I

Ruyler had half promised to go to a dinner that night at the house of

John Gwynne, whose wife would chaperon his wife afterward to the last of

the Assembly dances.

Gwynne was his English friend who had abandoned the ancient title

inherited untimely when he was making a reputation in the House of

Commons, and become an American citizen in California, where he had a

large ranch originally the property of an American grandmother. His

migration had been justified in his own eyes by his ready adaptation to

the land of his choice and to the opportunities offered in the rebuilding

of San Francisco after the earthquake and fire, as well as in the

renovation of its politics. He had made his ranch profitable, read law as

a stepping-stone to the political career, and had just been elected to

Congress. Ruyler was one of his few intimate friends and had promised to

go to this farewell dinner if possible. A place would be kept vacant for

him until the last minute.

Gwynne had married Isabel Otis[A], a Californian of distinguished beauty

and abilities, whose roots were deep in San Francisco, although she had

"run a ranch" in Sonoma County. The Gwynnes and the Thorntons until

Ruyler met Helene had been the friends whose society he had sought most

in his rare hours of leisure, and he had spent many summer week-ends at

their country homes. He had hoped that the intimacy would deepen after

his marriage, but Helene during the past year had gone almost exclusively

with the younger set, the "dancing squad"; natural enough considering her

age, but Ruyler would have expected a girl of so much intelligence, to

say nothing of her severe education, to have tired long since of that

artificial wing of society devoted solely to froth, and gravitated

naturally toward the best the city afforded. But she had appeared to like

the older women better at first than later, although she accepted their

invitations to large dinners and dances.

[Footnote A: See "Ancestors."] Ruyler made up his mind to attend this dinner at Gwynne's, and telephoned

his acceptance before he left Long's. Business or no business, he should

be his wife's bodyguard hereafter. There were blackmailers in society as

out of it, and it was possible that his ubiquity would frighten them off.

Whether to demand his wife's confidence or not he was undecided. Better

let events determine.

II

When he arrived at home he went directly to Helene's room, but paused

with his hand on the knob of the door. He heard his mother-in-law's voice

and she was the last person he wished to meet until he was in a position

to tell her to leave the country. He was turning away impatiently when

Madame Delano lifted her hard incisive tones.




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