alk sufficed to show that some alien influence had
been at work, and that it had not so much subdued his resentment as
weakened his will, so that he moved under it in a state of apathy, like a
dangerous lunatic who has been drugged. Temporarily, no doubt, however
exerted, it worked for the general safety: the question was how long it
would last, and by what kind of reaction it was likely to be followed. On
these points Selden could gain no light; for he saw that one effect of
the transformation had been to shut him off from free communion with
Dorset. The latter, indeed, was still moved by the irresistible desire to
discuss his wrong; but, though he revolved about it with the same forlorn
tenacity, Selden was aware that something always restrained him from full
expression. His state was one to produce first weariness and then
impatience in his hearer; and when their talk was over, Selden began to
feel that he had done his utmost, and might justifiably wash his hands of
the sequel.

It was in this mind that he had been making his way back to the station
when Miss Bart crossed his path; but though, after his brief word with
her, he kept mechanically on his course, he was conscious of a gradual
change in his purpose. The change had been produced by the look in her
eyes; and in his eagerness to define the nature of that look, he dropped
into a seat in the gardens, and sat brooding upon the question. It was
natural enough, in all conscience, that she should appear anxious: a
young woman placed, in the close intimacy of a yachting-cruise, between a
couple on the verge of disaster, could hardly, aside from her concern for
her friends, be insensible to the awkwardness of her own position. The
worst of it was that, in interpreting Miss Bart's state of mind, so many
alternative readings were possible; and one of these, in Selden's
troubled mind, took the ugly form suggested by Mrs. Fisher. If the girl
was afraid, was she afraid for herself or for her friends? And to what
degree was her dread of a catastrophe intensified by the sense of being
fatally involved in it? The burden of offence lying manifestly with Mrs.
Dorset, this conjecture seemed on the face of it gratuitously unkind; but
Selden knew that in the most one-sided matrimonial quarrel there are
generally counter-charges to be brought, and that they are brought with
the greater audacity where the original grievance is so emphatic. Mrs.
Fisher had not hesitated to suggest