the reason was, although she pretended to tell me. She seemed to have
a feeling, poor soul, that, beautiful as she was, she excited
repulsion rather than affection in everybody with whom she came in
contact. 'I might as well be a snake as a woman.' Those were just her
words, and, God help her, I do believe there was something true about
them, although for the life of me I don't know why it was."

Henry looked at Horace with the eyes of a philosopher. "Maybe it was
because she wanted to charm," he said.

Horace shot a surprised glance at him. He had not expected anything
like that from Henry, even though he had long said to himself that
there were depths below the commonplace surface.

"Perhaps you are right," he said, reflectively. "I don't know but you
are. She was a great beauty, and possibly the knowledge of it made
her demand too much, long for too much, so that people dimly realized
it and were repelled instead of being attracted. I think she loved
her husband for a long time after he left her. I think she loved many
others, men and women. I think she loved women better than a woman
usually does, and women could not abide her. That I know; even the
school-girls fought shy of her."

"I have seen the Ayres girl with her," said Henry.

Horace changed color. "She is not one of the school-girls," he
replied, hastily.

"I think I have heard Sylvia say that Mrs. Ayres had asked her there
to tea."