset he had intended nothing more +than to take this striking method of stating his grievance against the +committee. He was amused and delighted at the commotion he had caused. +He likened himself to the man who had sown the dragon's teeth, and +while listening keenly to what was being said, he rummaged about in his +memory for the name of that doughty classic hero. + +It was with a shock that it came upon him all at once that the tide was +turning against him. There had been warm expressions of sympathy with +himself and of disapprobation at the course of the committee; and Grant +Herman had announced his intention of offering another motion, when +this should have been disposed of, to the effect that a printed notice +of the removal of the vote of censure be sent to each member of the +club; but it was evident that there was a general feeling that Fenton's +attitude was too extreme. The club was evidently willing to exonerate +him and to offer such reparation as lay in its power, but it was not +prepared formally to rebuke its committee. The debate had continued +nearly an hour, and speakers were beginning to say the same things over +and over. At the farther end of the room some men began to call +"question." The word brought Fenton to his feet like the lash of a +whip; he put his hands upon his chest as if he were panting for breath, +his eyes were fairly blazing with excitement, and when he spoke his +voice shook with the intensity of his emotion. + +"Mr. President," he began, "it seems to me that the honor of this club +is in question. It had not occurred to me to regard this so much a +personal affront as an insult to the club which has elected me to its +membership. It is forced upon me by the remarks that have been made to +look at the personal side of the matter. Gentlemen have been insisting +that I am seeking reparation for an insult which they acknowledge has +been offered me; which they acknowledge has been gratuitous, and to +which all the publicity has been given which lay within the power of +the officers of this club. Very well, then, far as it was from my +original intention, I present my personal grievance and I claim +redress. The vote of censure which the committee has passed upon me I +regard as merely a stupid and offensive blunder; the implication +conveyed by listening to a servant in relation to a charge against a +member is an insult to him as a gentleman, which, to me personally, +seems too intolerable to be endured. I came into this club as to a body +of gentlemen, and I have a right to claim at your hands that I shall be +treated as such by its officers." + +Fenton had many enemies in the St. Filipe, but the splendid dash and +audacity of his manner, even more than his words, produced a tremendous +effect. There was an instant's hush as he ended, and then the voice of +Tom Bently, big and vibrating, rang through the room in defiance of all +rules of order and of all the proprieties as well. + +"By God! He is right!" said Tom, and a burst of applause answered him. + +The day was won, and although there were a few protests, they were +silenced by cries of "Question! Question!" and the motion was carried +by a majority which, if not overwhelming, was large enough to be +without question. + +"The motion is carried," announced the president. + +Fenton rose to his feet again. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "I cannot resist the temptation personally to +thank you. Mr. President, I have now the honor to tender you my +resignation from the St. Filipe Club." + +He bowed and turned to walk from the room. He was full of a wild +exultation over his success, and he reasoned quickly with himself that +even if his resignation were accepted, he retired in good order. He +had, too, a half-defined feeling that in thus tempting fate still +further, he made a sort of expiatory offering for his actual guilt. He +said to himself, with that lightning-like quickness which thought +possesses in a crisis, that since the principle for which he contended +stood above the question of his individual transgression, it was but +just that the motion should have been carried, and that now he was +ready to take his punishment by losing his membership in the St. +Filipe. + +But before he had gone half a dozen steps, two or three men had called +out impulsively,-- + +"Mr. President! I move this resignation be not accepted." + +There were plenty of men there who would gladly have seen Fenton leave +the club; the members of the Executive Committee were smarting under +the rebuke he had brought upon them; but the excitement of the moment, +the admiration which courage and dash always excite, carried all before +them. The motion was voted with noise enough to make it at least seem +hearty, and with no outspoken negatives to prevent its appearing +unanimous. His friends dragged him back and insisted upon drinking with +him, the formalities of adjournment being swallowed up in the uproar. +His triumph could not have been more complete, and its celebration, +with much discussion, much congratulation and not a little wine, lasted +until midnight. + +And all the while, as he talked and jested and argued and laughed and +drank, his brain was playing with the question of right and wrong as a +child with a shuttlecock. Without a hearty conviction of the absolute +justice of the principle for which he contended, it is doubtful if +Fenton could have acted the lie of assumed innocence. He had entangled +the question of his guilt with that of the propriety of the action of +the committee so inextricably that one could scarcely be taken up +without the other. He admired himself as an actor, he approved of +himself as a logician, and he despised himself--without any heart- +burning bitterness--as a liar. He was too clear-headed to be able to +bejuggle himself with the reasoning that he had not been guilty of +falsehood because he had never specifically and in word denied the +charge of the committee. Yet with all his pride in his self- +comprehension, he really deceived himself. He supposed himself to have +been animated by the desire to establish a principle in which he really +believed, to conquer and humiliate the Secretary, and to please himself +by acting an amusing _role_; while in truth he had been instigated by +his dominant selfish instinct of self-preservation. But he thoroughly +enjoyed his triumph, and by the time he left the house he seemed to +have established himself on quite a new footing of friendship with even +the members of the Executive Committee. + +As he went down the steps of the club, starting for home, Chauncy +Wilson said to him, with his usual rough jocularity,-- + +"I'll bet you a quarter, Fenton, you did bring Snaffle in that night, +after all. By the way, did you know that Princeton Platinum had gone +all to flinders?" + + + + +XXVII + + UPON A CHURCH BENCH. + Much Ado about Nothing; iii.--3. + +When Fenton went to the club that night he left Helen Greyson and Mr. +Candish, both of whom were sufficiently familiar to excuse the +informality. The combination of the clergyman and the sculptor might +seem likely to be incongruous, but the two had much more in common than +at first sight appeared. Fenton had been right in declaring that Helen +was by instinct a Puritan. It was true that she had shaken herself free +from all the fetters of old creeds and that her religious beliefs were +of the most liberal. The essence of Puritanism, however, was not its +dogmas, but its strenuous earnestness, its exaltation of self-denial, +and its distrust of the guidance of the senses. + +The original Puritans made their religion satisfy their aesthetic +sense, even while they were insisting upon the virtue of starving that +part of their nature. To believe literally and with a realizing sense +of its meaning the creed of Calvin, would have been impossible without +madness to any nature short of the incarnate inhumanity of a Jonathan +Edwards. The aesthetic sense of humanity demands that the imagination +shall be nourished; and the imagination is fed by receiving things as +only ideally true. The Puritans were right in declaring that art was +hostile to religion as they conceived it; but they failed to perceive +that this hostility arose from the fact that the acceptance of their +theology was only possible in virtue of the very faculties to which art +appealed. They were obliged to deprive the imagination of its natural +food, in order that it should be forced to feed upon that the +assimilation of which they conceived to be a moral obligation. It may, +at first sight, seem a bold assertion that our Puritan ancestors +believed their creed, however unconsciously, simply in the sense in +which we believe in the bravery of the heroes of Homer or in the loves +and sorrows of the heroines of Shakespeare. It is to be reflected, +however, that those unhappy creatures who attempted to receive +Calvinism literally and absolutely paid for their mistake with madness; +and that it did not enter into the minds of generations of Puritans, +who lived and died in the error that they believed with their +understanding what they really received only with the imagination, to +take this view, in no way affects its truth. + +Helen's position differed from that of her Puritan grandmothers from +the fact of her having turned her imagination back to art; but she +shared with them the temperament which made Puritanism possible. The +aesthetic sense, which is as universal in mankind as the passions, +clung in her case to sensuous beauty, while that of Mr. Candish clung +to what he considered beauty moral and spiritual; but the controlling +force in the life of both was the stinging inspiration of a fixed idea +of duty. They were thus able, although rather as a matter of +unconscious sympathy than of deliberate understanding, to comprehend +each other; and if Helen had the broader sight, Mr. Candish possessed +the greater power of ignoring self. + +Edith stood on a middle ground between the two. At the time of her +marriage she had been much nearer to the position occupied by the +clergyman; and she would have been startled and shocked had she +realized how much her views had been modified during the six years of +her life with Fenton. She had certainly been led into no toleration of +moral laxity, and indeed the effect of her husband's cynical Paganism +had been to make her dread more acutely any infringement upon moral +laws. She had been constantly learning, however, the enjoyment and +appreciation of beauty, not merely in a conventional and Philistine +sense, but as a pure Pagan aestheticism. The change showed itself +chiefly in her increased tolerance of views less rigid than her own, +which made possible the perfecting of the intimacy with Helen, which +had begun simply from her sense of pity for the sadness of the other's +life. + +"Isn't it charming," Edith said to-night, as the three sat before the +fire after Arthur had gone out, "to see Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard together. +It's not only that they are so fond of each other, but they are so +perfectly in accord. It seems to me an ideal marriage." + +Helen looked at her with an inward sigh. + +"It is much the fashion, nowadays," she said, "to insist that the ideal +marriage is no marriage at all." + +Mr. Candish looked at her inquiringly. + +"Or, in other words," she explained, with a passing thought of his want +of quickness of apprehension, "that no marriage can be ideal." + +"Or anything else, for that matter," put in Edith quickly. "The +iconoclasts of this generation will spare absolutely nothing." + +"These objectors don't take into account," observed Mr. Candish, "that +if we once begin to give up things because their possibilities are not +realized, we shall soon end by having nothing left. Plenty of people do +not live up to the possibilities of marriage, but the fact is that the +trouble is with themselves. The blame that they lay on the institution +really belongs on their own shoulders." + +"Yes," agreed Edith; "like everything else it comes back to a question +of egotism." "And egotism," added Helen, smiling, yet wistfully, "is +the supreme evil." + +Mr. Candish nodded approvingly. + +"I don't know," he said, "that a bachelor like myself has any right to +discuss marriage, except on general principles; but certainly, even +without taking the religious view of it, one can see that the very +objections brought against wedlock are reasons in its favor." + +"Yes," Edith returned, but she moved uneasily in her chair, and Helen +divined that the subject was painful to her. + +"The difficulty is," she said, with an air of dismissing the whole +subject, "that most people marry for the honeymoon and very few for the +whole life." + +She fell to thinking in an absorbed mood which was not wholly free from +irritation, how constantly this question of marriage met one at every +turn, as if the whole fabric of life, social and ethical, depended +entirely upon this institution. She sighed a little impatiently, +looking into the fire with mournful eyes. She thought of the marriages +with which her destiny had been most intimately connected, her own ill- +starred mating, the union of Herman and Ninitta, that of Fenton and +Edith. She had long ago settled in her own mind that wedlock was not +only the mainstay of society, but that it was largely a concession to +the weakness of her sex; and yet instinctively she protested; that +revolt against being a woman which few of her sex have failed at one +time or another to experience taking the form of a revolt against +matrimony. + +"Indeed," she broke out, half humorously and half pathetically, "the +most joyful promise for the Christians hereafter is that they shall +neither marry nor be given in marriage." + +Mr. Candish looked a little shocked; but Edith said softly,-- + +"That is only possible when they become as the Sons of God." + +Helen spread out her hands in a deprecatory gesture. + +"Come, Edith," she said, "that isn't fair, to take the discussion into +regions where I can't follow you." + +Edith smiled, but made no rejoinder in words. Turning to Mr. Candish +she remarked, with an abrupt change of subject,-- + +"When may I tell Melissa Blake about the Knitting School?" + +"I see no reason," he answered, "why she shouldn't know at once. We +shall be ready to begin operations in a month at most, and ought to +know her decision." + +"Isn't it capital?" Edith explained, turning toward Helen. "The +Knitting School is really to be started. Mrs. Bodewin Ranger guarantees +the funds for a year, and we have contracts for work to be delivered in +the fall that will keep from a dozen to twenty girls busy all summer; +while the matron's salary will put Melissa Blake on her feet very +nicely. It's such a relief to have some of those girls provided for." + +"That's the Melissa Blake, isn't it," Helen asked, "that Mr. Hubbard +spoke of at dinner?" + +"Yes," answered Edith, "but it is impossible that he should be right." + +Helen replied only by that look of general sympathy which does duty as +an answer when one has no possible interest in the subject under +discussion, but Mr. Candish, who knew Melissa, shook his head with an +air of conviction. + +"No," he observed, "Miss Blake has too much principle to be guilty of a +breach of confidence. I am sure Mr. Hubbard must be mistaken." + +"And yet," commented Helen, "there is such a general feeling that if +one keeps the letter of his word he may do as he pleases about the +spirit, that she may have contrived to give her lover a hint without +actually breaking her promise as she would understand it." + +"I don't know," Edith returned earnestly, "that we have any right to +judge other people more harshly than we should ourselves. If one of our +friends had betrayed Mr. Hubbard's plans we should say he was a rascal +because we should assume that he knew what he was doing; and we +wouldn't believe such a charge unless we knew he was really bad." + +"But," persisted Helen, with an unconscious irony which Fenton would +have keenly appreciated had he but been there to hear, "in our class of +course it's different. A nice sense of honor is after all very much a +social matter nowadays. That may sound a bit snobbish, but don't you +think it is true?" + +"It is and it isn't," was Mr. Candish's reply. "It would undoubtedly be +true if religious principle did not come into the matter; but religious +principle is stronger in what we call the middle classes than among +their social superiors." + +Mrs. Greyson was not sufficiently interested to continue the +discussion, and she let the matter drop, while Edith contented herself +with reiterating her conviction in Melissa's perfect trustworthiness. + +They chatted upon indifferent subjects for a little while, and then Mr. +Candish went to keep an appointment at the bedside of a sick +parishioner; so that Helen and Edith were left alone. + +They sat together a little longer, and then Helen asked casually,-- + +"By the way, Edith, how long has Arthur been painting Ninitta?" + +"Painting Ninitta?" echoed Edith. + +She remembered the wrap she had seen in the studio, with the wavering +evasion of her husband's eyes when her glance had sought his in +question, and painful forebodings against which she had striven, lest +they should become suspicions, were awakened by Helen's words. + +"Yes," the other went on. "Fred Rangely told me at dinner to-night that +he couldn't get into the studio this morning because Arthur was +painting Mrs. Herman." + +"What did you say to him?" asked Edith. + +"I said," her companion returned, looking up in surprise at her tone, +"that I fancied the picture must be intended as a surprise for Mr. +Herman and he'd better not speak of it." + +"But," Edith objected, "if Arthur told him she was there"-- + +"He didn't," interrupted Helen; "a man outside the door said he had +seen her go in." + +Edith grew pale as ashes. She evidently made a strong effort at self- +control; and then, burying her face in her hands, she burst into +violent weeping. Helen bent forward and put her arms about her. She +drew the quivering form close, resting Edith's beautiful head upon her +bosom. She did not speak, but with soft, caressing touch she smoothed +the other's hair. She remembered vividly the time, six years before, +when Edith, who had left her at night in indignation and disapproval, +had come to her on the morning after her husband's death. She could +almost have said to this weeping woman, the words with which she +remembered the other had then greeted her,--"You must feel so lonely." + +She dared not speak now. She feared to ask the cause of this outburst, +both lest Edith might be led to say what she would afterward wish +unspoken, and because she dreaded to hear unpleasant truths in regard +to Arthur. + +"Oh, Helen," Edith sobbed. "Life is too hard! Life is too hard!" + +Still Helen did not answer, save by the caress of her fingers. The +tears were in her own eyes. One woman instinctively appreciates the +tragedy of another's life, and her unspoken sympathy was balm to +Edith's soul. + +"Come," she said, patting Edith's shoulder as one might soothe a +weeping child, "you're all tired out. I can't take the responsibility +of letting you have hysterics; Arthur would never leave you alone with +me again." + +She spoke with as much lightness of tone as she could command, while +her embrace and her caresses conveyed the sympathy she would not put +into words. + +Presently Mrs. Fenton disengaged herself from her companion's arms and +sat up, wiping away her tears. + +"I must be tired," she said, "or I shouldn't be so foolish." + +"You do too much," Helen returned. Then, with the design of giving her +friend a chance to retreat from their dangerous nearness to +confidences, she added,-- + +"Now tell me what you've done to-day." + +"I have done a good deal," the other replied, smiling faintly and +showing the recovery of her self-possession by sundry little touches to +the crushed roses in her gown. "At nine o'clock I went to the Saturday +Morning Club, to hear Mr. Jefferson's paper on 'The Over-Soul in +Buddhism'; then, at eleven, I went to Mrs. Gore's to see an example of +the way they teach deaf and dumb children to read lip language; then +Arthur and I went to luncheon at Christopher Plant's, and at half past +three was the meeting of the committee on the Knitting School; then +there was the reception at Uncle Peter's, and the tea at Mrs. West's, +before I came home to dress for dinner." + +Helen leaned back in her chair and laughed musically. She felt, with +mingled relief and a faint sense of disappointment, that her effort to +avoid a confidence had been successful. + +"I should think," she said, "that you Boston women would be worn to +shreds, and I don't wonder that you have a leaning toward hysterics. +Did you carry a clear idea of the Buddhistic over-soul through all the +things that came after it in the day?" + +She rose as she spoke, with the desire to hasten away. She had little +mind to know more than she must of the causes of Edith's unhappiness. +She was glad to help her friend, but she felt that she could do so no +better from knowing anything Edith could tell her; and she was, +moreover, sure that Mrs. Fenton's loyal soul would bitterly regret it +if she were by the emotion of the minute betrayed into revelations that +involved her husband. + +"No," Edith answered, rising in her turn; "I am not even sure whether +the Buddhists believe themselves to have an over-soul. But why must you +go? Wait, and let Arthur walk home with you." + +"Oh, I shall take a car," Helen said. "I don't in the least mind going +alone; and it's time both of us were in bed. Good-night, dear; do try +and get rested." + + + + +XXVIII + + BEDECKING ORNAMENTS OF PRAISE. + Love's Labor's Lost; ii.