and a glow overspread her face, blotching it with red spots.
"Why?" asked her companion. "Why do you love him when you

ought not to?"
Edna, with a motion or two, dragged herself on her knees

before Mademoiselle Reisz, who took the glowing face between her
two hands.

"Why? Because his hair is brown and grows away from his
temples; because he opens and shuts his eyes, and his nose is a

little out of drawing; because he has two lips and a square chin,
and a little finger which he can't straighten from having played

baseball too energetically in his youth. Because--"
"Because you do, in short," laughed Mademoiselle. "What will

you do when he comes back?" she asked.
"Do? Nothing, except feel glad and happy to be alive."

She was already glad and happy to be alive at the mere thought
of his return. The murky, lowering sky, which had depressed her a

few hours before, seemed bracing and invigorating as she splashed
through the streets on her way home.

She stopped at a confectioner's and ordered a huge box of
bonbons for the children in Iberville. She slipped a card in the

box, on which she scribbled a tender message and sent an abundance
of kisses.

Before dinner in the evening Edna wrote a charming letter to
her husband, telling him of her intention to move for a while into

the little house around the block, and to give a farewell dinner
before leaving, regretting that he was not there to share it, to

help out with the menu and assist her in entertaining the guests.
Her letter was brilliant and brimming with cheerfulness.

XXVII
"What is the matter with you?" asked Arobin that evening. "I

never found you in such a happy mood." Edna was tired by that time,
and was reclining on the lounge before the fire.

"Don't you know the weather prophet has told us we shall see
the sun pretty soon?"

"Well, that ought to be reason enough," he acquiesced. "You
wouldn't give me another if I sat here all night imploring you." He

sat close to her on a low tabouret, and as he spoke his fingers
lightly touched the hair that fell a little over her forehead. She

liked the touch of his fingers through her hair, and closed her
eyes sensitively.

"One of these days," she said, "I'm going to pull myself
together for a while and think--try to determine what character of

a woman I am; for, candidly, I don't know. By all the codes which
I am acquainted with, I am a devilishly wickedspecimen of the sex.

But some way I can't convince myself that I am. I must think about it."
"Don't. What's the use? Why should you bother thinking about

it when I can tell you what manner of woman you are." His fingers
strayed occasionally down to her warm, smooth cheeks and firm chin,

which was growing a little full and double.
"Oh, yes! You will tell me that I am adorable; everything that

is captivating. Spare yourself the effort."
"No; I shan't tell you anything of the sort, though I

shouldn't be lying if I did."
"Do you know Mademoiselle Reisz?" she asked irrelevantly.

"The pianist? I know her by sight. I've heard her play."
"She says queer things sometimes in a bantering way that you don't notice

at the time and you find yourself thinking about afterward."
"For instance?"

"Well, for instance, when I left her to-day, she put her arms
around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were

strong, she said. `The bird that would soar above the level plain
of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad

spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back
to earth.' "Whither would you soar?"

"I'm not thinking of any extraordinary flights. I only half
comprehend her."

"I've heard she's partially demented," said Arobin.
"She seems to me wonderfully sane," Edna replied.

"I'm told she's extremelydisagreeable and unpleasant. Why
have you introduced her at a moment when I desired to talk of you?"

"Oh! talk of me if you like," cried Edna, clasping her hands
beneath her head; "but let me think of something else while you do."

"I'm jealous of your thoughts tonight. They're making you a
little kinder than usual; but some way I feel as if they were

wandering, as if they were not here with me." She only looked at
him and smiled. His eyes were very near. He leaned upon the

lounge with an arm extended across her, while the other hand still
rested upon her hair. They continued silently to look into each

other's eyes. When he leaned forward and kissed her, she clasped
his head, holding his lips to hers.

It was the first kiss of her life to which her nature had
really responded. It was a flaming torch that kindled desire.

XXVIII
Edna cried a little that night after Arobin left her. It was

only one phase of the multitudinous emotions which had assailed
her. There was with her an overwhelming feeling of

irresponsibility. There was the shock of the unexpected and the
unaccustomed. There was her husband's reproach looking at her from

the external things around her which he had provided for her
externalexistence. There was Robert's reproach making itself felt

by a quicker, fiercer, more overpowering love, which had awakened
within her toward him. Above all, there was understanding. She

felt as if a mist had been lifted from her eyes, enabling her to
took upon and comprehend the significance of life, that monster

made up of beauty and brutality. But among the conflicting
sensations which assailed her, there was neither shame nor remorse.

There was a dull pang of regret because it was not the kiss of love
which had inflamed her, because it was not love which had held this

cup of life to her lips.
XXIX

Without even waiting for an answer from her husband regarding
his opinion or wishes in the matter, Edna hastened her preparations

for quitting her home on Esplanade Street and moving into the
little house around the block. A feverishanxiety attended her

every action in that direction. There was no moment of deliberation,
no interval of repose between the thought and its fulfillment.

Early upon the morning following those hours passed in Arobin's society,
Edna set about securing her new abode and hurrying her arrangements

for occupying it. Within the precincts of her home she felt like
one who has entered and lingered within the portals of some

forbidden temple in which a thousand muffled voices bade her begone.
Whatever was her own in the house, everything which she had

acquired aside from her husband's bounty, she caused to be
transported to the other house, supplying simple and meager

deficiencies from her own resources.
Arobin found her with rolled sleeves, working in company with

the house-maid when he looked in during the afternoon. She was
splendid and robust, and had never appeared handsomer than in the

old blue gown, with a red silk handkerchief knotted at random
around her head to protect her hair from the dust. She was mounted

upon a high stepladder, unhooking a picture from the wall when he
entered. He had found the front door open, and had followed his

ring by walking in unceremoniously.
"Come down!" he said. "Do you want to kill yourself?" She greeted him

with affectedcarelessness, and appeared absorbed in her occupation.