'Success,' he murmured, 'that poisons many a baser mind---' and then
stopped short. 'I've got a new sonnet,' he told her quickly,
determined to prolong his pleasure, 'got it in the train coming home.
Wait a moment, and I'll give you the rest. It's a beauty, with real
passion in it, only I want to keep it cold and splendid if I can.
Don't interrupt a moment.' He put the slippers on the wrong feet and
stared hard into the fire.

Then Mrs. Minks knew for a certainty that something had happened. He
had not even asked after the children.

'Herbert,' she said, with a growing excitement, 'why are you so full
of poetry to-night? And what's this about success and poison all of a
sudden?' She knew he never drank. 'I believe Mr. Rogers has raised
your salary, or done one of those fine things you always say he's
going to do. Tell me, dear, please tell me.' There were new, unpaid
bills in her pocket, and she almost felt tempted to show them. She
poked the fire fussily.

'Albinia,' he answered importantly, with an expression that brought
the chin up closer to the lips, and made the eyebrows almost stern,
'Mr. Rogers will do the right thing always--when the right time comes.
As a matter of fact'--here he reverted to the former train of thought
--'both he and I are misfits in a practical, sordid age. We should
have been born in Greece---'

'I simply love your poems, Herbert,' she interrupted gently, wondering
how she managed to conceal her growing impatience so well, 'but
there's not the money in them that there ought to be, and they don't
pay for coals or for Ronald's flannels---'