Esmée, seeing there was to be no escape from Jack's favorite specific for every earthly ill, put out her foot, in its foolish little slipper, and Jack drew on the fur-lined boots, and laced them around the silken ankles. He followed her out into the snow-walled fosse, and fell into step beside her. "May I smoke?" "What affectation! As if you didn't always smoke." "Well, hardly, when I have a lady with me, in such a public place." * * * * * "Oh me, oh me!" Esmée suddenly broke forth, "why did I not meet you when you were in New York the winter before! Well, it would have settled one or two things. And we might be walking like this now, before all the world, and every one would say we were exactly suited to each other. And so we are--fearfully and wonderfully. Why did that fact wait to force itself upon us when to admit it was a crime? And we were so helpless _not_ to admit it. What resources had I against it?" "God knows. Perhaps I ought to have made a better fight, for your sake. But the fight was over for me the moment I saw that you were unhappy. If you had seemed reasonably content with your life, or even resigned, I hope I should have been man enough to have taken myself off and had it out alone." "I had no life that was not all a pretense and a lie. I began by thinking I could pretend to you. But you know how all that broke down. Oh, Jack, _you_ know the man!" "I wouldn't go on with that, Esmée." "But I must. I must explain to you just once, if I can." "You need not explain, I should hope, to me." "But this is something that rankles fearfully. I must tell you that I never, never would have given in if I hadn't thought there was something in him, really. Even his peculiarities at first seemed rather picturesque; at least they were different from other men's. And we thought him a great original, a force, a man of such power and capacity. His very success was supposed to mean that. It was not his gross money that appealed to me. You could not think that I would have let myself be literally sold. But the money seemed to show what he had done. I thought that at least my husband would be a man among men, and especially in the West. But"-- "Darling, need we go into all this? Say it to yourself, if it must be said. You need not say it to me." "_I_ am saying it, not you. It is not you who have a monstrous, incredible marriage to explain. I must explain it as far as I can. Do you think I can afford to be without your respect and comprehension simply because you love me?" "But love includes the rest."