--1. + +Edith Fenton did not, however, follow Helen's advice and go to bed. She +went to her room and exchanged her dinner gown for a wrapper, and then +sat down before the wood fire in her chamber to wait for Arthur's +return. + +It is a dismal vigil when a wife watches for her husband and questions +herself of the love between them. It was Edith's conviction that it is +a wife's duty to love her husband till death; not alone to fulfil her +wifely obligations, to preserve an outward semblance of affection, but +to love him in her heart according to the vows she has taken at the +altar. Had one told her that the limit of human power lay at self- +deception, and that, while it was possible to cheat one's self into the +belief of loving, affection could not be constrained, she would with +perfect honesty have replied as she had answered Helen in her allusion +to St. Theresa. She said to herself to-night, with unshaken conviction +and the concentration of all her will, that she would not cease to love +Arthur; but she could not wholly ignore the difference between the +unquestioning affection she had once given him and this love whose +force lay in her will. + +A picture of Caldwell, painted a year ago just before his long hair had +been sacrificed at his boyish entreaties, hung over her mantel. She +looked up at it while her lip quivered and her eyes filled with tears. +The keenly sensitive soul instead of becoming hardened to suffering +feels it more and more sharply. The powers of endurance become worn +out, and to the pain is added a sense of injustice. Since it suffered +yesterday the heart claims the right to be happy to-day, and feels +wronged that this is denied it. With all her endurance, and with all +her faith, Edith could scarcely repress the feeling of passionate +protest which rose in her bosom. She said to herself that she had done +all, and been all, that lay in her power; that there was no sacrifice +in life she was not ready to make to preserve her husband's love; and +the most cruel pang of all she felt in thinking of her boy. For +herself, it seemed to her, she could have borne anything; but that the +atmosphere of the home in which her son was reared should fall short in +anything of the utmost ideal possibilities caused her intolerable +anguish. It seemed to her a cruel wrong to Caldwell that the love and +confidence between his parents should not be perfect. It is probable +that more of her personal pain was covered by this pity for her son +than she was aware; but as she looked up at his picture she felt almost +as if he were half-orphaned by this estrangement between herself and +Arthur, which it were vain for her to attempt to ignore. + +It was after midnight when she heard the street door open and close; +and a moment later came her husband's tap. + +"I saw the light in your room, as I came down street," he said. "What +on earth kept you up so late?" + +"I was waiting," Edith replied, "to talk with you." + +He came across the chamber, and regarded her a moment curiously; then +he turned away with a slight shrug of the shoulders. + +"You will perhaps excuse me," he said, "if I make myself comfortable. I +am pretty tired." + +He went to his dressing-room, coming back a moment later in smoking +jacket and slippers, cutting a cigar as he walked. The reaction from +the excitement of the evening already showed itself in the darkened +circles beneath his eyes, and the pallor of his lips. + +"Do you mind my smoking?" he asked, carelessly. "We've been having the +deuce of a time at the club, and my nerves have all gone to pieces. I +tell you, Edith," he went on, a sudden spark of excitement showing in +his eyes, "I've had a tremendous row, but I've beaten. I made them pass +a vote of censure on the Executive Committee, and then Herman got them +to instruct the Secretary to send out a printed notice taking back that +vote of theirs; and then I offered my resignation, and they voted +unanimously not to accept it." + +"I am so glad!" Edith responded warmly. "That censure was so +outrageous. Tell me all about it." + +She was so pleased to find herself talking cordially and intimately +with her husband that she forgot for the moment what she had meant to +say to him. She listened with eager interest while he gave her a +picturesque version of the exciting scene at the club. Edith hardly +realized how little of the old familiarity there was now between +herself and Arthur. It was his nature to be communicative. He enjoyed +talking, partly from his pleasure in words and the delight he found in +effective and picturesque phrasing, and partly because it pleased his +vanity to excite attention and to produce striking effects. He had an +inveterate habit of telling his most intimate and inner experiences in +some sort of fantastic disguise. The very vain man is apt to be either +extremely reticent or very communicative. The only secrets which Fenton +kept well were those which his vanity guarded. As desire for admiration +and attention provoked him to continual revelations, so the fear that +the disclosure of a secret would react to his disadvantage could cause +him to be silent. + +From the feeling that his wife disapproved of much that he told her had +grown up in Fenton's mind, at first, an irritated desire to shock and +startle her as much as possible. As there came into his life, however, +things which he knew she would view not only with disapproval but with +abhorrence, and especially since his entanglement with Ninitta, he had +grown constantly more guarded in his speech. Edith felt keenly the loss +of the old familiar talks, though, womanlike, she invented a thousand +excuses to prevent herself from believing in the growing estrangement +of her husband. To-night she yielded herself to the pleasure of the +moment, and she had almost forgotten both the sad thoughts of her vigil +and the fear that troubled her, as she listened to Arthur's animated +words. It was not until he rose as if to say good-night, that her mind +came back suddenly to the matter of which she wished to speak. + +It was in a very different mood, however, from that in which she would +have spoken half an hour before, that she now brought up the thing that +had been troubling her. She hesitated a little how to question her +husband without seeming to jar upon the friendly tone in which they had +been talking. He was watching her keenly, wondering why she had waited +for his coming, and speculating whether it were possible that she might +altogether have forgotten what she meant to say. He thought she was +about to speak, and anticipated her by saying,-- + +"Really, Edith, it would be hard to find, even in Boston, a more +incongruous company than we gathered together at dinner to-night." + +"There was a good deal of variety," she returned; adding defensively, +"but then they fitted together pretty well." + +"What a funny old party Miss Penwick is," Arthur went on, inwardly +gathering himself up for a rapid retreat. "Almost as soon as she had +said, 'how do you do' she asked me what I thought the object of life +was." + +"How very like her; what did you tell her?" + +"Oh, I said I supposed the object of life is to transform the crude +animal and vegetable substances of our food into passions and petty +sentiments." + +Edith laughed absently, her thoughts elsewhere. + +"And she looked dreadfully puzzled," Fenton continued, "as to whether +she ought to be shocked or not. But bless me, how late it is! Good- +night, my dear." + +He stretched up his arms in a yawn. Edith turned quickly toward him. + +"Arthur," she said abruptly, but with the kindness of her softened +mood, "are you painting Ninitta?" + +He gave her a startled glance and sat down again in his chair. There +ran through his mind a sudden pang of fear, but he said to himself +instantly that Edith was not one to suspect evil, and she could not +possibly know the truth. + +"Painting Ninitta?" he returned. "Why do you ask that?" + +"Because Fred Rangely told Helen at dinner to-night that you were." + +"Where did he get his information?" asked Fenton, with a feeling of +tightness in his throat as he remembered how Rangely had knocked at his +door that morning. + +"He said," was Edith's answer, "that a carpenter told him Mrs. Herman +was in the studio to-day; and I remembered seeing her wrap there last +week." + +Fenton felt the insecurity of a man about whom all things totter in the +shock of an earthquake, but he refused to yield to fear. He wondered +how much was to be inferred from the fact that an unknown mechanic was +aware of Mrs. Herman's visits. He had an overwhelming sense of being +trapped, and he inwardly gnashed his teeth with rage against Ninitta +and against fate. + +But he felt the supreme importance of self-control, and he was +outwardly collected as he asked,-- + +"What did Helen say to him?" + +"She said," answered Edith, with an exquisite note of sadness in her +voice, "that you must be making a portrait for a surprise to her +husband." + +The artist's heart gave a bound and he caught eagerly at this +suggestion, which afforded him a means of escape. + +"Helen is too shrewd by half," he said, with a smile. "It is for +Grant's birthday and nobody was to know. As a matter of fact," he +added, his invention quickly leaping to the refinements of details in +his falsehood, "I fancy Ninitta really wants it for the _bambino_, as +she calls him." + +He smiled with relief as he went on, and rose again to his feet. + +"Deception," he observed, with his natural lightness of manner, "is the +bane of married life, but marital felicity is impossible without +discreet reserves. It wasn't my secret, you see, so I didn't feel at +liberty to tell you." + +"You were perfectly right," she answered. "The truth is," she +continued, hesitatingly, "I was afraid you had persuaded Ninitta to sit +for the _Fatima_, you know you said once that she was the only model in +Boston who was what you wanted." + +"Did I say that? What a dreadful memory you have. I should expect Grant +to make a burnt sacrifice of me if I had beguiled her into such an +indiscretion. He won't even have her sit to himself since she was +married." + +"Of course not," rejoined Edith, emphatically. "Poor Grant! He can't be +very happy with Ninitta. She never can get the taint of Bohemia out of +her blood." + +Arthur laughed and flung his cigar end into the fire. + +"You speak," he said, "as if that were a hopeless poison." + +He stood smiling to himself an instant. He had pushed off one slipper +and was endeavoring to pick it up, using his foot like a hand. He was +in that state of high excitement when he would have found relief in the +wildest and most boisterous actions; and it pleased him to be able +still to retain the appearance of his ordinary calm. + +"Modern civilization," he observed, "consists largely in learning to +live without the use of either truth or the toes. Good-night, my dear. +I want to get a nap before the church bells begin to ring." + +He stooped and kissed her, and went to his chamber. He closed the door +and began to recite with exaggerated gestures a fragment from +_Macbeth_. The varied emotions of the evening had set every nerve +quivering. He was so excited that he was not even despondent over the +collapse of Princeton Platinum stock, although this meant to him +desperate financial straits. He knew that he was in no condition to +consider anything calmly; but half the remainder of the night he tossed +upon a sleepless bed, reacting the scene at the club, reflecting upon +his narrow escape from the discovery of his relations with Ninitta, +resolving to begin her portrait at once, and thinking a thousand +confused things which made his brain seem to him filled with whirling +masses of fiery thought-clouds. + +It was really only just before the church bells began to ring that he +fell asleep at last, to dreams hardly less vivid than his waking +reflections. + + + + +XXIX + + CRUEL PROOF OF THIS MAN'S STRENGTH. + As You Like It; i.--2. + +Orin Stanton had been tolerably sure of getting the commission for the +_America_, and had been busily at work preparing his model for the +figure. By the time the decision of the committee was reached, his +study was practically complete, and only a day or two after he had been +officially notified that the choice had fallen upon him the public were +invited to his studio to view the statue. + +Whatever else Orin might or might not be, he was undeniably energetic. +He missed no opportunities through neglect, and he never left undone +anything which was likely to tell for his own advantage. He had once +before called upon the world to admire his work on the completion of +his masterpiece, a figure called _Hop Scotch_, representing according +to Bently "a tenement-house girl having a fit on the sidewalk." He +therefore understood well enough the usual methods of managing these +affairs, and as the ladies who had taken him up felt bound to make a +point of patronizing the exhibition, the affair succeeded capitally. + +Stanton had no regular studio in Boston, and had for this work secured +a room on the ground floor of a business building. The light, to be +sure, was not all that might have been desired, but it was abundant, +window screens were cheap and the sculptor not over sensitive to +subtile gradations of values. He made no attempt to decorate the room +for his exhibition, partly from a certain indifference to its bareness, +and partly from a native shrewdness which enabled him to feel both the +difficulty of doing this adequately, and the fact that the statue +appeared better as things were. There were a few benches, scantily +cushioned, two or three chairs, not all in perfect repair, with the +paraphernalia essential to his work. A few sketches in crayon and +pencil were pinned to the wall, and among them the artist had had the +fatuity to pin up a photograph of that most beautiful figure, the +_Winged Victory_ of Paionios. + +The study for _America_, which was of colossal size, represented a +woman seated, leaning her left hand upon a rock. The right hand held +slightly uplifted a bunch of maize and tobacco plant; her head wore a +crown in which the architectural embattlements not uncommon in classic +headdresses had been curiously and wonderfully transformed into the +likeness of the domed capitol at Washington. The figure was completely +draped, only the head, the left hand and the right arm to the elbow +emerging from the voluminous folds in which it was wrapped, save that +the tip of one sandalled foot was visible, resting upon a ballot box. +Half covered by the hem of the robe were seen a tomahawk, an axe, a +printer's stick, a calumet, and various other emblems of American life, +civilized and barbarous. + +A secret which Stanton did not impart to the public and which, with a +boldness allied to impudence, he trusted to their never discovering, +was the fact that his figure had been stolen bodily from an antique. +There exists in the museum of the Vatican a statuette representing a +work by Eutychides of Sikyon. Bas-reliefs of the same figure exist also +on certain coins of Antioch still extant. The figure represented the +city goddess _Tyche_ resting her foot upon the shoulder of the river +god _Orontes_, who seems to swim from beneath the rock upon which she +is seated. Stanton had a sketch of the statuette which he had made in +Rome, and from this he had modelled his _America_, replacing the god +_Orontes_ by a ballot-box, changing the accessories and adding as many +symbolical articles as he could crowd around the feet. He was not +wholly untroubled by an inward dread lest the source of his inspiration +should be discovered; but when he had been complimented by Peter Calvin +upon the marked originality of the design, he threw his fear to the +winds and delivered himself up to the enjoyment of receiving the +praises of his visitors. + +There was a strange mixture of people present. Stanton had invited the +artists, members of the press, and all the people that he knew, whether +they knew him or not. Mrs. Frostwinch was there, Mrs. Staggchase, Elsie +Dimmont, and Ethel Mott; and although Mrs. Bodewin Ranger was not +actually present, she in a manner lent her countenance by sending her +carriage to the door to call for one of her friends. Fred Rangely was +present, talking in a satirical undertone to Miss Merrivale and viewing +the statue with a wicked look in his eye which boded little good to the +sculptor. Melissa Blake was there, rather overpowered by the crowd and +clinging tightly to the arm of her companion, a girl whose acquaintance +she had made in her boarding-house, and who was much given to an +affectation of profound culture as represented by attendance upon +stereopticon lectures and the exhibitions of the local art clubs. + +"Oh, I should think," this young lady said to Melissa, in a simpering +rapture, "you'd be just too proud for anything, to know Mr. Stanton. It +must be too lovely to know a real sculptor." + +"I don't know him so very well," returned the conscientious Melissa. + +"But you really know him," persisted the other, "and he's been to call +on you. Isn't it funny how some men can make things just out of their +heads without anything to go by?" + +Rangely, who was standing close by, caught the remark and secretly made +a grimace for the benefit of Miss Merrivale. + +"That," said he in her ear, "is genuine Boston culture." + +She laughed softly, not in the least knowing what to say. The statue +meant nothing whatever to her, and had the original of Eutychides been +placed by its side she would have been unable to understand that in +copying it Stanton had transformed its dignity into