clearly any way out. He
was one of countless individuals marked for a tidbit to glut the
gormandizing of a trust. He had by no means turned craven as yet; he was
resolved to hold fast to his business until the last possible moment,
but he could not blind himself to the fact that his ultimate yielding
seemed inevitable.

In circumstances such as these, it was natural enough that Hamilton
should appear more than ever distrait in his own home, for he found
himself wholly unable to cast out of his mind the cares that harassed
him. They were ever present during his waking moments; they pursued him
in the hours devoted to slumber: his nights were a riot of financial
nightmares. He was polite to his wife, and even loverlike with the set
phrases and gestures and caresses of habit. Beyond that, he paid her no
attention at all. His consuming interest left no room for tender
concerns. He had no time for social recreations, for the theater, or
functions, or informal visits to friends in Cicily's company. His dark
face grew gloomy as the days passed. The faint creases between the
eyebrows deepened into something that gave warning of an habitual frown
not far away in the future, which would mar the boyish handsomeness of
his face. The firm jaw had advanced a trifle, set in a steadfast
defiance against the fate that menaced. His speech was brusquer.

Cicily, already in a state of revolt against the conditions of her life,
was stimulated to carry out the ideas nebulously forming in her alert
brain. She felt that the present manner of living must soon prove
unendurable to her. It was essential that a change should be made, and
that speedily, for she was aware of the limitations to her own patience.
Her temperament was not one to let her sit down in sackcloth and ashes
to weep over the ruins of romance. Rather, she would bestir herself to
create a new sphere of activity, wherein she might find happiness in
some other guise. Yet, despite the ingenuity of her mind, she could not
for some time determine on the precise course of procedure that should
promise success to her aspirations. Primarily, her desire was to work
out some alteration in the status of all concerned by which the domestic
ideal might be maintained in all its splendid integrity. But her
tentative efforts in this direction, made lightly in order that their
purport might not be guessed by the husband, were destined to
ignominious failure. Mrs. Delancy, a week after the melan