The Letter of the Contract

This is a romance book. That he should have been in the Venusberg at all could be only a degree less torturing to her than to know he was there still. So she kept away from subjects that would have told her more than she feared already, taking refuge in themes she had once considered vapid and inane. To miss nothing, she hurried homeward on that May afternoon, so as to be beside her tea-table in the drawing-room before any one appeared. And yet, the minute came when she cast aside all solicitudes and hesitations.