clumsiness, its +grace into vulgarity. Had she been at home in New York, she would have +said frankly that she neither knew nor cared anything about the +_America_; being in Boston, she had a superstitious feeling that such +frankness would be ill-judged, and she therefore contented herself with +non-committal laughter. + +"How do you do, Miss Merrivale?" at this moment said a cheery voice +close by her. + +She looked up to see the merry eyes and corn-colored beard of Chauncy +Wilson. + +"I say, Fred," went on the doctor, confidentially, "don't you think +this thing is beastly rubbish? It looks like an old grandmother wrapped +up in her bedclothes. And what has she got that toy village on her head +for?" + +"Oh, Doctor Wilson!" exclaimed Miss Merrivale, in a manner that might +mean reproval or amusement. + +Miss Frances was having a very good time. Although Mrs. Staggchase had +been throwing her guest and Rangely together for motives of her own, +the result to Miss Merrivale had been as pleasing as if her hostess had +been purely disinterested. It is true, the time for her return to New +York drew near, but visions of the pleasure of imparting to her family +and friends the news of her engagement to the brilliant young novelist +did much to alleviate her regret at departing from Boston. She had a +pleasant consciousness that afternoon, of sharing in the attention +which Rangely received in public nowadays, especially since his novel +had been violently attacked in the _London Spectator_ and defended in +the _Saturday Review_. She noted the glances that were cast at him, +receiving their homage with a certain secret feeling of having a share +in it. + +But bliss in this world is always transient, and at her happiest moment +Miss Merrivale looked up to perceive Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson bearing +down upon her. Mrs. Sampson was accompanied by the Hon. Tom Greenfield, +who both felt and looked utterly out of place; and who was dragged +along in the wake of his companion quite as much by his unwillingness +to be left to his own devices in a crowd of strangers, as by any +particular desire to follow her. + +"My dear Frances," the widow said effusively, kissing Miss Merrivale on +both cheeks. "I am _so_ glad to see you. Really it is perfectly cruel +that you haven't been to see me. But then, I know," she ran on without +giving the other time to speak, "how busy you've been. I've seen your +name in the _Gossip_, and you've been everywhere." + +"Yes, I have," returned Miss Merrivale, catching rather awkwardly at +the excuse supplied to her. + +Chauncy Wilson laughed significantly. He never felt it necessary to +treat the widow with any especial respect. + +"Mrs. Sampson passes the whole of Sunday forenoon committing the +society columns of the _Gossip_ to memory, and wishing her name was +there," he chuckled, with a jocoseness which seemed to that lady +extremely ill-timed. + +But she kept her temper beautifully, long years of social struggle +having taught her at least this art of self-restraint. + +"Dr. Wilson is nothing if not satirical," she returned, with a +conventional smile. + +It would not have been displeasing to Miss Merrivale had the floor at +that particular instant opened and engulfed her former hostess. It +needs unusual breadth of mind to forgive those toward whom we have been +discourteous. On the other side of the statue, Frances saw Mrs. +Staggchase watching the encounter with a sort of quiet amusement. It +flashed across her mind that if she were to become Mrs. Rangely, and +live in Boston, it would be necessary to drop Mrs. Sampson from her +calling list, and the reflection instantly followed that the sooner the +process of breaking the acquaintance were begun the better. Her face +insensibly, hardened a little. + +"Of course," she said, "one can't help being put into the _Gossip_, but +I should never think of reading it." + +Mrs. Sampson understood that this was a snub, and her cheek flushed. +Wilson laughed maliciously. + +"Oh, everybody reads the _Gossip_," Rangely interposed, good-naturedly +coming to the rescue; "although it's to the credit of humanity that +everybody has the grace to be ashamed of it." + +There was a bustle and stir in the crowd as Tom Bently pushed his way +up to the group. + +"By Jove, Rangely," he said, "have you got on to that statue? Do you +know what it's cribbed from?" + +"No," returned Fred; "is it from anything in particular? I supposed it +was just a general steal from the antique, and Stanton appropriates +only to destroy." + +"I don't know what it is," was Bently's reply, "but I know there's a +cut of it in a book I've got at the studio." + +Rangely's eyes flashed. + +"Good," said he, "I'll come round to-night and we'll look it up. I'm +going to do a notice of the _America_ for the _Observer_." + +The two exchanged significant glances, laughing inwardly at the +discomfiture of the unfortunate sculptor. + +"But don't you admire the figure?" asked Mrs. Sampson, eagerly seizing +an opportunity to get into the conversation. + +"It's the kind of thing I should have liked when I was young," Bently +returned. "I was taught to like that sort of thing; but all the +preliminary rubbish that was plastered on to me when I was a youngster, +I have shed as a snake sheds its skin." + +The movement in the crowd gave Miss Merrivale an excuse for changing +her position; and she improved the opportunity to turn away from the +widow until the latter could see little except her back. Mrs. Sampson +flushed angrily, but she covered her discomfiture, as well as she was +able, by turning her attention to the statue, and descanting upon its +beauties to Greenfield. + +"How exquisitely dignified the drapery is," she remarked, "and so +beautifully modest." + +"Big thing, ain't it," said the strident voice of Irons, close to her +ear. "I think we've hit something good this time. I'm really obliged to +you, Greenfield, for putting me up to vote for Stanton. I like a statue +with some meaning to it. Now just look at the significance of all those +emblems of American progress." + +"Yes, it is very fine," admitted Greenfield, with a helpless air. "I'll +work it into a speech, sometime," he added, his face brightening with +the relief of having an idea; "there's the ballot-box at the bottom as +a foundation, and you work up through all the industries till you get +to the capitol, the centre of government, at the top." + +"Hear! hear!" exclaimed the widow, clapping her hands very softly and +prettily; "really you must speak at the unveiling of the statue." + +"Capital idea," exclaimed Irons, to whose gratitude for Greenfield's +aid in the railroad matter was added the politic forecast that he might +some time need his help again; "there's Hubbard over there now; I'll go +and ask him whether our committee chooses the orator." + +He started to make his way through the crowd, followed by the admiring +looks of various young women who had been frankly listening to the +conversation, although they were strangers. + +"Oh, isn't the statue just too lovely for anything," gushingly remarked +one of them, with startling originality; "it's so noble and--. And, +oh," she broke off suddenly, the light of a new discovery shining in +her face, "just see, girls, that's corn in her hand." + +"Oh, yes, and cotton," responded her companion. "See, it really is +cotton, and something else." + +"Yes, that must be maize," returned the other, oracularly; "it's all so +beautifully American." + +The crowd moved and swayed and changed, until Ethel Mott stood close to +the _America_, with her back turned squarely upon the figure. She +evidently found more pleasure in looking at her companion than in +studying the work of the sculptor, which she had nominally come to see. + +"I think it will be too cold, Thayer, to go out in the dog-cart," she +said, with one of those glances whose meaning not even a poet could put +into words. + +"Oh, no," Kent answered. "I have a tremendously heavy rug, and you can +wrap up." + +"Well," was her answer, "if it's pleasant, and the sun shines, and I +don't change my mind, and I feel like it, perhaps I'll go. At any rate +you may come round about ten o'clock." + +Rangely was too far away to catch, amid the babble of the crowd, a +single word of this conversation, but he noted the looks which the pair +exchanged. + +"Oh, do come along," a corpulent lady in the crowd observed to her +companion. "We've seen everybody here that we know, and I want to go +down to Winter Street and get some buttons for my grey dress. Miranda +wanted me to have them covered with the cloth, but I think steel ones +would be prettier." + +"Yes, they say steel's going to be awfully fashionable this spring. Are +they going to put that statue up just as it is?" + +"Oh, they bake it or paint it or something," was the lucid answer, as +the corpulent lady threw herself against Mr. Hubbard, nearly +annihilating him in her effort to clear a path through the crowd. + +"I think, my dear," Hubbard observed to his wife, "unless you've +designs on my life insurance, you'd better take me out of this crowd." + +"But we haven't seen the statue," she returned. + +"I have," he retorted grimly, "and I assure you you haven't lost +anything. You'll see it enough when it's set up, and you'll go about +perjuring your soul by denying that I was ever on the committee." + +"Hush," she said, "do be quiet; people will think you're cross because +you were overruled." + +On the other side of the statue the sculptor had been receiving +congratulations all the afternoon, and now Mr. Calvin and Mrs. +Frostwinch chanced to approach him at the same time to take their +leave. + +"I am so glad to have seen the statue," was the latter's form of adieu, +"it is distinctly inspiring. Thank you so much." + +He bowed awkwardly enough, stammering some unintelligible reply, and +the lady moved away with Mr. Calvin, who observed as the pair emerged +into the open air: + +"It is such a relief to me that this statue has turned out so well. +There has really been a good deal of feeling and wire-pulling, and some +New York friends of mine will never forgive me that the commission was +not given to one of their men. I really feel as if the thing had been +made almost a personal matter." + +"It must be a great satisfaction to you," his companion returned, "that +he has succeeded." + +"It is," was Calvin's reply. "I meant to see Mr. Rangley and ask him to +say a good word in the _Observer,_ but everybody is so much pleased +that I think he may be trusted to be." + +"Oh, he must be," she answered. + +And as she spoke Tom Bently passed by, quietly smiling to himself. + + + + +XXX + + THE WORLD IS STILL DECEIVED. + Merchant of Venice; iii.--2. + +On the evening following his reception, Orin Stanton presented himself +at the rooms of Melissa. He was fairly beaming with self-complacency +and gratification. He had been awarded the commission, the exhibition +of his model had been attended, as he assured Melissa, "by no end of +swells," and five thousand dollars had been paid over to him as an +advance upon which to begin his work. He felt as if the world were +under his feet and he spoke to Melissa with an air of lofty +condescension which should have amused her, but which she received with +the utmost humility. + +"Well," he said, "what do you think of that for a crowd? Wasn't that a +swell mob? Didn't you notice what a lot of bang-up people there were at +the studio this afternoon?" + +"Of course I didn't know many of them," Melissa returned humbly; "but I +could see that there were a lot of people that everybody seemed to +know. I'm glad that you were pleased." + +Orin pulled out a big cigar and bit the end off it excitedly. + +"Pleased!" he echoed. "I was more than pleased--I was delighted. All +the committee were there, of course, and half the fashionable women of +Boston." + +"I heard a lady telling another who the artists were," Milly observed, +glad to find a subject upon which she could talk to Orin easily. + +"O yes, there were a lot of artists there, but they don't count for +much in getting a fellow commissions." + +Stanton had evidently no intention of being satirical, but spoke with +straightforward plainness what he would have regarded, had he given the +matter any thought at all, as being a truth too obvious to need any +disguises. His Philistinism was of the perfectly ingrained, inborn +sort, which never having appreciated that it is naked has never felt +the need of being ashamed; and he let it be seen on any occasion with a +frankness which arose from the fact that it had never occurred to him +that there was any reason why he should conceal it. He was one of those +artists who never would be able wholly to separate his idea of the muse +from that of a serving-maid; and he viewed art from the strictly +utilitarian standpoint which considers it a means toward the payment of +butcher and baker and candlestick maker. He was not indifferent to the +opinion of his fellow sculptors; but the criticism of Alfred Irons, +which he knew to be backed by a substantial bank account, would have +outweighed in his mind the judgment of Michael Angelo or Phidias. + +Milly, of course, had no ideas about art beyond a faint sentimental +tendency to regard it as a mysterious and glorious thing which one +could not wholly escape in Boston; while her thrifty New England +nurture enabled her to appreciate perfectly the force of the +considerations Orin brought forward. + +"I am glad you are getting commissions," she said, "but it must be nice +to have the artists like your work, for after all, don't you think rich +people depend a good deal upon what the artists say?" + +"Oh yes, they do, some," admitted the sculptor. + +He puffed his cigar, and with the aid of a penknife performed upon his +nails certain operations of the toilet which are more usually attended +to in private. Milly sat nervously trying to think of something to say, +and wondering what had brought the sculptor to visit her. She was too +kindly to suspect that possibly he had come because in her company he +could enjoy the pleasure of giving free rein to his self-conceit. The +words of her companion of the afternoon had given her a new sense of +the honor of a visit from her prospective brother-in-law, although this +increased her diffidence rather than her pleasure. + +"Was Mr. Fenton there this afternoon?" she asked, at length, simply for +the sake of saying something. + +The face of her companion darkened. + +"Damn Fenton!" he returned, with coarse brutality. "He's a cad and a +snob; he says Herman ought to have made the _America_, and he abuses my +model without ever having seen it." + +The remark of Fenton's which had given offence to Stanton had been made +at the club in comment upon a photograph of the model which somebody +was showing. + +"The only capitol thing about it," Fenton had said, "is the headgear." + +The remark was severe rather than witty, and it was its severity which +had given it wings to bear it to the sculptor's ears. + +"I don't like Mr. Fenton very well," Milly admitted, "but Mrs. Fenton +is perfectly lovely; she's been awfully good to me." + +By way of reply the sculptor, with a somewhat ponderous air, unbuttoned +his coat and produced a red leather pocket-book. This he opened, took +out a handful of bills, and proceeded to count them with great +deliberation. Melissa watched while he counted out a sum which seemed +to have been fixed in his mind. He smoothed the package of bills in his +hand, then he glanced up at her furtively as if to ascertain whether +she knew how much he had laid out. She involuntarily averted her +glance. Instantly Orin gathered up several of the bills quickly, +conveying them out of sight with a guilty air as if he were purloining +them. Then he held the remainder toward his companion. + +"There," he said, "I should have kept my promise if you hadn't hinted +by speaking of Fenton. Of course you understand that I can't give you +anything very tremendous, but there's a hundred and fifty dollars." + +Melissa flushed and drew back. + +"I had no idea of hinting," was her reply. "Of course I thank you very +much, but you ought to give the money to John, not to me." + +"No," Orin insisted, "you helped me with Mrs. Fenton, and John might as +well know that I wouldn't put this money into a hole just to please +him. I know John. He'll set more by you if the money comes through +you." + +"But I don't believe," protested she, "that what I said to Mrs. Fenton +really made any difference." + +But in Orin's abounding good nature her disclaimer passed unheeded. He +pressed the money upon her, and went away full of the consciousness of +having exercised a noble philanthropy. + +It is possible that had he waited to read Fred Rangely's criticism upon +his _America_ which appeared in the _Daily Observer_ next morning he +might never have made this contribution toward paying his father's +debts. With Bently's help Rangely had discovered the original of the +statue, and had then written a careful comparison between the work of +Eutychides and that of Stanton. It hardly need be added that the result +was not at all flattering to the latter. Rangely possessed a very +pretty gift of sarcasm, and it was his humor to consider that in +attacking the sculptor he was to a certain degree settling scores with +Mrs. Staggchase for her change in attitude toward him after Miss +Merrivale came. He served up the unlucky statue and its more unlucky +maker with a piquancy and a zest which made his article town talk for a +month. The sculptor sheltered himself, so far as he could, by keeping +out of sight, while Peter Calvin, unable to endure the jibes and +laughter which everywhere met him, abandoned the cause of his _protege_ +and the town together, by starting two months earlier than he had +intended on a trip to Europe. + +Rangely was angry with himself for having been persuaded by Mrs. +Staggchase to write an article sustaining Stanton's claims in the first +place, and not having signed it, he endeavored to give to this +criticism a tone which should indicate, without its being specifically +stated, that he had not written the former paper. He understood +perfectly well that Mrs. Staggchase would regard his position as a +declaration of independence, and indeed when the lady read the +_Observer_ that morning she smiled with an air of comprehension. + +"That's an end to that," she said to herself. "When you've known a man +as long as I have Fred Rangely, he's like a book that's been read; +you've got all the good there is in him. There are other men in the +world." + +When Orin had gone, Milly stood turning over and over in her hand the +roll of bills he had given her. Then she spread them out upon the +table, counting them and gloating over them, with a delight which arose +quite as largely from her foretaste of John's pleasure and the joy of +having helped to cause it, as it did from mere love of money. She had +just taken the precious roll to put it away, when her lover himself +appeared. + +John Stanton was really of more kindly disposition than might have been +inferred from his misunderstanding with his betrothed. He had been half +a dozen weeks coming to his right mind, but whatever he did he did +thoroughly, and in the end he had reached a point where he was willing +to acknowledge himself wrong, and to make whatever amends lay in his +power. He came in to-night with the determined air of one who has made +up his mind to get through a disagreeable duty as speedily as possible. + +Milly opened the door for him, and stood back to let him pass; she had +learned in these weeks of their estrangement to restrain the +manifestation of her joy at his coming. It was with so great a rush of +blissful