of pictures, the sorrows of Crowned Heads, so serviceable ever to mankind
as an admonition to the ambitious, a salve to the envious!--in fine,
whatsoever can entertain or affect the most social of couples,
domestically without a care to appearance. And so far they partially--
dramatically--deceived themselves by imposing on the world while they
talked and duetted; for the purchase of furniture from a flowing purse
is a cheerful occupation; also a City issuing out of hospital, like this
poor City of London, inspires good citizens to healthy activity. But the
silence upon what they were most bent on, had the sinister effect upon
Victor, of obscuring his mental hold of the beloved woman, drifting her
away from him. In communicating Fenellan's news through the lawyer
Carling of Mrs. Burman's intentions, he was aware that there was an
obstacle to his being huggingly genial, even candidly genial with her,
until he could deal out further news, corroborative and consecutive,
to show the action of things as progressive. Fenellan had sunk into his
usual apathy:--and might plead the impossibility of his moving faster
than the woman professing to transform herself into, beneficence out of
malignity;--one could hear him saying the words! Victor had not seen him
since last Concert evening, and he deemed it as well to hear the words
Fenellan's mouth had to say. He called at an early hour of the Westward
tidal flow at the Insurance Office looking over the stormy square of the
first of Seamen.




CHAPTER XIII

THE LATEST OF MRS. BURMAN