it proved ample for reflection. With every article of attire that I
discarded went some of that boudoir glamour till its last traces
vanished with my walking-boots. I was fallen indeed. I who had come to
this place so full of virtuous resolutions, could now only reflect
upon the true and universal meaning of our daily prayer that we might
be kept from temptation. And yet what had tempted me? For my life's
sake I could not say. The desire to please a most charming woman and
to keep her from making solitary experiments of a dangerous nature, I
suppose, though whether they should be less dangerous carried out
jointly remained to be seen. Certainly it was not any wish to eat of
her proffered apple of Knowledge, for already I knew a great deal more
than I cared for about things in general. Oh! the truth was that woman
is the mightiest force in the world, at any rate where the majority of
us poor men is concerned. She commanded and I must obey.

I grew desperate and wondered if I could escape. Perhaps I might slip
out of the back door and run for it, without my great coat or hat
although the night was so cold and I should probably be taken up as a
lunatic. No, it was impossible for I had forged a chain that might not
be broken. I had passed my word of honour. Well, I was in for it and
after all what was there of which I need be afraid that I should
tremble and shrink back as though I were about to run away with
somebody's wife, or rather to be run away with quite contrary to my
own inclination? Nothing at all. A mere nonsensical ordeal much less
serious than a visit to the dentist.

Probably that stuff had lost its strength by now--that is, unless it
had grown more powerful by keeping, as is the case with certain sorts
of explosives. And if it had not, the worst to be expected was a silly
dream, followed perhaps by headache. That is, unless I did not chance