surprise that she now found herself suddenly caught up into +his arms, that she clung closely to his neck for one joyful instant, +and then burst into a passion of weeping. + +"There, there," her lover said, caressing her; "don't cry, Milly. I've +been a brute, and I know it; but if you'll forgive me this time I'll +see that you never need to again." + +He moved toward a chair as he spoke, half carrying her in his arms. In +her excitement she loosened her hold upon the roll of money, which was +still in her hand, and the bills were scattered on the floor behind him +as he walked. He sat down and took her in his lap, stroking her hair +and soothing her as well as he was able. By a strong effort she +controlled herself, dried her tears, and sat up, half laughing. + +"I'm getting to be dreadful teary," she said. "I"-- + +"What in the world," he interrupted her in amazement, "is that on the +floor?" + +She turned and saw the money, and burst into a peal of laughter. +Springing down from his knee, she ran and gathered up the bills in her +two hands; then, dancing up to him, half wild with delight, her cheeks +flushed, her eyes shining, she scattered the precious bits of green +paper fantastically over his head and shoulders. + + "'Take, oh take, the rosy, rosy crown!'" + +She sang, in the very abandonment of gayety. + +"Are you gone crazy?" he demanded, clutching the floating bills, and +then catching her about the waist. "You act like a witch! Where did all +this money come from? The savings-bank?" + +"No," she returned, becoming quiet, and nestling close to him. "The +Lord sent it by the hand of your brother Orin." + +It was some time before John could be made to understand the whole +story; and when it had been told, he instantly leaped to the conclusion +that the whole credit of Orin's getting the commission belonged of +right to Milly, a conviction in which he remained steadfast despite all +her disclaimers. + +At last she gave up protesting, and shut his mouth with a kiss. Since +John, as well as Orin, thought so, she felt that her part must have +been more important than she had realized; but she was too modest to +bear so much praise. + +"John," she said at length, "I have something awful to confess. I've +been keeping a secret from you." + +"I'm afraid I've been too much of a bear for it to have been safe to +tell me," returned her lover, smiling. + +His own heart was filled with the double joy of reconciliation, and of +having brought it about himself by a manly confession of his fault. + +"It wasn't that at all," she protested. "It was because I wasn't sure +about it; and then I wanted to surprise you if I got it." + +"Got what? You speak as if it was the smallpox. Is it anything +catching?" + +"Oh, no," answered Milly, laughing gleefully at his sally, which to her +present mood seemed the most exquisite wit. "You needn't be afraid; +it's only the matronship of the new Knitting School, thank you, with a +salary of five hundred dollars a year." + +"Really, Milly?" + +"Really, John; and don't you think"-- + +"Think what?" + +She had made up her mind to say it even before this blessed agreement +had come about, but now that the moment came, the habits and trammels +of generations held her back. + +"Why," she stammered, blushing and hesitating, "don't you think,-- +wouldn't it seem more appropriate if a matron was"--Her voice failed +utterly. She flung her arms convulsively about her lover's neck, and +drew his ear close to her lips. "Surely, now, John, dear," she +whispered, "we could afford to"-- + +She finished with a kiss. + +"If you can put up with me, darling," he answered her, with a mighty +hug; "we'll be married in a week, or, better still, in a day." + +"I think in a month will do," responded Mistress Milly, demurely, +sitting up to blush with decorum. + + + + +XXXI + + PARTED OUR FELLOWSHIP. + Othello; ii.--1. + +The news of the collapse of Princeton Platinum stock, which Dr. Wilson +had given Arthur on Saturday night, proved to be somewhat premature. On +Sunday it was decided at the club, where the matter was discussed in a +cold-blooded and leisurely fashion, that the whole scheme had gone to +pieces; and of course this decision was accompanied by the statement, +in various forms, that everybody knew that there was nothing +substantial behind the certificates. On Monday, however, the stock took +an unexpected rise, and for two or three days held its own with a +firmness which greatly encouraged its holders. + +Fenton had bought the bulk of his shares at two and seven-eights, and +still held them, notwithstanding the rumors of disaster in the air. +With a folly that would be incredible were it not one of the most +common things in amateur stock transactions, the artist had by this +time put the bulk of his little fortune into this wild-cat stock, which +he now held with a desperate determination not to sell below the figure +at which he had purchased. He could so little afford the least loss, +that, with the genuine instinct of the gambler, he trusted to luck, and +ran the risk of utter ruin for the sake of the chance of making a +brilliant stroke, or at least of coming out even. Having made up his +mind to hold on, he clung to the position with his customary obstinacy, +even dismissing the matter, as far as was possible, from his thoughts. + +He was very busy preparing an exhibition of pictures at the St. Filipe +club. The matter had been left in his hands by the other members of the +Art Committee, of which he was chairman; but his attitude toward the +club had prevented his taking any steps until after the meeting on +Saturday night. Now, he was particularly anxious to make the exhibition +a brilliant success, to give a signal instance of the value of his +services. + +He had gone to his studio on Sunday afternoon and sketched in a head of +Ninitta, and upon this he worked, now and then, with a desperate energy +born of the feeling that it substantiated his story to Edith. He had +been seized with grave doubts as to the advisability of exhibiting the +_Fatima_ just now; but he did not see his way clear to spare so large +and important a picture from the collection, and he comforted himself +with the thought that the face was different, and that if the model +were recognized he would be supposed to have worked up old sketches +taken when Ninitta had posed for him before her marriage. + +He worked with all his marvellous energy, collecting pictures, +directing their hanging, soothing artists whose canvases were not +placed to their liking, making out the catalogue, and arranging all the +details which in such a connection are fatiguing and well-nigh +innumerable. + +The exhibition was opened on Wednesday evening with a reception to +ladies, and by nine o'clock the gallery began to fill. Fenton had +decorated the rooms a little, chiefly with live pampas grass and palms +and India-rubber trees. It is difficult to see how mankind in the +nineteenth century could exist without the India-rubber tree. If that +plant were destroyed, civilization would be left gasping, helpless and +crippled; and of late years, not content with making it serviceable in +every department of practical life, men have brought the shrub into the +domain of aesthetics by using it for decorative purposes. + +The collection of paintings was an interesting one, made up of the work +of the best artists in town. Fenton had spared no pains either in +procuring what he wanted, or in arranging the gallery. The _Fatima_ +hung in a position of honor opposite the main entrance. The selection +of so prominent a place for his own work offended Fenton's taste, and +annoyed him with an uncomfortable sense of how strongly the picture was +in evidence. The exigencies of hanging, and the fact that the canvas +was the most important one in the room forced him to place it as he +did; and Bently, whom he called to his assistance, laughed at his +scruples. None of the artists had seen the picture, and Bently was +quite carried away by his admiration of it. + +"By Jove! Fenton," he said, "I didn't know you had it in you. It's +perfectly stunning. But it's beastly wicked," he added. "Perhaps that's +the reason it's so good." + +"Come," Fenton said with a laugh, "that sounds quite like the old Pagan +days." + +"But how in the dickens," Tom went on, "did you get Mrs. Herman to pose +for you?" + +"Great Heavens!" ejaculated Fenton, "don't say that to anybody else. I +had no end of studies of her, made long ago; but I didn't suppose I had +followed them closely enough for it to be recognized." + +"You don't mean," Tom returned, "that that side and arm are done from +old studies!" + +Fenton had a delicate dislike to literal falsehood. It was not a +question of morality directly, but one of taste. Albeit, since taste is +simply morality remote from the springs of action, it perhaps came to +much the same thing in the end. He felt now, however, that the time for +the selfish indulgence of his individual whims was past, and that he +owed to Ninitta the grace of a downright and hearty falsehood. + +"Why, of course," he said, "I had one or two models to help me out; but +the inspiration came from the old studies." + +"And she didn't pose for you?" Tom persisted incredulously. + +"Pose for me?" echoed Fenton, impatiently. "Why, man alive, think what +you're saying! Of course, she didn't pose for me. She never has posed +for anybody since she was married." + +"And a devilish shame it is, too," responded Tom. + +This conversation, which took place Wednesday afternoon, made Fenton +extremely uneasy. Fate seemed to have worked against him. He had +painted the picture to go to the New York Exhibition, where he hoped it +would be sold without ever coming under the eye of Herman at all. He +reflected now that Ninitta had posed for Helen and for several of his +brother painters, while it was scarcely credible that the likeness +which Bently had perceived at a glance should escape the trained +artist's eye of her husband; and it seemed to him now, little less than +madness to have brought the picture here at all. + +Upon second thought, however, he reflected that even were the picture +recognized, no great harm would probably come of it. No one would be +likely to speak on the subject to Herman, and, least of all, was there +a probability that the latter would confess that he was aware of what +his wife had done. Herman's condemnation, Fenton said to himself with a +shrug, he must, if worst came to worst, endure; this was to be set down +with other unpleasantnesses which belong to the unpleasant conditions +of life as they exist in these days. As long as there was no open +scandal, he could ignore whatever lay beneath the surface, and he +assured himself that in any event it were wisest, as he had long ago +learned, to carry things off with a high hand. + +It was about half past nine when Fenton brought Edith into the gallery. +The crowd had by this time become pretty dense, and just inside the +door they halted, exchanging greeting with the acquaintances who +appeared on every side. The St. Filipe was an old club, and for more +than a quarter of a century had maintained the reputation of leading in +matters of art and literature. Its influence had, on the whole, been +remarkably even and intelligent; but of late it began to be felt, among +those who were radical in their views, that the club was coming under +Philistine influence. Half a dozen years before, when Fenton had +proposed Peter Calvin for membership, even the social influence of the +candidate did not save him from a rejection so marked that Arthur had +threatened to resign his own membership. Now, however, Peter Calvin was +not only a member of the St. Filipe, but he was on the Election +Committee. The club was held in favor in the circles over which his +influence extended, and although workers in all branches of art were +still included among the members, they were pretty closely pushed by +the more fashionable element of the town. Fenton was not far from right +in asserting, as he did one day to Mrs. Greyson, after her return from +Europe, that the change in his own attitude toward art was pretty +exactly paralleled by the alteration which had taken place in that of +Boston. + +The character of the membership of the club was indicated to-night by +the brilliancy of the company present. It was one of those occasions +when everybody is there, and the scene, as the new-comers looked over +the gallery, was most bright and animated. Although the ladies had +evidently labored under the usual uncertainty in regard to the proper +dress which seems inseparable from an art exhibition in Boston, and +were in all varieties of costume from street attire to full evening +toilette, there were enough handsome gowns to supply the necessary +color. There was also abundance of pretty and of striking faces, and +the crowd had that pleasant look of familiarity which one gets from +recognizing acquaintances all through it. + +One of the first persons the Fentons saw was Ethel Mott, who, under the +chaperonage of Mrs. Frostwinch, was making the tour of the gallery with +Kent, and paying far more attention to her companion than to the +pictures. + +"Oh, Arthur," Edith whispered, "I saw Mrs. Staggchase in the dressing- +room, and she told me that Ethel's engagement is out to-day." + +Arthur smiled, remembering his perspicacity when Ethel had driven away +from his dinner with Kent in her carriage. + +"Isn't the crowd dreadful?" the voice of Mrs. Bodewin Ranger said, at +Edith's elbow. "I'm really getting too old to trust myself in such a +crush." + +While Edith chatted with her, the steward called Fenton away, in +connection with some question about the catalogues, and when Mrs. +Ranger moved on, Edith found herself for an instant alone. The mention +of her husband's name behind her caught her ear and her attention. + +"Fenton's cheeky enough for anything!" said an unknown voice. "But he +makes a point of his good taste, and I think it's beastly poor form for +him to show that picture here." + +"Bently says," returned another voice, also strange to Edith, "that +Fenton says she didn't pose for him, but that he worked it up from old +studies." + +"I don't care if he did," was the response. "All the fellows know it, +and Herman must feel like the deuce." + +"But you can't suppress every picture that has a study of her in it." + +"Hush," said the other voice, "there comes Herman himself." + +It seemed to Edith that this brief dialogue had been shouted out so +that it could not be inaudible to any one in the room. She looked about +for her husband. Her ears rang with the meaningless babble of voices, +the jargon of human sounds conveying far less impression of +intelligence than the noise of water on the shore, or the sound of the +wind in the tree-tops. All about her were faces wreathed in +conventional smiles, the inevitable laughter, the usual absence of +earnestness, and in the midst of all, with a shock hardly less painful +than that of the discovery she had just made, she heard the voice of +Herman bidding her good evening. + +She held out her hand to him with a hasty, excited gesture. She was +painfully conscious that he had but to lift his eyes to see the +_Fatima_ hanging on the opposite wall of the gallery, and she +instinctively felt that she must draw his attention away. + +"How do you do, Mr. Herman," she said, with eager warmth. "Is Mrs. +Herman with you?" + +She moved half around him as she spoke, as if compelled by the shifting +of the crowd to change her position; and while she shook hands managed +to bring herself almost face to the picture, so that his back was +toward it. + +"No," he answered, "she never comes to these things if she can possibly +help it. I hear your husband has outdone himself on this exhibition." + +Edith looked about despairingly for Arthur. She felt herself unequal to +the emergency, and longed for his clever wits to contrive some means of +escape from the cruel dilemma in which his act had placed her and his +friend. Indignation, shame, and sorrow filled her heart. She recognized +that Arthur had not told her the truth in regard to Ninitta. The dread +and the suspicion which she had felt on the night of the dinner +returned to her with tenfold force. But the greatest triumph of modern +civilization is the power it has bestowed upon women of concealing +their feelings. The pressing need of the moment was to show to Herman a +smiling and untroubled face, and to avoid arousing his suspicion that +anything was wrong. + +"The truth is," she returned, "that I haven't seen the exhibition. It's +impossible to see pictures in such a crowd, don't you think? I know +Arthur has worked very hard. I've hardly seen him this week." + +"He has a most tremendous power of accomplishing what he undertakes," +Herman said heartily. "But tell me about yourself. You're looking +tired." + +"It is the time of year to look tired. I believe I am feeling a little +anxious that spring should arrive." + +She was struggling in her thoughts for a means of preventing the +discovery, which it seemed to her must be inevitable the moment she +ceased to engage Herman in conversation and he turned away. Over his +shoulder she could see the beautiful, sensuous _Fatima_ lying with long +sleek limbs amid bright-hued cushions. Now that she knew the truth, she +could see Ninitta in every line, and her whole soul rose in indignant +protest. It was her friend, the wife of this man she honored, who was +delivered up on the wall yonder to the curious eyes of all these +people. The stinging blush of shame burned in Edith's cheeks, and, as +at this instant she turned to find her husband beside her, the glance +which darted from her eyes to his was one of righteous scorn and +indignation. + +His wife's burning look showed Arthur that she knew; and, reflecting +quickly, he decided that Herman did not. It was characteristic of him +that he instantly chose the boldest policy. + +"Come," he said to Herman as soon as they had greeted each other, "I +know you haven't seen my _Fatima_. The boys say its the best thing I've +done, but I couldn't get a decent model, and had to depend so much on +old studies, that, for the life of me, I can't tell whether it's good +or not." + +Like two blows at once came to Edith a sense of shame that she could +even involuntarily have wished for her husband's aid, and an +overwhelming consciousness of the readiness and boldness of his +falsity. She saw the face of Grant Herman, nobly instinct with truth in +every line, and, as he turned at her husband's word, everything blurred +before her vision. She believed she was going to faint, and she rallied +all her self-command to hold herself steady. The lights danced, and the +sound of voices faded as into the distance. Then, with a supreme effort +of will, she rallied, and the voices rolled back upon her ear with a +noise like the roar of an incoming wave. + +A sphere of silence seemed to envelop Herman and Arthur and herself in +the very midst of the crowd, as for an instant which seemed to her +cruelly long she stood waiting for what the sculptor should say. + +"Your friends are right, Fenton," Herman said, at length, in a voice so +changed from its previous cordiality that it was idle to suppose the +likeness had escaped him. "You have never painted anything better." + +"Thank you," Fenton responded, brightly. "I am awfully glad you like +it. I fancy," he added, with a laugh, "that the tabby-cats will be +shocked." + +His companion made no reply, and the approach of Rangely afforded +Arthur a chance to change the conversation. + +"I say, Fred," he demanded, "have you congratulated Thayer Kent yet?" + +"Congratulated him?" echoed Rangely. + +"Yes. Didn't you know his engagement is out?" + +Rangely might have been said to take a page out of Fenton's own book, +as he answered,-- + +"But what's the etiquette of precedence?" "Of precedence?" echoed +Arthur, in his turn. + +"Yes," Rangely returned. "Which of us should congratulate the other +first? Only," he added, hitting to his own delight upon a position +which might save him from some awkwardness in the future, "of course my +engagement can't be announced until Miss Merrivale gets home to her +mother." + +"Well," Arthur said, "marriage is that ceremony by which man lays aside +the pleasures of life and takes up its duties. I congratulate you on +your determination to do anything so virtuous." + +"Sardonic, as usual," retorted Fred, laughing; and then he went to find +Miss Merrivale, convinced that under the circumstances the sooner he +proposed to her the better. + + + + +XXXII + + HEART-BURNING HEAT OF DUTY. + Love's Labor's Lost; i.