g allurement, so he ignored the occurrence. This evening, for the
first time, it seemed to him that Eileen was not so beautiful a woman as
he had thought her. Something had roiled the blood in her delicate veins
until it had muddied the clear freshness of her smooth satiny skin.
There was discontent in her eyes, which were her most convincing
attraction. They were big eyes, wide open and candid. She had so trained
them through a lifetime of practice that she could meet other eyes
directly while manipulating her most dextrous evasion. Whenever Eileen
was most deceptively subtle, she was looking straight at her victim with
the innocent appeal of a baby in her gaze.

John Gilman had had his struggle. He had succeeded. He had watched, and
waited, and worked incessantly, and when his opportunity came he was
ready. Success had come to such a degree that in a short time he had
assured himself of comfort for any woman he loved. He knew that his
appearance was quite as pleasing as that of his friend. He knew that
in manner and education they were equals. He was now handling large
business affairs. He had made friends in high places. Whenever Eileen
was ready, he would build and furnish a home he felt sure would be
equal, if not superior, to what Morrison was planning. Why had Eileen
felt that she would envy any woman who shared life with Peter Morrison?

All that day she had annoyed him, because there must have been in the
very deeps of his soul "a still, small voice" whispering to him that
he had not lived up to the best traditions of a gentleman in his course
with Marian. While no definite plans had been made, there had been
endless assumption. Many times they had talked of the home they would
make together. When he reached the point where he decided that he never
had loved Marian as a man should love the woman he marries, he felt
justified in turning to Eileen, but in his heart he knew that if he had
been the man he was pleased to consider himself, he would have gone to
Marian Thorne and explained, thereby keeping her friendship, while he
now knew that he must have earned her contempt.

The day at Riverside had been an enigma he could not solve. Eileen was
gay to a degree that was almost boisterous. She had attracted attention
and comment which no well-bred woman would have done.

The growing discontent in John's soul had increased under Linda's direct
attack. He had known Linda since she was four years old and had been
re