Shoshone journal., 1924-03-21
CHAPTER VII

lli5 Ut tHt tAil lHIOuSu WHICH he udu
gone, a victiIn of emotions only less
disturbing than his.
There could be naturally little
doubt in her mind now of the identity
of the stranger. Who could it pos
sibly be but one-this individual with
pass-key, and the private knowledge
of her own house which she herself
had never dreamed of, and of her own
intimate but forgotten past.
She had often thought, naturally, of
her husband-of what he must be
like; of why she had been separated
from him. She had avoided speaking
on this subject to Jasper Haig; and
he. for purposes of his own no doubt
had mentioned it to her in only a very
general way. She had assumed mere
ly thar she would not see him; nat
urally that was one absolute condi-
ton of their agreement-one compli
cation which must not arise for her.
She could have complained to Mr.
Haig now, of course, of this visit, but
after seeing him She paused and
thought, remembering her visitors
face-and her own situation, as she
saw it now. For her situation, it must
be said, was growing more and more
disturbing to her.
One must recall, in endeavoring to
understand this, that this young wom-
an, this fortunate mistress of the
great Gorgam Trust, had-as her own
servants could at least partly see-no
memory of her past at all back of her
recent desperate illness, beyond that
supplied by her two visitors-her
financial and physical guardians, JAS
per Haig and the very celebrated doc
tor. Considering this, she often. and
more and more as time went on, felt
the lack of exact and definite infor-
nation concerning many things
around her-even about herself.
She was i'll; she appreciated that
"a nervous trouble with a long name,
which would keep her isolated for a
long period. She would see none of
the friends of the Adelaide Rutber-
ford of former years. She readily
agreed to that. But she had hoped
in fact had been more recently at least
partly promised that some time. after
sufficient time for recovery, she
might be free, by some special ar.
rangement, to travel-to see some
thing of the world outside of the in
terror of this great luxurious house.
She grew most weary of this place. II
was like, in way, an Imprisonment
in a museum: huge, priceless paint
ings; long, costly draperies; jars
worth a fortune-many enough and
large enough to hold the Forty
Thieves. And no sunlight, except in
the afternoon from the westAsunlight
being one article apparently that even
the Gorgam Trust could not purchase
in New York.
She had agreed of course with her
doctor and Jasper Haig to all this
Yet even this she could see now must
be something that would have an end
"a purpose And now-no doubt from
the very situation Of loneliness and
time for thought in which she found
herself. certain suspicious which she !
had formed took somewhat mon
Strous and disconcerting shape There
might be something. she sometimes |
thought-from various things. from |
the servants actions, from her own |
self-accepted isolation in the house
that she did not exactly know-not |
only about the Gorgam Trust, but |
lbout herself
She checked herself when such ideas /
.ame 10 her For II was a black, blind I
llrey in which she had small desire to
rope.
The delights OF unmeasured wealth !
nd luxury Who can reasonably ques-
ion after tEeir universal acceptance
IS the goal OF life for man-and for
Woman certainly no less-fhr0ugh all
lac ages, ana especially IN thisf This
5 "A simple matter Of c0mmOn kn0wl
dse and belief which everybody
nOws ON the other band there are
cry few who have been IN position
o observe and appreciate the Strange
logical, almost hysleical snect
Which close Imprisonment hns on Au-
iap nervous systems 20 understood
be- odd outbreaks and panics of hys
erla which penol0gisis assure pos over
nike fhe MOST unlikely victims ihP
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r.s0ns. N entirely unexpected lnfel
als n Involuntary nd utmost lprane
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