?" and, seeing that she
manifestly did not mind: "Of course I shall say things now and then that
will horrify your dear delightful parents--I shall shock them awfully, I
warn you."

In confirmation of this warning he permitted himself an occasional
playful fling at the regular church-going of Mr. and Mrs. Summers, at
the innocuous character of the literature in their library, and at their
guileless appreciations in art. He even ventured to banter Mrs. Summers
on her refusal to receive the irrepressible Kitty Mayne who, after a
rapid passage with George Darrow, was now involved in another and more
flagrant adventure.

"In Europe, you know, the husband is regarded as the only judge in such
matters. As long as he accepts the situation--" Mr. Leath explained
to Anna, who took his view the more emphatically in order to convince
herself that, personally, she had none but the most tolerant sentiments
toward the lady.

The subversiveness of Mr. Leath's opinions was enhanced by the
distinction of his appearance and the reserve of his manners. He was
like the anarchist with a gardenia in his buttonhole who figures in
the higher melodrama. Every word, every allusion, every note of his
agreeably-modulated voice, gave Anna a glimpse of a society at once
freer and finer, which observed the traditional forms but had discarded
the underlying prejudices; whereas the world she knew had discarded many
of the forms and kept almost all the prejudices.

In such an atmosphere as his an eager young woman, curious as to all the
manifestations of life, yet instinctively desiring that they should come
to her in terms of beauty and fine feeling, must surely find the largest
scope for self-expression. Study, travel, the contact of the world, the
comradeship of a polished and enlightened mind, would combine to enrich
her days and form her character; and it was only in the rare moments
when Mr. Leath's symmetrical blond mask bent over hers, and his kiss
dropped on her like a cold smooth pebble, that she questioned the
completeness of the joys he offered.

There had been a time when the walls on which her gaze now rested had
shed a glare of irony on these early dreams. In the first years of her
marriage the sober symmetry of Givre had suggested only her husband's
neatly-balanced mind. It was a mind, she soon learned, contentedly
absorbed in formulating the conventions of the unconventional. West
Fifty-fifth Street was no more conscientiously con