--1. + +All the world feels the pathos of helplessness hurt and wounded; but +only some recognize how this applies to a great and noble nature +attacked by unscrupulousness. In an encounter with dishonesty, nobility +of soul may be, in its effect for the moment, utter weakness. Assailed +by deceit or treachery the great heart has often no resource but +endurance; and while endurance may save, it cannot defend. + +The moment Grant Herman's eyes fell upon the _Fatima_, he understood +fully why Fenton had so volubly remarked that he had painted the +picture from old studies. He tried to fight with his conviction that +what the artist said was false, although even as he did so he could not +crush down the feeling of having been wounded by the hand of a friend. +It seemed to him incredible that Fenton, even though the painter's +defection from the Pagans had caused something of a breach between +them, could have been guilty of this outrage. He choked with an +intolerable sense of shame for himself, for the artist, and for +Ninitta. A terrible anguish wrung his heart as he looked across the +crowded gallery gay with lights, with the rich dresses, with laughter, +and with the beauty of women, to where hung the picture of the mother +of his boy, an image of sensuous enticement. The fact that Fenton had +substituted another face for that of Ninitta did not, for the moment, +console him. To his sculptor's eye, form was the important thing, and +the fact that he recognized the model bore down all else. He remembered +how marked had been Ninitta's unwillingness to accompany him to the +exhibition, and the possible connection between this and the picture +forced itself upon his mind. + +With all the instinctive generosity of his soul, however, Herman strove +to believe that the _Fatima_ had been painted, as Fenton said, from old +studies, and that his wife had not been guilty of the painful indecorum +of posing. He compelled himself to answer the artist calmly, although +he could not make his manner cordial. And as he spoke, his eye, +searching the picture for confirmation of his hope or of his fear, +recognized among the draperies a Turkish shawl he had himself given his +wife after their marriage. + +He made his way out of the gallery and out of the club house. He felt +that he must get away from the innumerable eyes by which he was +surrounded. He started toward home, but before he had gone a block, he +stopped, hesitated a moment, and struck off into a side street. He was +not ready to go home. He had said to himself too often, reiterating it +in his mind constantly for six years, that in dealing with his wife his +must be the wisdom, the patience, and the forbearance of both. He +remembered a night long ago, when he had gone to Ninitta's room, in a +mood of contrition, to renew the troth of his youth, and had fallen +instead into a fit of bitter anger. With no evident reason, came back +to him to-night the beautiful weeping figure of the Italian as she had +cast herself at his feet and implored his forgiveness. He would not go +to her now until he was calmer, and until he had considered carefully +all the points of the situation. + +In that whirl which comes in desperate circumstances before the +startled and bewildered thoughts can be reduced to order, Herman +wandered on, not thinking where he was going, until he found himself +leaning against a railing and looking over the waters of the Charles +River. It was a beautiful starlight night with a wavering wind that +came in uncertain gusts only to die away again. The water was like a +flood of ink, across which streamed thin tremulous lines of brightness, +and over which were strewn the flickering reflections of the stars. The +gas jets of the city across the flood, the rows of lamps which marked +the bridges, the distant horse cars which rumbled between Cambridge and +Boston with their colored lights, the green and red lanterns that +glowed from the railroad tracks farther down the river, all suggested +the busy life of men with its passions, its greed, and its +heartlessness; but the darkness held all remote, as if the world of men +were a dream. And overhead the immovable stars, like the unpitying +gods, hung above the city and were reflected in the water, and wounded +the soul of the lonely man with the terrible sense of power inimitably +removed, of passionless strength which served to humanity but as a +measure of its own weakness and triviality. The misfortunes of life +might be endured; its disappointments, its anguish, even its inviolable +loneliness might be supported, but a sense of the awful futility of +existence crushes man to the depths of impotent despair. + +A review of the past is usually a protest against fate, and manly as +Herman was it was inevitable that into his reverie should come a sense +that the wrong and suffering of his life had been thrust upon him +undeserved. He could not be blind to the fact that it had been through +his virtues that he had been wounded. A sense of injustice comes with +the consciousness of having suffered through merit. Many a man is too +noble basely to avoid the consequences of his acts, but few can wholly +rid themselves of the feeling that the uncomplaining acceptance of +painful results should serve as expiation for the deeds which caused +them. The nobility of his nature, the purity of his intentions had made +of a boyish folly the curse of a lifetime. With whatever tenderness the +sculptor regarded Ninitta as the mother of his son, it was vain for him +to attempt to deceive himself in regard to his love for her. A man with +whom cordiality was instinctive, who was born for the most frank and +intimate domestic relations, he found in his wife small sympathy and +less comprehension. He had married her, believing that she had a right +to claim happiness at his hands because he had taught her to love him. +He had long since been obliged to own to himself that he had done this +at the expense of his own peace, and he now questioned whether the +experiment had succeeded better in her case than in his. If she had not +been able to comprehend his aims and to enter into his scheme of life, +it was equally true that she must have found in him little response to +the calls of her own nature. The bitterness of the sigh which wrung his +bosom, as he stood with his hand upon the railing and looked over the +water with the lights reflected on its blackness, was as much for her +as for himself. + +Yet he would not have been human had he not felt thrills of anger when +he thought of the _Fatima._ No faintest suspicion crossed his mind of +any darker shame which might lie behind the fact that his wife had +posed for Fenton. This he could not doubt that she had done. This +explained her frequent absences from home in the morning, to which he +had before given no thought. He remembered, too, that for weeks a +furtive restlessness, poorly concealed, had been evident in Ninitta's +manner. He had attributed it to her intense opposition to Nino's being +sent to school; but now he read it differently. He could not but be +angry, yet his pity was greater than his wrath; and he resolved not +only to be forbearing with his wife, but hereafter to use greater +endeavors to enrich her colorless life. He was too thoroughly an artist +himself not to feel and appreciate how much the old love of posing, the +longing for the air of a studio, and the art instinct might have had to +do with Ninitta's fault. + +But in regard to Fenton his heart burned with that rage which is +largely grief. It was like the anger, which is half astonishment, of a +child who is unexpectedly struck by its playmate. The fact that he was +incapable of comprehending how it was possible to betray a friend made +him confused in thinking of the artist's share in the transaction; and +the fact that he could vent upon Fenton his righteous indignation +enabled him to free his feelings toward Ninitta of almost all +animosity. When at last he turned to go home, it was with a profound +pity that he thought of his wife. + +It was a little after eleven when he reached his house. The gas was +burning in his chamber and Ninitta lay apparently sleeping. The +wretched woman feigned a slumber which she had in vain courted. She was +convinced that her husband could not see the _Fatima_ without +discovering her secret, and the guilty knowledge in her heart filled +her with growing fears as the moments went on. + +When at last she heard Herman's step, she had started up in bed like a +wild creature, her heart fluttering, her ears strained as if to catch +from the sound some clue to his mood. But instantly she had lain down +again, and, with an instinct like that of the timorous animals whose +nature it is to feign death when they cannot flee, had composed herself +into the appearance of slumber. + +Herman paused a moment, just inside the chamber door, and looked at his +wife. Something in her pose suggested to him so vividly the _Fatima_ +that, despite his self-conquest on the bridge, a flood of anger swelled +within him. The masculine instinct, nourished through a thousand +generations, that no palliation gives the wife a right to claim +forgiveness from her husband for the shame she has put upon him by a +violation of modesty, surged up within him. He drew in a deep +inspiration and started forward with an inarticulate sound as if he +could throw himself upon this woman and tighten his fingers on her +throat. + +Ninitta raised herself in bed with an exclamation of fear. Her black +hair streamed loose, and her dark eyes shone. Her swarthy passionate +face was an image of terror. She was not far enough away from her +peasant ancestors not to be moved by the size and strength of her +husband's large and vigorous frame. Many generations and much subtlety +of refinement must lie between herself and savagery before a woman can +learn instinctively to fear the soul of a man rather than his muscles +in a crisis like this. Husband and wife confronted each other as he +walked quickly across the chamber. Her cowering attitude, the fear +which was written in every line of her face, fed his anger, until, in +his blind rage, all pity and self-restraint seemed to be swept away. + +But just as he neared the bed, when in his burning look Ninitta seemed +already to feel his hands clutching her with cruel force, his foot +struck against something which lay on the floor. It was one of Nino's +wooden soldiers. The father stopped, and his look changed. He +remembered how Nino had come in from the nursery while he was dressing +that night, bringing his arms full of more or less shattered figures +which he had appealed to his father to put to rights for a grand battle +which was to be fought in the morning. Herman looked down at the toy +and forgot his anger. He looked up at his wife and she saw with wonder +the change in his face. It had been full of indignation against the +wife who had deceived him; on it now was written reproachful anguish, +and pity for the mother of his son. + +"Ninitta," he said. "How could you do it?" + +She cowered down in the bed, burying her face in her hands. She could +not answer, and there came over him a painful sense of the uselessness +of words. + +"Everybody must recognize Fenton's picture," he said. "If you did not +remember me, Ninitta, how could you forget Nino? How will he feel when +he is old enough to realize what you have done?" + +The frightened woman burst into convulsive sobs mixed with moans like +those of a hurt animal. In the last hours she had been thinking no less +than her husband; but where he had considered her, she had thought +chiefly of her boy. Mingled with the fear of her husband's anger had +been the nobler feeling, that she was no longer worthy to be with her +son. The very passion of the love she bore him moved her now with the +determination to leave him. It was always Ninitta's instinct to run +away in trouble, and now, added to the impulse to escape from her +husband was the determination forming itself with awful stress of +anguish in her soul, to go away from Nino; to take away from her son +whom she loved better than life itself, this woman who had no right in +his pure presence. She did not look upon it as an expiation of her +fault; it was only that maternal love gathered up whatever was noble in +her nature, in this supreme sacrifice for her son. + +To Herman, looking down upon the cowering figure of his wife, with a +heartbreaking sense of the impossibility of effecting anything by +words, she was simply a cowardly woman who took refuge in tears from +the reproaches which her conduct deserved. Could he have known what was +passing in her heart, it would have moved him to a deeper respect and a +keener pity than he had ever felt for her. No more than a dumb animal +had she any language in which she could have made him understand her +feelings had she tried; and at last he turned away with a choking in +his throat. + + + + +XXXIII + + A BOND OF AIR. + Troilus and Cressida; i.--3. + +The stock of the Princeton Platinum Company was issued in ten-dollar +shares, it being the conviction of Erastus Snaffle, deduced from a more +or less extensive experience, that the gullible portion of the public +is more likely to buy stock of a low par value. On the morning after +the exhibition at the St. Filipe Club, the shares were quoted at two +dollars and an eighth. + +Arthur Fenton read the stock reports at breakfast. He laid the paper +down calmly, drank his coffee in silence, and absently played with his +fork, while his wife attended to Caldwell's breakfast and her own. He +said nothing until the boy, whose mind was intent upon some new toy or +other, having hastily finished his meal, asked to be excused. + +"Don't be in a hurry, Caldwell," his mother said, gently. "I want you +to learn to wait for older people." + +"Let him go, Edith," his father interposed. "I want to talk to you." + +The boy jumped down quickly and ran to give his father a hasty kiss. He +had learned to look to Fenton to help him in evading his mother's +attempts at discipline, and Edith noted with pain, as she had too often +noticed before, the knowing smile which came into the child's face at +her husband's words. Caldwell evidently regarded his father's remark +merely as a convenient excuse, and it hurt Edith to see how in subtile +ways her son was learning to distrust the honesty of his father. + +On this occasion, however, Arthur had meant what he said. When the door +had closed behind the little fellow, he looked up to observe in the +most matter-of-fact tone,-- + +"I suppose it is only fair, Edith, that I should tell you that we are +ruined." + +She looked at him with a puzzled face. + +"What do you mean?" she said. + +"I mean," he returned, "that I have been getting into no end of a mess, +and that some stock I bought to help myself out of it, has gone down +and made things ten times worse." + +She folded her hands in her lap and regarded him wistfully. She had +been so often repressed when she had tried to gain his confidence in +regard to business matters that she hesitated to speak now. + +"Should I understand if you told me about it?" she asked. + +"Oh, very likely not," he returned, coolly; "but I don't in the least +mind telling you, if it's any satisfaction to you. It isn't any great +matter, only that I live so near the ragged edge that a dollar or two +either way makes all the difference between poverty and independence." +Edith breathed more freely. Her husband's self-possessed manner, and +the fact that she knew him to be so given to exaggeration, made her +feel that things were not so hopeless as his words had at first +implied. + +"I have three thousand shares of Princeton Platinum stock," Fenton went +on, with the condescending air of one who elaborately explains details +which he knows will not be understood. "I bought at two and seven- +eighths, with money that should go to pay notes due on Saturday. The +stock was worth two and an eighth last night and very likely by to- +night won't be worth anything." + +"Then why didn't you sell yesterday?" Edith asked. + +Arthur smiled at the feminine turn of her words. + +"Because, my shrewd financier, I don't want to sell at a loss, and Mr. +Irons assures me that there will be a rise before the final collapse." + +He did not add, as he might have done, the substance of the talk +between himself and Irons. That wily financier had said to him one +day,-- + +"Fenton, you were almighty toploftical about those railroad shares, and +I'll give you another chance. I've had four thousand shares of +Princeton Platinum turned over to me on an assignment. It cost me two, +and you may have it at that figure, though it's worth two and a half in +the market to-day." + +"You are too generous, by half," Fenton had answered. + +"Well, the fact is," Irons had responded, "I hate infernally to be +under obligations. Princeton Platinum is wild-cat fast enough, but it +will touch four before they let the bottom drop out. That I happen to +know. This will give you a chance to make a neat thing out of it, and +it will square off the obligation our syndicate's under to you." + +"Thank you," was Fenton's answer; "but the obligation, such as it is, I +prefer to have stand, and I haven't any money to put into stock of any +kind now." + +"Well, think it over. Don't let your sentiments interfere too much with +business. I'll hold the stock for you for three days. If you're fool +enough to miss your opportunity after that I'm not responsible." + +Naturally, this portion of the conversation Fenton did not impart to +his wife. + +Edith's look became more perplexed as her talk with her husband +continued; and the matter-of-fact way in which he spoke of approaching +disaster was to her unintelligible. + +"What is going to collapse?" she asked at length. "The stock?" + +"Certainly, my dear. There isn't anything behind it. I doubt if there +ever was any Princeton Platinum mine, but I did think the men who were +managing it were clever enough to get it to four or four and a half +before they let go." + +"But how could they get it to four or four and a half, if there isn't +any mine?" + +"By gulling fools like me, my dear; that's the way these things are +always done." + +A troubled look came over Mrs. Fenton's face, and her lips closed a +little more tightly. + +"Well," demanded her husband impatiently, "what is it? Moral scruples?" + +"It doesn't seem to me to be very honest stock to be dealing in," Edith +replied, timidly. + +"To discuss the morality of stock speculation," he replied, with coolly +elaborate courtesy, "is much like eating a fig. You may be biting the +seeds all day without being sure you've finished them." + +She was silenced, and cast down her eyes waiting for what he might +choose to say next. + +"The situation," he continued, after a pause, "is merely