Saint Pierre would feel at home in one of Mr. Edouard Estaunié’s books.[53] He is an ardent adept of the “secret life.” A very human sort of man, with many prepossessing traits, Saint Pierre in his home recalls King Lear among his daughters. The professor, who is a historian, lives among comfortable surroundings. He likes his work and is an enthusiastic student. All he needs is the solitude requisite to bring his labors to an auspicious end. Unfortunately, he is the slave to a shrewish woman, and plays the indulgent father to two coquettish daughters, without mentioning the sons-in-law who are perfect Philistines. This state of affairs is not conducive to serene living in the academic groves. This is why the title of this novel is symbolic. It is an allusion to the existence of Saint Pierre, living in two different houses, just as he is leading two highly dissimilar lives. The first house, the real one, is the home where he is besieged by practical cares and worries. Poor Saint Pierre has a hard time of it, what with holding his own with a wife and family who do not understand him, and pretending to be a scholar and a writer! But there is the other house, the little dream house which Saint Pierre rigged up all for himself and within whose threshold he becomes his real self. It is a haven of dreams. From its windows the distant azure of Lake Michigan may be seen. There Saint Pierre is happy in solitude. But family demands are pitiless. They pursue him in his retreat like a beast trapped in the woods. In the end, to loosen this stranglehold, Saint Pierre tries to commit suicide, casually, as if to give the impression that he did not do it on purpose. But he is not even allowed to commit suicide. Like most of the inhibited characters of American fiction, he capitulates and makes a virtue of necessity. His failure is all the more pathetic. * * * * *