bsence it would involve, serve as a palliation. Since, too, there was
no danger to Diane, there could be the less reason for stinting himself
in the pleasure of her presence, so long as he was prepared to pay for
it afterward in full.

Thus the first winter had gone by, until with the shifting of the
environment in summer a certain change entered into the situation. The
greater freedom of country life on the Hudson made it requisite that
Diane should be more consciously circumspect. In her detachment Derek
noticed first of all a new element of intention; but since it was the
first sign she had given of distinguishing between him and the dumb
creation, it did not displease him. While he could not affirm that she
avoided him, he saw less of her than when in town. During those
difficult moments when they had no guests and Dorothea was making visits
among her friends, Diane found pretexts for slipping away to New York,
on what she declared to be business of her own--availing herself of the
seclusion of the little French hostelry that had first given her
shelter.

It was at times such as these that Derek began to perceive what she had
become to him. As long as she was near him he could keep his feelings
within the limitations he had set for them; but in her absence he was
restless and despondent till she returned. The brutality of life, which
made him master of the beauty of the country and the coolness of the
hills, while it drove her to stifle in the town, stirred him with
alternate waves of indignation and compassion.

There was a torrid afternoon in August when the sight of her, trudging
along the dusty highway to the station, almost led him to betray himself
by his curses upon fate. Dorothea having left for Newport in the
morning, Diane was, as usual, seeking the privacy of University Place
for the two weeks the girl's visit was to last. Understanding her desire
not to be alone with him for even a few hours when there was no third
person in the house, Derek had taken the opportunity to motor for lunch
to a friend's house some miles away. With the intention of not returning
till after she had gone, he had ordered a carriage to be in readiness to
drive her to her train; but his luncheon was scarcely ended when the
thought occurred to him that, by hurrying back, he might catch a last
glimpse of her before she started.

He had already half smothered her in dust when he perceived that the
little woman in black, under a b