"And what else?" he asked, leaning a bit forward.
"A life-time of incompatibility and discord."
"And what else?"
"The opportunity for Society to overlook my—sin," she answered.
He nodded. "Just so—and you choose against Society. Was it wise, Stephanie; was it wise, do you think?"
"What do you think it was, Montague?" she asked with an intimate little smile.
"I think it was very foolish," he replied promptly; then added—"from the point of expediency."
"And very wise from the point of happiness and myself—n'est ce pas?" she smiled.
"Yes," he said; "unquestionably, yes—but few would have had the courage to refuse."
"Let me tell you about it," she broke in. She disliked praise even from her best friends, and she feared Pendleton would not remember. "Mother was dreadfully disappointed, I fear—though she has not mentioned the matter since. It was the expedient way, of course; it would minimize the scandal, and things would go along pretty much as before. That is just the difficulty. I couldn't return to the old way. I could not endure it for a moment—not even long enough to make a show at the reconciliation so that I might purchase Society's forgetfulness. No, not even if I could be assured, before going back to him, of ultimately being divorced."