And he was in the zenith of his fame. On this very day, when exposure seemed to be approaching with swift and certain steps, he had been honored as few men lived to be. If he felt pleasure in the position he had won it was because it was a source of pride and pleasure to Rachel. Was he, with his own hand, to destroy the ideal he had created? Was this the plain duty that lay now before him? "The carriage is at the door, sir." It was a servant who interrupted his tortured musings. He had given orders to be informed when his carriage was ready. With slow steps he left his study. CHAPTER XXXIII. A CHEERFUL DOCTOR. There was an apartment in Aaron Cohen's house which was called the cozy room, where the family were in the habit of sitting when they had no visitors, and it was here that their real domestic happiness reigned. Here Aaron used to smoke his old silver-mounted pipe, and chat with his wife, and indulge in his entertaining pleasantries when he was in the humor, and here the feeling used to steal over him that life would hold more joy for him and those dear to him if they dwelt in a smaller house and his doings were less under the public eye. "I am convinced," he would say, "that those who are in the lower middle class are the best off. They have fewer cares, they have more time for domestic enjoyment, they can attend without hindrance to their own affairs. There is no happiness in riches. Why do I continue to wish to accumulate more money?" "Because," Rachel would answer affectionately, "It enables you to contribute to the happiness of others. But I should be as contented if we were poor." On the occasion of Mr. Dillworthy's visit to Aaron a scene of a different nature was being enacted in the cozy room. Rachel was overpowered with languor, and she fell into a doze. The apartment was large, but an arrangement of screens and the disposal of the furniture made it look small; domestically speaking, there is no comfort in any but a small room. Rose during her present visit had noticed with concern that Mrs. Cohen appeared weak, and that her movements, which were always gentle, were more so than usual, and that her quiet ways seemed to be the result of physical prostration. She spoke of it to Rachel, who confessed that she had not felt strong lately, but cautioned Rose to say nothing of it to Aaron. "He is so easily alarmed about me," she said, "and he has great anxieties upon him." "But you should see the doctor," urged Rose solicitously. "I will wait a day or two," answered Rachel, and again enjoined Rose not to alarm her husband.