this. I +haven't the cleverness properly to manage being in debt. I don't know +how those notes are to be paid Saturday, and have been given to +understand that there are reasons, doubtless judicious, but extremely +inconvenient, why they will not be renewed." + +His manner was as calm as ever, but there was a growing hardness in his +tone and a cruel tightening of his lips. His restraint had much of the +calmness of despair. His was a nature which always outran actualities +with imagined possibilities, and thus found in even the fullest joy a +sense of loss and failure; while in misfortune, it magnified all evils +until it was overwhelmed with the burden of their weight. He suffered +the more acutely because he endured not only the sting of the present +evil, but of all those which he foresaw might follow in its wake. He +felt at this moment a growing necessity to find some one against whom +he might logically turn his anger; and while he was firmly determined +not to vent his displeasure upon his wife, his attitude toward her +became constantly more stern. + +"If Uncle Peter were at home," Edith began, after a pause, "he might"-- + +"He might not," interrupted Arthur, roughly. "In any case he has taken +the light of his countenance abroad, so he's out of the question." + +"But some of your friends, Arthur, might lend you the money you want." + +"My dear Edith, do you fancy that within the past month I have failed +to go over the list of my friends, backward and forward? Don't say +those tiresome, obvious things. I'll fail and have an auction, and give +up the house, and lose caste, and have a pleasant tea-party generally. +That's the only thing there is to do." + +Edith rose from her seat, and went around to where he was sitting. +Standing behind his chair she laid her hands on his shoulders, and, +bending forward, kissed his cheek. + +"I dare say, Arthur," she said, "that we should be quite as happy if we +gave up trying to live in a way that we can't afford; but meanwhile +there is godmamma." + +"Mrs. Glendower?" + +"Yes. You know she has left me five thousand dollars in her will; and +she told me once that if the time came that I needed the money +desperately I should have it for the asking." + +"That is kind of her," was her husband's comment, "but it would be +kinder to let you get it at once in the natural way. The comfort about +a bequest is that you don't have to feel grateful to any live man for +it." + +His words were brutal enough, but there was a new lightness in his +tone. He caught instantly at this hope of relief, and he showed his +appreciation of his wife's cleverness in devising this scheme by +caressing the hand which lay upon his shoulder. + +"You can go to New York to-night," remarked Edith thoughtfully, +ignoring his words, "and be back by Saturday morning. If you didn't so +much dislike going to New York in the day time, you might get there in +time to see godmamma to-night." + +"To-morrow will be time enough," he answered. "You are a brick, Edith, +to help me out of this scrape, and the magnitude of the moral reforms +I'll institute in honor of my deliverance will astonish you." + +He sprang up as light-heartedly as a boy. The means of escaping the +annoyance of the present moment had been found, and his buoyant spirits +lifted him above the doubts and troubles of the future. + +They discussed together the details of his coming interview with Mrs. +Glendower, and the terms of the letter which Edith should write to her. +There was something most touching in the tender eagerness with which +Edith prolonged the talk and clung to the occasion which had brought +her and her husband, for the moment, together. She even forgot to +deplore the misfortune which had given rise to this confidence, and, in +her desire to be helpful to Arthur, she did not even remember that once +her pride would have risen in rebellion at the bare suggestion of +taking advantage of Mrs. Glendower's offer. All day long she went about +with a happier smile on her lips than had been there for many a long +day. The danger of impending ruin seemed to have brought her +consolation instead of grief; and in the prayers which she murmured in +her heart as she stood with her arms clasped about Caldwell, when +Fenton drove away that night, there was not a little thanksgiving +mingled with her supplications. + + + + +XXXIV + + WHAT TIME SHE CHANTED. + Hamlet; iv.--7. + +The stock report which caused Fenton such unpleasant sensations was +read that same morning by Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson with keen +satisfaction of a sort seldom known to the truly virtuous. Mrs. Sampson +was engaged in financial transactions of which the very magnitude +caused her naive satisfaction, while the possible results made her +bosom glow with unwonted emotion. Mrs. Sampson's affection for Alfred +Irons was neither deep nor tender in its nature, and in settling the +bill for services rendered in the railroad case there was no sentiment +likely to restrain her from making the best possible bargain. The +bargain she made was of a nature to send her about her flat singing +songs of triumph such as Deborah sang over the slaughter of the +unfortunate Sisera. + +The wily but impressible Erastus Snaffle, cheered by the widow's wine, +warmed by her smile, and smitten by her amiable conversation, had +bestowed upon her, merely as a tribute which mammon might pay to the +ever-womanly, three thousand shares of Princeton Platinum stock. He had +done this at a time when it seemed doubtful whether even his adroitness +could make the scheme a success; and it somewhat mars the lustre of his +generosity to record that he afterward regretted his impulsive open- +handedness. He had been able to prevent Mrs. Sampson from realizing on +her stock, very reasonably feeling that he was making philanthropic +endeavors to benefit an ungrateful world rather against its will, and +he did not mean that she should make a stumbling-block for him of his +own generosity by putting this gift on the market when he wished to +supply all buyers himself. + +When it was quoted at three, the high-water mark so far, he had +beguiled the widow with a cock-and-bull story about the formalities of +transferrence on the books of the company of stocks which had been +given away; and by the time Mrs. Sampson had cleared her mind from the +entanglements of this ingenious fiction the bottom had dropped out of +the market. + +In the midst of her disappointment in seeing what to her would have +been almost a fortune melting into thin air, the fertile brain of Mrs. +Sampson had given birth to what was nothing less than an inspiration, +She had gone to see Alfred Irons, and delicately but firmly insinuated +that it was high time she received substantial tokens of the gratitude +of the Wachusett Syndicate, for her efforts in their behalf with the +Hon. Thomas Greenfield. Mr. Irons had answered, as she had expected him +to, that she had presented no bill. To this her reply was ready. She +was prepared to state what would satisfy her. She explained that she +felt the delicacy of her position, since, if any consideration passed +to her directly from the corporation, it was sure to be known, and +unpleasant comment made. She had in her possession, she continued, +certain stock, of which the market value was somewhere between two and +two and a half, which, it struck her, might serve admirably to veil the +generosity which had been promised her. Her proposition, in brief, was +that Irons should take her three thousand shares of stock at four +dollars, the difference between this and the market value, of course, +being refunded to him by the company. + +"By Gad! you're a cheeky one!" had been Iron's comment, more expressive +than elegant, when the widow had laid her scheme wholly before him. + +The railroad matter had, however, been settled to the satisfaction of +the syndicate. Mr. Greenfield's support of the Wachusett scheme at the +hearing had been of the utmost importance, especially as Mrs. Sampson +had been able to persuade "Honest Tom" that a perfectly fair +proposition made to him by Mr. Staggchase was in the nature of a high- +handed bribe. This proposition had been presented in a somewhat +scandalous light, and in the face of it Hubbard had induced his +associates to throw up the whole Feltonville scheme. The Railroad +Commissioners had issued the coveted certificate for the Wachusett +route, and the rest was easy. Irons was therefore grateful to the +widow, and he at length agreed to consult his associates, and he did +not deny Mrs. Sampson's observation that it was as much for the benefit +of the corporation as of herself that money passing between them should +be covered by some such disguise as that of this stock operation. + +The widow had returned home not over sanguine, and her astonishment was +scarcely less than her pleasure when, on Wednesday afternoon, she +received a note from Irons, assenting to her proposition with the +modification that the purchasing figure should be three dollars instead +of four. It was a fact as far beyond the limits of the widow's +knowledge as it was beyond that of his colleagues, that Irons meant to +make this transaction the means of increasing a revenge which he +already had in train. That gentleman had never forgiven Fenton for +burning the order for railroad bonds, and when accident threw the +Princeton Platinum stock into his hands he determined to make it the +means of the artist's discomfiture. It was only the day after he had +offered Fenton his four thousand shares that Mrs. Sampson appeared with +her offer of three thousand more. He had no doubt of his ability to +entrap Fenton into buying, the one weak spot in his plan being the +fact, of which he was in complete ignorance, that Fenton already held +stock and had nothing whatever with which to buy more. He was willing +to let the widow's bribe pass to her under so plausible a disguise, and +he said to himself with a chuckle that he had far rather sell Fenton +the seven thousand shares than four. + +If he were unable to sell to Fenton it appeared to Irons as on the +whole highly probable that he could dispose of the stock for the +corporation at a price which would materially lessen the amount of +their bonus to the widow; or if the market should chance to look +promising, he might find it worth while to buy it from his colleagues +with a view to realizing something on it himself. + +Perhaps it was because he was doing business with a woman, perhaps it +was the consciousness of the bribe which the bargain covered and a +desire to leave as little record of it as possible, perhaps it was only +the carelessness of extreme haste, that caused Irons to send to the +widow so ambiguous and dangerous a note as the following,-- + +"DEAR MRS. SAMPSON,--I am suddenly called to New York, and leave to- +night. I will take all your Princeton Platinum stock at three dollars. +Please deliver it at my office to-morrow with this note as a voucher." +Yours truly, "ALFRED IRONS." + +It was the misfortune of Alfred Irons that Mrs. Sampson took an extra +cup of coffee that evening and could not sleep; and in the watches of +the night, either the devil or her own soul--the inspirations of the +two being too similar for one rashly to venture to discriminate between +them--said to her, "Amanda! Now is your chance." Thereafter, no fumes +of coffee were necessary to keep the widow awake for the remainder of +the night; and on Thursday morning before she presented herself at +Irons's office she had an interesting interview with no less a +personage than Mr. Erastus Snaffle himself. + +Mrs. Sampson began by declaring that she wished to purchase a certain +amount of Princeton Platinum stock, but before long the need she felt +of having her feminine guile supported by masculine intelligence had +led her to make a clean breast of the situation. She showed Mr. Snaffle +Mr. Irons's note, calling his attention particularly to the ill-chosen +word "all" which seemed to her to afford the means of unloading +indefinitely at the expense of the absent financier. Her enthusiasm +received a cruel shock when Snaffle retorted with a burst of ill-bred +laughter,-- + +"Oh Lord! You must think Irons is a dog-goned fool!" + +"But," the widow persisted, "it says 'all' the stock, doesn't it?" + +"Do you think you could make his firm buy up all the Princeton on that +flimsy dodge?" retorted Snaffle contemptuously. + +"We'll see," Amanda declared, nodding her head determinedly. "The +question is how much do you think they will stand? A man ought to know +that better than a woman." + +A new look of cunning came into the fat face of the speculator, and his +numerous superfluous chins began to be agitated as if with excitement. + +"Well," he said, "if you can stick them for any I don't see why you +can't for a lot. I've just four thousand shares left, and you might as +well run them all in on the old man." + +The widow laughed with malicious glee. + +"I don't know," she replied, "how this will turn out, but if I wasn't +going to get a cent from it, I'd try it just for the sake of getting +even with Al Irons." + +"Oh, its your opportunity," he said, with agile change of base, "and as +for getting ahead of him, I'm blessed if I wouldn't bet on you every +time. Seven thousand shares isn't much for a house like theirs. We put +the stock at ten dollars on purpose so folks could handle a lot of it +and talk big without having much money in. Come, you just clear out the +whole thing for me, and I'll let you have it at two and a half, just +for your good looks." + +"Thank you for nothing," was the reply of the redoubtable widow. "I +took the trouble to find out the market price on my way down here and +anybody can buy plenty of it for two and an eighth, without being good +looking at all." + +Erastus chuckled, rubbing his fat hands together in delighted +appreciation of his companion's wit. + +"Come," he pleaded, "when you get to making eyes at that clerk, he'll +buy anything you offer, no matter what Irons told him. I wouldn't give +much for the man that would let a little memorandum stand in the way of +obliging a lady." + +Amanda did not have good blood in her veins without appreciating the +coarse vulgarity of Snaffle; but neither had she associated for years +with his kind without having the edge of her distaste worn away. She +was, besides, a woman and a vain one, and the undisguised admiration +with which he regarded her put her in excellent humor. It confirmed the +verdict of her mirror that the care with which she had arrayed herself +for this expedition had not been wasted. She smiled as she answered +him, tapping her chin with her well-gloved forefinger. + +"But, of course," she observed, dispassionately, "if I bought of you at +all I should buy conditionally. I'll give you two for the stock, and +take it if I can sell it to Irons." + +"Oh, don't rob yourself," Snaffle returned, with good-natured sarcasm. +"What's to hinder my selling it for two and an eighth myself?" + +"Two and an eighth asked and no buyers is what they told me!" retorted +the widow imperturbably. "I don't know much about stocks, but I know +that if you could have sold for almost any price you'd have done it +long ago." + +"Right you are," admitted Snaffle, good-naturedly, "if I'd nobody to +consider but myself; but just the same, I sha'n't kick the bottom out +of the market before it falls out of itself." + +"Then I understand," said the widow, with an air, gathering herself +together as if to depart, "that you won't take my offer." + +"Oh, come now," protested Snaffle, "why don't you ask me to give it to +you as I did the other?" + +"So delicate of him," murmured the widow, confidentially to the +universe at large, "to fling that at me." + +"I ain't flinging it at you," Snaffle returned, unabashed. "But, come +now, let's talk business. If I give you an option on this, so long as +you are going to sell it at three dollars, of course you ought to pay +me more than the market price. I'll be d'ed if I let you have it less +than two and a half." + +"One doesn't know which to admire most, Mr. Snaffle, your politeness to +ladies or your generosity." + +"Oh, don't mention it," was the speculator's grinning reply. "Come, +now, don't be a pig. Twenty per cent profit ought to satisfy anybody." + +"I'll give you two," said Mrs. Sampson, with feminine persistency. + +Snaffle turned on his heel with a word seldom spoken in the presence of +ladies. + +"Well, you might as well get out of this, then," he remarked, +brusquely. "You're a beauty, but you don't know anything about +business." + +Amanda regarded him with an inscrutable glance for an instant, +evidently making up her mind that he meant what he said. + +"Well," she observed; "if you want to rob me, I'm only a woman with +nobody to take my part, and I shall have to give you what you ask." + +"Gad!" he ejaculated. "If one man in ten was as well able to take his +own part as you are, things 'd be some different from what they are +now." + +And the smile of Mrs. Amanda Welsh Sampson indicated that even so high- +flavored a compliment as this was not wholly displeasing to her. The +certificates of stock were produced and duly endorsed, and, tucking +them into her handbag, the widow went on her way attended by wishes for +her success which were probably the more genuine because the +transaction was only conditional. + +"Well," Snaffle communed with himself after she had departed; "there +ain't no flies on the widow, and I guess she'll manage that clerk. +She's a clever one, but if she'd been a little cleverer, so as to +appreciate that I couldn't put that amount of stock on the market +without sending the price down to bed rock, she might have had the lot +at her own figure. I'd have been glad to take one fifty for it." + +Meanwhile the widow had pursued her scheming way toward State Street. +The moral support of Snaffle's testimony to her ability and his +admiration for her personal appearance probably upheld her during her +interview with Mr. Iron's clerk. That young man, an exquisite creature, +who had the appearance of giving his mind largely to his collars, was +overwhelmed by the amount of stock which Mrs. Sampson produced. He +explained with some confusion that in the hurry incident upon Mr. +Iron's unexpected departure, he had neglected to make a memorandum, but +that he understood that he was to receive three thousand shares of +Princeton Platinum with Mr. Iron's letter as a voucher. + +"I may have been mistaken," he observed, apologetically. "Mr. Irons was +called away in a great hurry, and I did get some of his directions +confused. It's singular that he didn't name the amount in the letter." + +"I'm very sorry he didn't," returned the widow, with an engaging air of +appealing to the other's generosity. "It puts me in a very awkward +position, just as if I were trying to impose on you. Mr. Irons knew +just what I had and said he'd take it all." + +"Oh, I didn't mean for an instant," the clerk protested, blushing with +confusion, "that you were trying to impose on us." + +The clerk was young and susceptible, the widow was mature and adroit; +he was confused and uncertain, she was definite and determined. Mr. +Irons had, moreover, given the young man to understand that the +transaction was a confidential and personal one, which involved more +than appeared on the surface. Confronted by the phraseology of Mr. +Iron's note, backed by Mrs. Sampson's insinuating manner and unblushing +statements, the clerk laid aside his discretion, and in the end allowed +himself to fall a victim to the wiles of the astute widow, who walked +away considerably richer than she came, besides being able to bring joy +to the heart of Erastus Snaffle by a neat sum of ready cash, which she +delivered after another prolonged discussion over the price she should +pay him for the stock. + +And on the following morning when she read in the stock reports that +Princeton Platinum had fallen to one and a half, she remembered her +stroke of yesterday with a conscience which if not wholly clear was +thoroughly satisfied. + + + + +XXXV + + HEARTSICK WITH THOUGHT. + Two Gentlemen of Verona; i.