"It is true that she and her husband have agreed to separate. It is an
open secret that she has gone to Sioux Falls in order to obtain a
divorce on a colorless ground in the shortest possible time. They will
both be free in less than a year."
"How terrible! Loretta Davis read me a paragraph last week to the
effect that Mr. and Mrs. Waldo were not happy. I set it down as
baseless gossip. It seemed to me impossible that Mrs. Wilson's
daughter--Ah, I am so sorry for Mrs. Wilson."
"She was in the office last week."
"I remember."
"She came to consult me; to see if anything could be done. She has
reasoned with her daughter--used every argument in her arsenal--but
without avail. Mrs. Waldo's one idea is to be free. And yet she has
had every opportunity."
"But that proves nothing, Mr. Perry, surely." They had reached the
threshold of Lincoln Chambers. There was the courage of conviction in
the frank gaze she bent on him.
"Only that the power to have everything may numb the spirit and make
individual self-will the sole arbiter of conduct."
"Agreed. But there can be no doubt that civilization offers us more
to-day than it ever did if we can only be put within reach of it. The
thought sometimes haunts me that I may die and Henrietta grow up to be
like--like Loretta Davis; never know what life may mean, because she
has not had the chance."
He looked at her admiringly. "I am more than half teasing you," he
said. "While it is true that the general standard of living is higher
than ever before, it remains true as ever that only the attuned spirit
can grasp and utilize the best. To argue otherwise would be cant."
"So it seems to me," she said, with her air of direct simplicity.
"As for this tragedy--for it is a tragedy almost Sophoclean in its
scope, as you will presently learn, my lips are sealed for the moment
beyond what I have told you. But you are right in your enthusiasm for
Mrs. Wilson. She is in touch with the temper of the world's
progress--according to her lights."