s before he met Concha Arguello, and, although it might
mate very comfortably with love, it was not to be expected that it
would remain submerged beyond the first enthusiasm, nor even assume the
position of the "party of the second part." Rezanov was Rezanov. He
was also in that interval between youth and age when the brain rules if
it is ever to rule at all. That the ardor of his nature had awakened
refreshed after a long sleep was but just proved, as well as the
revival of his early ideals and capacity for genuine love; but the
complexities, the manifold interests and desires of the ego had been
growing and developing these many years; and no mere mortal that has
given up his life for a considerable period to the thirst for dominance
can ever, save in a brief exaltation, sacrifice it to anything so
normal as the demands of sex and spirit. For good or ill, the man who
has burned with ambition, exulted in the exercise of power, bitterly
resented the temporary victories of rivals and enemies, fought with all
the resources of brain and character against failure, is in a class
apart from humanity in the mass. Rezanov loved Concha Arguello to the
very depths of his soul, but he had lived beyond the time when even she
could engage successfully with the ruthless forces that had molded into
immutable shape the Rezanov she knew. Her place was second, and it is
probable that she would have loved him less had it been otherwise; she,
in spite of her fine intellect and strong will, being all woman, as he,
despite his depth of intuition, was all man. Equality is possible in
no relation or condition of life. When woman subjugates man the
conquered will enjoy a sense of revenge proportionate to the meanness
of his state.

It is possible that had Concha awaited Rezanov in St. Petersburg her
attraction would have focused his desires irresistibly; but his mind
had resigned itself to the prospect of separation for a definite
period, and while it had not relegated her image to the background, her
part in his life had been settled there among many future
possibilities, and all the foreground was crowded with the impatient
symbols of the intervening time. Moreover, he well knew that the savor
would be gone from his happiness with the woman were the taste of
another failure acrid in his mouth.

As he realized that the die was cast, the sanguineness of his
temperament rushed to do battle against apprehension and self-accusing.
After