was now in "the game" herself, the Washington game, that ensnares the
woman as well as the man and makes her a slave to its fancy. No one
but herself and Norton knew how deeply she had "plunged" on a certain
possible turn of the political cards. She must not, she could not,
lose if life itself were to remain of value to her, and on her sway
over this secretary she was told it all depended.

A subject that for some unexplained reason frequently lodged in
Haines' mind was that of the apparent assiduity with which Mrs.
Spangler cultivated Senator Langdon's friendship. For several years
she had occupied a high social position at the capital, he well knew,
but various indefinite, intangible rumors he had heard, he could not
state exactly where, had made him regret her growing intimacy with
the girls and with the Senator. They had met her through letters of
introduction of the most trustworthy and assuring character from
people of highest social rank in Virginia, where the Langdons had many
friends; but even so, Haines realized, people who write introductory
letters are sometimes thoughtless in considering all the circumstances
of the parties they introduce, and residents of Virginia who had not
been in the capital for years might be forgiven for not knowing of
all the more recent developments in the lives of those they knew
in Washington. While not wishing to have the Senator know of his
intention, the secretary determined to investigate Mrs. Spangler and
her present mode of life at his first opportunity, hoping the while
that his quest would reveal her to be what the Langdons considered
her--a widow of wealth, fashion and reserve who resided at the capital
because the memories of her late husband, a former Congressman of high
standing, were associated with it.

Calling at the Langdons' house one evening in February to receive