Her conscience had never troubled her for receiving his
visits, for her husband not only had expressed his approval, but had
always urged her to amuse herself with men. But she felt like an
intriguante when she discussed her engagement lists with Masters, and
she knew that he liked it as little. His visits were now a matter for
"sandwiching," to be schemed and planned for, and she dared not ask
herself whether the persistent sense of fear that haunted her was
that they both must betray self-consciousness in time, or that the
more difficult order would bore him: their earlier intimacy had
coincided with his hours of leisure. After all, he was not her lover,
to delight in intrigue; and in time, it might be, he would not think
the game worth the candle. She dreaded that revived gossip might
drive him from the hotel, and that would be the miserable beginning
of an unthinkable end.
There were other interruptions. He paid a flying visit to Richmond
to visit the death-bed of his mother, and he took a trip to the
Sandwich Islands to recover from a severe cold on the chest.
Moreover, his former placidity had left him, for one thing and
another delayed the financing of his newspaper. One of its founders
was temporarily embarrassed for ready money, another awaited an
opportune moment to realize on some valuable stock.
Pages:
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87