Yet I lived in an earthly hell, my dream of love dispelled, the despair of life constantly deepening.

I no longer cared for the man--I despised him, shrank from his presence; yet something more potent than pride kept me loyal.

I believed then, I believe now, in the sacredness of marriage; it was the teaching of my church, of my home; it had become part of my very soul.

To me that formal church wedding typified the solemnity of religion; I durst not prove untrue to vows thus taken; divorce was a thought impossible." "And now ?" he interrupted gently.
She lifted her head, with one swift glance upward.
"You will think me wrong, quixotic, unnatural," she acknowledged soberly.

"Yet I am not absolved, not free--this man remains my husband, wedded to me by the authority of the church.