--1. + +Fenton's forenoon at his studio was broken by a visit from Ninitta. His +mind full of his trip to New York, and of speculations concerning his +interview with Mrs. Glendower, he had let the whole question of the +_Fatima_ and his entanglement with its model slip from his mind, and +when he opened the door to find Mrs. Herman standing there, the shock +of his surprise was a most painful one. Ninitta's eyes were swollen +with weeping, and the sleepless night had made her plain face haggard +and ugly. With a quick, irritated gesture, the artist put his hand upon +her arm and drew her impatiently into the studio. Closing the door, he +stood confronting her a moment, studying her expression, as if to +discover the cause of her disturbance. + +"Well," at length he said, harshly, "have you betrayed me?" + +Ninitta answered his look with one of helpless and confused despair. +The anguish of the long hours during which she had been making up her +mind what to do in the emergency that had arisen, had stupefied her so +that she could not think clearly. She still suffered, and Fenton's +brutal manner brought tears to her eyes, but she was benumbed and +dazed, and could neither think nor feel clearly. + +"Grant found out himself," she said, "that I posed." + +"Well?" Fenton demanded, with an intensity that made his smooth voice +hoarse. + +"That's all," Ninitta responded dully. "I'm going away." + +"Going away?" echoed Fenton, the words arousing again his fears that +the worst might have been discovered. "Then Herman does know?" + +"He only knows that I posed," repeated Ninitta; "but he says Nino would +be ashamed, and I am going away." + +"But where are you going?" + +"Home; to Capri." + +The artist looked at her with an impatient feeling that it was idle to +reason with her, and that she had somehow passed beyond his control. He +moved away a few steps, and sat down in an old carved monkish chair, +while his visitor leaned, as if for support, against the casing of the +door. He looked at her curiously, wondering what her mental processes +were like, and saying to himself, with mingled chagrin and philosophy, +that it was impossible to deal with a creature so irrational, but that +fortunately he was not responsible for her movements His glance +wandered about the studio, noting with artistic appreciation the +pleasant coloring of a heap of cushions thrown carelessly on the divan. +He wondered if it would have been better had he arranged that blue one +in a fuller light, as a background for the beautiful shoulder of his +_Fatima_, yet reflected that on the whole the value he had chosen +better brought out the quality of the flesh-tones. What a splendid +picture the _Fatima_ was. It was worth some inconvenience to have +achieved such a success, and, after all, he would not be so foolish as +to begrudge the price he must pay for his triumph. + +And yet, and yet--He turned back with a movement of impatience toward +that sad, silent figure standing just inside his door. A wave of anger +rose within him. He felt that he had a right to consider himself +aggrieved by her persistent presence. Why must his will, his happiness, +his artistic powers be hampered and thwarted by this woman who was only +fit to serve his art and be laid aside, like his mahl-stick and +palette. + +"It seems to me," he burst out, more harshly than ever, "that you might +have had the sense to keep away from here, at least until Herman gets +over his anger." + +"But I am going away," she said, "and I came to you for some money." + +He stared at her in fresh amazement an instant; then he burst into +derisive laughter. + +"Well," he said, "I like that. Why, I'm going to New York myself to- +night, to try to beg enough to keep me out of the poor-house." + +"But I can't ask Mr. Herman," Ninitta said, beseechingly. + +"In Heaven's name, Ninitta," exclaimed Fenton, "don't be an idiot. +There's no sense in running away. Besides, what are you afraid of?" + +"But it might hurt Nino if I stayed," returned poor Ninitta. + +Through the bitter watches of the night, she had been saying that over +and over to herself. With all her weakness and her sin, her mother-love +stood the supreme test. As she had been able to give up her Italian +friends when the boy was born, because, as she said, Nino was born a +gentleman and must not associate with them; now, when she was convinced +that he would be better without her, she was able to give him up, +although with a breaking heart. Many times she had been forced to +confess to herself that Nino's mother was not a lady like Mrs. Fenton +or Helen Greyson, or others of her husband's friends; and although she +had always comforted herself with the reflection that at least no boy +had a mother who loved him more than she did her son, the thought that +her child might be better without her had more than once forced itself +upon her mind. It was idle for Fenton to argue; Ninitta's decision had +passed beyond argument, and perhaps her understanding was, for the time +being, too benumbed by suffering clearly to follow her companion's +reasoning. + +"At least," she said at last, utterly ignoring his earnest endeavor to +shake her resolution, "if you cannot let me have any money, you will +write a note for me to tell Mr. Herman that I am gone, and to say good- +by to the _bambino._" + +"Good God, Ninitta! Are you mad?" Fenton cried, jumping up and coming +to confront her. "Why should you mix me up in this business? He knows +my writing, and think what he might suspect if I wrote such a note." + +His voice insensibly softened as he spoke. He could not but be touched +by the utter helplessness, the anguish, the baffled weakness so evident +in her face and manner. He was cruel only from selfishness and the +instinct of self-defence, and his pity was sharply aroused by Ninitta's +suffering and her miserable condition. + +"Come," he said gently, laying his hand on her arm, "you are tired and +frightened. There is no need for you to go away and, besides, you could +not live without the _bambino._ Think, you would have no letters; you +would never even hear from him." + +A spasm of pain contracted Ninitta's features. She pressed her hands +upon her bosom with interlaced fingers working convulsively. + +"Oh, Mother of God!" she moaned, in a voice of intensest agony, which +thrilled Fenton with a keen pang that yet did not prevent his +remembering how like was the cry to that of a great tragic actress as +he had heard it in _Phedre_. + +"Don't, Ninitta," he pleaded, unlocking her hands and taking them in +his. "I"-- + +"You will write me?" she interrupted eagerly. "You will tell me about +Nino? I shall find somebody to read it to me. Oh, you are good. That is +the best kindness you could do me." + +She pressed his hands eagerly, a divine yearning, a gleam of passionate +hope shone in her dark eyes. Fenton tried to smile, but despite himself +his lip trembled. He had hard work to control himself, but he reflected +that with him lay the responsibility of dissuading Ninitta from her mad +project. + +"But it will be better still," he urged, "to be with him. What can a +boy do without his mother?" + +She bent her head forward, gazing into his eyes as if she were trying +to read his very soul; then she threw it backward with a sharp moan, +shaking his hands from hers with a tragic gesture. + +"He would be ashamed," she said. "Now he is too young to know that he +is better without his mother." + +She looked around the familiar studio with a sweeping, panting glance; +then she turned again to Fenton, clasping both his hands with one of +hers. + +"Think of what I have done for you," she said; "and write me about him. +I shall die if you do not." + +And there shot through Fenton's mind a sense of the terrible tragedy +which lay in such an appeal for such an end. + +When she was gone, Fenton consoled himself with the reflection that the +lack of money would prevent Ninitta from carrying out her wild whim. +He, of course, could not know that soon after Nino's birth Herman had +started a fund for him in a savings bank, and to the mother's intense +gratification had the deposits made in her name as trustee. He had +taught Ninitta to sign her name; and great had been her pleasure in +watching the little fund grow. It indicated the desperateness of her +resolve, that now she broke into this cherished fund, drawing barely +enough money to take her back to Capri. She was going away for Nino's +sake she argued with herself, and that justified even this. + +All through the day she busied herself with preparations for departure. +She would take nothing but the barest necessities; only that the hand- +satchel into which she compressed her few belongings held Nino's first +baby socks, a lock of his hair, his picture, a broken toy, and other +dear trifles, each of which she packed wet with tears and covered with +kisses. + +Late in the afternoon she took Nino into her chamber alone to bid him +good-by. Her limbs failed her as the door closed and he stood looking +at her in innocent wonder. She sank into a chair, faint and trembling, +soul and body rent with an intolerable anguish so great that for a +moment she wondered if she were not dying. + +"What is the matter, mamma?" Nino cried out in his musical Italian, +running across the room to stand by her knee. + +He took one of her hands in his, stroking it softly and looking up into +her face with pity and wonder. + +"I am going away, Nino," she said, speaking with a mighty effort. "You +must be a good boy and always mind and love papa. And, oh!" she cried, +her self-control breaking down, "love me too, Nino; love me, love me." + +She clasped her arms convulsively about his neck, but she choked the +first sob that rose in her throat. She did not dare give way. She +instinctively knew that she needed all her strength to carry her +through what she had undertaken. She kissed the startled child with +burning fervor. She drew him into her lap and held him close to her. +Her very lips were white. + +"Nino," she said, "can you remember something to say to papa?" + +"Oh, yes," he answered. "I am quite old enough for that. Don't you +remember how I repeated",-- + + _"'Questo domanda del pan; + Questo dise, no ghe n'e; + Questo dise come faremo; + Quell' altro dise; rubaremo; + Il mignolo dise; chi ruba 'mpicca, 'mpicca!_'" + + +It was a folk rhyme she had taught him to say, telling off his chubby +fingers one by one; and she remembered how proud the boy had been when +he had repeated it to his father. Her mouth twitched convulsively, but +she went on steadily. + +"You remembered it beautifully, Nino," she said, "and you are to say to +papa, 'Mamma has gone away to Italy for my sake, and she leaves you her +love.' Say it over, Nino." + +"'Mamma has gone away to Italy for my sake,'" repeated the child. "But, +mamma," he broke in, "I don't want you to go." + +She embraced him as if in her death struggle the waters of the sea were +closing over her. + +"Say it, Nino," she repeated. "Say it all." + +The child did as she bade him. She knew she could not prolong this +interview, and still have strength to carry out her resolution. She +embraced and kissed her child so frantically that he became frightened +and began to cry. Then she soothed him and led him to the chamber door. +She put her hand on the latch. She looked at him, her Nino, her baby. +She tottered as she stood. But the force of character which had given +her strength to fight her way for ten years and across half the world +to seek Nino's father gave her power now. She opened the door and put +the boy out gently. She could not trust herself to kiss him again, or +even again to say good-by. + +But when the door was closed, she rolled upon the floor in agony, +stifling her moans lest they should be heard outside, beating her +breast and biting her arms like a mad creature. + +When Herman came home to dinner that night his wife was gone, and Nino +gave him her message. + + + + +XXXVI + + FAREWELL AT ONCE, FOR ONCE, FOR ALL AND EVER. + Richard II.; ii.--2. + +Fenton's reflections as he sat in the train that evening, bound for New +York, were varied rather than pleasing. There are crises in a man's +life when it is perhaps quite as wise that he should not attempt to +reason; he cannot do better than to keep his attention occupied with +indifferent subjects, trusting to that instinct or higher self, or +whatever it may be within us which works independently of our outer +consciousness, to settle all perplexities. Some idea of this sort was +in Arthur's mind as he sped along towards the Sound steamer. He could +not prevent himself from thinking more or less of the situation of his +affairs, but he made no attempt to consider them reasonably or in +order. + +"It would have saved me an awkward interview," he reflected, "if Mrs. +Glendower could have taken herself opportunely out of the world. If we +may trust the usual form of mortuary resolutions, Divine Providence is +habitually pleased with the removal of mortals from this sublunary +sphere; and in this case I should share the sentiment." + +His musings took on a darker tone as time went on. He thought with +bitterness of the failure of his past, and he loathed himself for what +he was. The hateful mystery of life tormented him with its poisonous +uncertainty. He groaned inwardly at the curse that one day should still +follow another. Then the phrasing of his thought pleased him, and with +veering fancy he went on stringing epigrams in his brain. + +"After all," he thought, "what we call a fool in this world is a man +who has his own way at the expense of the wise. There's Candish, now; I +call him a fool and he goes ahead and is damned virtuous and stupid and +exasperating, and gets through life beautifully; while I, who wouldn't +be such an idiot for any money, am always in some confounded scrape or +other. I wonder, by the way, what's the connection between sanctity and +a waistcoat put on hind side before. Candish and Edith wouldn't make a +bad pair. She wouldn't mind his ugly mug in the least, and his idiocies +of temperament would be rather pleasing to her. Heaven knows it was an +ill day for her when she fell into my clutches. I can't say that it +seems to have been any great advantage to any woman to be fond of me. +Helen was awfully cut up when I went back on the Pagans, and as for +Ninitta, I've played the very dickens with her. Upon my word I have my +doubts if I could be really respectable without cutting my own +acquaintance." + +Fenton retired to his stateroom almost as soon as he went on board the +steamer. He was tired with the strain of the last weeks, he hated the +vulgar crowd one met in travelling, so that to sleep and avoid his +companions seemed the only course desirable under the circumstances. + +He was dimly conscious of the progress of the boat, the bustle in the +saloon, which gradually subsided as the evening wore on; and then his +slumber grew deeper. Even the frequent whistling which the ever- +increasing fog made necessary only caused him, now and then, to turn +uneasily in his berth. His stateroom was well aft, and in his drowsy, +half-waking moments, he was conscious that the sea was running heavily. +He remembered that the wind had been east all day, and that he had seen +the danger-signal floating that afternoon. + +Toward morning he grew more wakeful. The whistling of the fog-signal, +which had now become almost constant, vanquished at length his +inclination toward slumber. He found his watch, but it was too dark to +tell the time. He raised himself up in his berth, and, pulling open the +window blind, was able with difficulty to make out that it was almost +four o'clock. Outside, he saw a bank of fog, as impenetrable to the eye +as a wall. He pulled the blind to, with an impatient sigh. + +"This confounded fog," he thought, "will make us late, and I sha'n't +have time to see those pictures at the Academy." + +He lay back in his berth, broad awake, with an objurgation at the +whistle, which was shrieking furiously, and which, he suddenly became +aware, was being answered by the dull bellow of a fog horn blown near +at hand. At that moment the engines of the boat stopped, with that +cessation of the quivering jar which is so terrifying. Fenton could +feel the steamer losing its headway, and being more heavily tossed +about by the waves as it did so. He sat up in his berth with a startled +consciousness of danger, and at the same instant something struck the +steamer with a terrific crash which seemed powerful enough to rend +every timber apart. A tumult of sound broke forth, amid which a +piercing human shriek rang out with awful sharpness. Fenton was thrown +from his berth by the shock, and landed on the floor, bruised and half- +stunned, but otherwise unhurt. His valise was dashed against him, but +after the first concussion there was no further violent movement, and, +as soon as he was able to recover himself, he had no difficulty in +getting to his feet. The terrible cries which continued, reinforced by +a babel of screams and confused noises, seemed to him to come from some +stateroom near at hand. It was evident that some one had been seriously +hurt in the collision which must have occurred. The trampling of feet, +the voices of men and women and children, the sound of the wind and of +the water, and those formless noises which are the more terrifying +because it is impossible to tell whence they arise, filled the air on +every side, and told Fenton that some serious calamity had befallen the +steamer. + +He felt about in the darkness for his clothing, then pulled open the +shutter hastily, and dressed himself in the dim light as well as he was +able. He was excited but not panic-stricken, yet the time seemed long, +although in reality it was but a few moments before he was ready to +open his door into the saloon. As he came out he had a startled +impression of finding himself in an unexpected place, and then he +realized that the side of the boat had been broken in clean through the +range of staterooms, and that he was looking out into the heavy wall of +fog through a hole made by the collision. He could see dimly the shape +of a ship's prow, and the broken end of a bowsprit was not yet wholly +disentangled from the rent in the side of the steamer. The two vessels, +locked together like a pair of sea-monsters that had perished in the +death grapple of a desperate encounter, tossed up and down on the long +swell, swayed by the wind which seemed to be increasing in fury every +moment. + +On the floor of the saloon just before him, Fenton saw a wounded man, +ghastly with blood, and moaning terribly. Half-dressed people hovered +about him in utter bewilderment, while others continually hurried up +simply to hasten away again in frantic confusion. The wounded man was +in his night clothes, and a half-dressed old woman, her gray hair +straggling about her face, seemed to be attempting to stanch the blood +which was flowing freely. She was evidently a stranger, since from time +to time she appealed to those around to take her place, and let her go +and look after her own folk, but the kindly old creature plainly could +not bring herself, even in that hour of peril, to desert one hurt and +helpless. + +On every side were the evidences of panic. Stateroom doors were open, +people