“Yes. Translated into more serious terms I suppose the thing that hurts is the terrible pain of cleavage between two people who have grown into each other for years.” “More likely. Helen, I don’t want to probe, but do you want to live without Gage?” Helen pondered. “I don’t want to lose him. I feel dreadfully cheated--put upon. I didn’t want any of this. If I’d known that he was going to feel so outraged at the political venture I’d have stopped, I think, before I let it get to an impasse. But I’m afraid it’s that now. He and I were--well, there’s no use debauching myself with memories. No--I don’t think I want to lose him but even aside from this question of his disloyalty--this business with Freda Thorstad--he’s becoming impossible to live with. The children are noticing it. He doesn’t play with them as he used to. Goes off by himself. There’s no free and easy interchange between us at all. Of course he’s often flatly rude to me before the servants.” “Suppose you gave up all the things he doesn’t like now, would that solve things?” Helen shook her head. “Not now. The thing has gone too far. We’ve been ugly to each other and we wouldn’t forget that. Besides I’m afraid I’d be resentful. There’s no reason why I should be completely subject to Gage’s slightest word. We can’t build on that basis.” “What he wants,” said Margaret astutely, “is to have you subject to his dream.” Helen smiled rather ruefully. “He might wake up from his dream!” “That’s the chance women have always taken--even the luckiest ones.” “I don’t see that it’s any use for me to think over causes and rake up a justification here and a justification there anyway,” said Helen. “The only thing of vital importance is to decide whether I’m going to let events come as they will and be passive under them or whether I’m going to try to manage the events.” “I shouldn’t think there’d be much choice there.” “There is though. It’s so easy to sit back and say, ‘I’m trapped. I’ll just have to take whatever fate sends. There’s nothing I can do.’” “But you won’t, for there are no ends of things you could do. It’s complicated of course. If you leave Gage, of course it puts a crimp in your political possibilities just now, not that the fact of separation would much matter but of course up to this point your political reputation has been partly builded on Gage’s name.” “And I can’t trade on his name and not live with him. But then I can’t trade on his name anyway. I must define a position and take what is coming to me as an individual and give up the rest.” “No. It’s complicated too by money. I haven’t any, you know, Margaret--and Gage has made a lot but we’ve lived rather up to the limit of it. I don’t believe he stands awfully well financially. If we are to separate things would go pretty much to pieces in every direction.”