ll was dark, and still
she struggled, and still she struggled in vain; she was sinking;
strength was leaving her, for doubt is masterful, till with a start she
felt that she was safe. It was not in memory she found a talisman, but
in her heart. It was her love that worked the spell. Love, and
confidence in him whose name she bore. The mountain dissolved into
minim, the dirt into dust, and she took the speck and blew it back into
the shadows from which it had come.

VII.

That evening Eden and her husband dined alone. But it was not till
coffee was served and the servants left the room that either of them had
an opportunity of exchanging speech on matters other than such as were
of passing interest. For the rout which both were to attend that night
Eden had already prepared. It was the initial Matriarch's of the season,
and rumor had it that it was to be a very smart affair. On this occasion
the waiters, it was understood, were to be in livery; and an attempt had
been made to give the rooms something of the aspect and aroma which
appertains to a private house. As a consequence those of the gentler sex
who were bidden had given some thought to their frocks, while those who
were not had garmented themselves in their stoutest mantles of
indifference.

On receiving the large bit of cardboard on which the invitation was
engraved, Eden had at first determined to word and dispatch a regret.
Entertainments of that kind had ceased to appeal to her. At gatherings
of similar nature which she attended she had long since divided the male
element into the youths who wished to seem older than they looked, and
the mature individuals who wished to appear younger than they were;
while as for the women, they reminded her of Diogenes looking for a man.
On receiving the invitation she had, therefore, determined to send a
regret, but on mentioning the circumstance to her husband he had
expressed the desire that she should accept. He liked to have her
admired, and moreover, though the function itself might be tiresome,
still she owed some duty to society, and there were few easier ways in
which that duty could be performed. Accordingly an acceptance was sent,
and as a reward of that heroism Usselex had brought her a plastron of
opals.

That plastron she now wore. Her gown, which was cut a trifle lower on
the back than on the neck, was of a hue that suggested the blending of
sulphur and of salmon. Her arms were cased in _Suede_, in