in all stages of disarray were hurrying wildly along, or +clinging frantically to each other. The hysterical sobs of women, +piercing cries from the thin voices of children, deep-toned curses and +wild ejaculations from men sounded on every hand. People were donning +life-preservers, some putting on two or three in their eagerness and +fear; and here and there fighting for the possession of an extra one in +a mad fury. The whole saloon was filled with a wild and terrifying +tumult. It was a frenzied scene of fear and awful bewilderment. + +However great his mental pluck, Fenton was physically a coward, and he +knew it. The New England climate and life have given to most of her +children, of any degree of cultivation, a nervous organization too +acutely sensitive to pain for them to be physically brave; but to this +disposition the New England training, the inherited manliness of sturdy +ancestors, has added a splendid moral energy to overcome this weakness. + +In the first terrible shock of fear which followed his discovery that +the steamer had been run down, Fenton's body trembled with terror. He +felt a wild and dizzy impulse to rush somewhere madly; but in a moment +his will reasserted itself. He was intensely frightened, but he beat +down his fear with the lash of self-scorn, as he would have whipped a +hound that refused to do his bidding. He steadied himself for a moment +against the doorway with tense muscles, setting his teeth together. He +drew a deep breath, turned back into his stateroom, and put on a cork +jacket. He was cool enough. Before he buckled it he transferred his +wallet and papers from the pocket of his coat to that on the inside of +his waistcoat. Then he hurried out through the saloon on to the +afterdeck. The place was crowded, and the confusion was indescribable. +Fenton's first impulse was to put his hands over his ears, to shut out +the horrible din. The officers were shouting orders and getting the +boats manned, for even in this short time the steamer was settling. The +hissing swash of the waves beating into the breach, the prayers, the +imprecations, the hysterical sobs, the agonized cries of the struggling +passengers, the darkness, the terror, the yawning abyss of death +beneath them,--combined to sweep away all human feelings save the +instinct of self-preservation. The brute side of human nature revealed +itself with a hideousness more horrible than the terror of the night +and the sea. Unprotected women were crushed and trampled, and as the +boats were lowered a fierce hand-to-hand conflict ensued, men fighting +like wild cats to force their way into them. The officers beat them +back, and made way for the women as well as they could, struggling at +the same time with the difficult task of maintaining discipline among +the crew. + +Shrill amid the uproar, a child's cry smote Fenton's ear as he came out +upon the deck. Directly before him a man was trying to pull a life- +preserver off from a boy, while a woman fought with him in a desperate +endeavor to shield her child. The lad was about the size of Caldwell +and in the confused light not wholly unlike him. With a sob and a +curse, Fenton struck the man full in the face with all his force, +sending the brute reeling backward into the crowd which was too dense +to allow of his falling. The mother hurriedly pulled the child into the +dense stream of people crowding toward the boats, and Fenton saw the +pair disappear over the side of the steamer, helped by one of the +officers. + +There ran through his mind a momentary speculation of their chances of +escape, and the thought brought him back to the consideration of his +own situation. A sudden unreasonable disgust of the conditions which +made his salvation so improbable seized upon him. He reflected that he +might still baffle fate by taking his own life, and for an instant the +idea of thus escaping from all the vexations which surrounded him +presented itself to his mind in alluring colors. The idea of self- +destruction was one with which he had played so often that he +entertained it without a shock; and he realized now, almost with a +conviction that the fact forced him to suicide for the sake of +consistency, that his death under these circumstances would surely be +attributed to accident. He even began to fumble with the buckles of his +life-preserver; then with a smile of bitter scorn he looked down at his +hands, of which the fingers were trembling with nervous fear. + +"Bah," he said to himself, "why should I pose to myself? Fate is too +much for me; if a gentle and beneficent Providence intends to make away +with me, so be it. I haven't the nerve to anticipate it." + +He started toward the boats, and at that instant he caught sight of the +face of Ninitta. She was standing perfectly quiet, with her arm around +one of the small pillars supporting the covering to the deck. She was +fully dressed, though her head was uncovered and the rings of hair +clung about her face. Fenton forgot everything else at sight of her. In +a moment of supreme egotism there flashed through his mind the +consequences of Ninitta's being here. The consciousness of all that lay +between them made him keenly alive to the evil construction which might +be placed upon her having fled from home on the same boat which carried +him. He realized, with a profound feeling of impotence, that if they +were lost together he should be forever unable to explain or to dispel +the suspicion to which her presence might give rise; he felt with keen +bitterness how useless would be all his cleverness, and his heart +swelled with rage at the thought that his adroitness would be wasted +for lack of opportunity. + +He forgot the danger, the terror of the wreck, the shrieking of the +women, the brutality of the men, and, for the moment, felt with the +keen desperation of enormous vanity the danger to his reputation. He +forced his way madly across the deck and confronted her in the ghastly +light of the swinging lantern and the gray foregleams of the coming +dawn. + +"You followed me!" he cried with bitter harshness. + +She looked at him in a calm, stunned way, as if she were past suffering +and almost past feeling. The recognition in her eyes came slowly, as if +she were dazed or as if some powerful mental stress held her attention. + +"Now," he began, "your boy"--He was going to add, "will grow up to +believe you ran away with me;" but his manliness asserted itself and he +could not continue. It was like striking a woman, and the brutal words +died on his lip. + +At the mention of her boy a sudden passion flamed in her eyes. She +loosed her hold upon the pillar and a sudden lurch of the sinking ship +threw her into Fenton's arms. She clung to him frantically. + +"My boy!" she moaned. "My boy!" + +Like quickly shifting pictures, there ran through Fenton's mind the +images of Nino, of the boy whose life-preserver he had saved, and of +his own son, asleep in safety in his nursery at home. With a quick +revulsion of feeling came the desire to save Ninitta, and with +instinctive quickness he hit upon a possible means of escape. As he +came through the saloon he had seen a man, a dim shape in the fog, +clambering through the shattered staterooms to climb over the broken +bowsprit into the vessel that had run them down. Hastily drawing +Ninitta along, he forced his way back into the saloon. The body of the +man who had been hurt in the collision lay dead and deserted on the +floor. He lifted his companion over it and made his way to the side of +the steamer. Others had discovered this road to safety and he had to +fight for his foothold amid the waves that now washed over his feet. +The men on the stranger vessel were sawing off the broken spar which +was entangled under the steamer's upper deck, lest their craft should +be dragged down by the sinking boat. He urged Ninitta forward, swinging +her by main force up into the tangled rigging. + +"No, no," she cried, endeavoring to throw herself back. "I do not want +to go. It will be better for Nino." + +The sublimity of her self-sacrifice smote him like a lash. He could not +stop to argue, but he forced her forward, and one of the men above, +feeling himself in safety, caught her by the arm to drag her up. But at +that instant the spar, cut nearly through, broke with a sharp crack +like the sound of a gun. The end fell, and with it the wretched woman +was carried down. She shrieked as she went, the water cutting short her +cry of mortal anguish. Fenton saw her face an instant, and then in the +fog and the darkness the lapping water closed over her. + +An awful sickening shudder ran through him, a fear too great to be +resisted. There rose from his heart a despairing prayer; and the +unbeliever has sounded the depth of agony when he calls upon God. + +At that instant a beam loosened from the upper deck, dragged downward +by the ropes of the falling bowsprit, fell with a crash, dashing him +downward into the gulf below. He felt the awful stinging pain of the +blow, like the thrust of a spear; a mighty wave seemed to mount upward +to meet and to engulf him. Then he lost all perception of what he was +doing or of what happened to him; and it might to his consciousness +have been either moments or hours before he found himself struggling in +the icy water. He swam instinctively, and he even remembered to try to +increase his distance from the steamer, that he might not be caught in +the eddy when it went down. He heard still the cries and shrieks, but +the noise of the sea at his ears was like a mighty uproar confusing +all. He could not tell in which direction lay the vessel; a mighty +pressure crushed his chest, and innumerable lights twinkling against a +background of intensest black seemed to shine before his eyes. He was +past thinking clearly. His memory was like a broken mirror whose +shattered fragments reflected a thousand bits from his past life, +confused, detached, and meaningless. + + Then with a last supreme effort his strong will asserted itself in a +command upon his consciousness. For one intense instant, briefer than +the flash of the tiniest spark, he realized everything, save that the +blow or the nearness of death seemed to have dulled all sense of fear. +The most vivid thought of all was the reflection that he might have +been saved but for his efforts to help Ninitta. The grim humor of the +situation tickled his fancy, and in the very flood of death he faintly +smiled at the irony of fate which thus balanced accounts. And this +flash of cynical amusement was the last gleam of his earthly +consciousness. + + + + +XXXVII + + A SYMPATHY OF WOE. + Titus Andronicus; iii.--1. + +Fortunately Ninitta had made no secret of her departure except to +conceal it from her husband. She had been to see some Italian friends +of former days to ask about people she had known in Italy, and from +them her husband learned pretty nearly what her plans had been. Fenton +might have spared himself his fears lest she be suspected of going with +him. Such a thought did not for an instant enter into Herman's mind. +The sculptor found himself appreciating better than ever before the +strength of his wife's character. The knowledge of Ninitta's faults +died with her, and her memory was transmitted to her son enriched with +the halo of a martyr who has died in the path of supreme self- +sacrifice. Nine's father understood fairly well the train of reasoning +which had led his wife to the tragic resolve to leave their boy. +Ignorant of her fault, he blamed himself for the reproach by which he +feared he had forced her to believe that it were better for her son to +be freed from her presence. + +His generous nature forgot, too, all anger against Fenton. To the noble +soul, death, by a reasoning which is above logic, seems to settle all +accounts. He remembered the artist's brightness, his quick sympathy, +his keen imagination, and his ready adaptability. The flippancy that +had often shocked him, the treachery to principles which he held sacred +that had wounded him, his kind memory put out of sight, as one wipes +the stains from a crystal; and in the mind of the man he had wronged, +the remembrance of Arthur Fenton remained fair and gracious, and nobler +than the nature whose monument it was. + +He went to see Mrs. Fenton, but when he met her he at first could say +nothing. He stammered brokenly, tears choking his voice, holding her +hand in his, and vainly striving to put into words the sympathy he +felt. Then he stooped suddenly and kissed her hand. + +"Our boys,"--he said, with awkward phrasing, but with an instinct which +reached to the ground of their deepest sympathy. "It might comfort them +a little to play together." + +The widow clung with both her small hands to the large strong one which +had clasped hers; and bending down over it she burst into convulsive +sobs. He stood silent a moment, his lip trembling then with grave +kindness, he said,-- + +"I know how hard it is; but you have the comfort of being able to tell +the boy that his father was a genius and a noble man. Do you know that +a woman who was rescued says that your husband saved her boy, a little +lad like Caldwell. Arthur knocked down the man that was trying to rob +him of his life-preserver. The Captain told her afterward who it was." + +He was perfectly sincere in what he said. It was difficult for him to +think evil of the living; of the dead it was impossible. + +After he had gone, Edith took Caldwell on her knee and told him the +story. It was the brightest ray of comfort in all that sad time to be +able thus to glorify his father in the eyes of her son. The incident +dwelt in her mind, and her loving fancy added to it a hundred details +and drew from it numberless deductions with which to enrich the memory +of her dead. It came in time to be the most prominent thing in her +remembrance of her husband. It was the fact which she could recall with +the most unmixed satisfaction, which needed no evasions, no mental +reservations, no warpings of belief, to appear wholly noble. In the +light of this deed, the impulse of a moment, Fenton stood in her memory +as a hero; and in viewing him thus, she was able to lose sight of +everything which she must forgive, of everything which she wished to +forget. + +Edith was happily spared the harassing complications of financial +difficulty which it had seemed must inevitably result from the +condition in which her husband's affairs were left. + +On Mr. Irons's return from New York, he had been astounded and enraged +to find that he had been outwitted by the combined cleverness of Mrs. +Sampson and the stupidity of his clerk, and that he was in possession +of eleven thousand shares of Princeton Platinum stock. For seven +thousand shares he had paid at the rate of three dollars, and the stock +was now quoted at one and three eighths asked, with no particular +reason for supposing that the putting of even half his shares on the +market would not reduce it to zero. Irons blasphemed prodigiously and +emphatically, discharged his clerk, and went to call on Mrs. Sampson, +whom he threatened with all sorts of condign punishments if she did not +disgorge her ill-gotten gains. The widow received him affably, and +laughed in his face at this proposal, a course of action which won his +respect more fully than any other which she could have chosen. There +was evidently nothing left but to do what he could with the market, and +by methods best known to himself he succeeded in bulling the stock so +that he was able to unload at three dollars and a half. + +The brokers in whose hands Fenton had left his stock had been watching +their opportunity, and closed it out at the top of the market, a +consummation for which Fenton had so devoutly longed that it seemed +cruel he could not have lived to see it. The returns from this and from +her husband's life insurance secured to Edith and her son a small +income, which was considerably increased by the sale of Fenton's +pictures which was soon after organized by the artists of the St. +Filipe Club. + +It was about a month after Ninitta's death that Grant Herman went to +visit Helen. He had chosen to see her at her studio rather than at her +home. Poignant memories of the past were less likely to be aroused by +the unfamiliar appearance of this room which he had never before +entered. It was late in the afternoon, and Helen was standing by the +figure of a child upon which she had been working. She gave him her +hand impulsively, forgetting that the fingers were stained with clay. + +"I beg your pardon," she said. + +"It is no matter," he returned, and the commonplace phrases bridged the +awkwardness which belongs to the meeting of two people whose minds are +full of intense feeling which they are not prepared to speak. Helen led +him toward another modelling stand. + +"I want you to see this bust," she remarked. "It's quite in the manner +which you used to say was my best." + +He stood watching her with a swelling heart as she removed the damp +wrappings which kept the clay moist. Keen in the minds of both was the +knowledge that now there were no barriers between them; that the time +had come at last when they were free to love each other and to unite +their lives. The closeness of Ninitta's death kept this wholly from +their words, but it could not banish the exultation, so sharp as to be +almost pain, which would arise from the mere fact of their being +together. Both understood that however great the sorrow at her death +which he was too noble-hearted not to feel, he must rejoice in the +right to follow the dictates of his love at last. + +He forced himself to examine the bust critically, and to speak of it +calmly; but he soon turned away from it, and stood looking at her a +moment, as if trying to find speech in which to phrase what he had come +to say. She waited for him to speak, meeting his glance frankly. Her +head was thrown backward a little, and he noted with pitying eagerness +that she was paler than of old, and that there were dark circles +beneath her eyes. He thought of the years in which their lives had been +separated, and sorrow for her suffering made his heart swell. + +"Helen," he said, "I have come to ask a favor. I want you to look after +Nino a little. He has been given up to servants too much, and I am +perfectly helpless when it comes to managing his nurse. Is there any +way in which you can do anything for him?" + +"Of course there is," she answered. "I will come in and see him every +day and find out how things go with him; then, if anything is wrong, I +can let you know." + +"Thank you," he returned simply. "I was sure you would help me. But do +you think," he added, hesitating, "that it will be in any way awkward +for you?" + +She smiled on him and she could not keep out of her eyes the joy she +felt at being able to serve him. + +"Do you think," was her reply, "that I am likely to let that +consideration stand in my way? It is rather late in life for me to +begin to let conventionality interfere with what I think it right to +do. Besides," she continued, dropping her eyes, though without a shade +of self-consciousness, "I shall go when you are at the studio." + +"And it will not be too much trouble?" + +"I shall love to do what I can for Nino." + +"I thank you," he said again. + +Then without more words he held out his hand. + +"Good-night," he said. + +"Good-night," she repeated. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE PHILISTINES *** + +This file should be named tphls10.txt or tphls10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, tphls11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, tphls10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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