Then suddenly, this was one of the symptoms of his nervous malady, the reaction swept over him in a wave of energy which receded almost immediately.  If he could only find deliverance from himself and his own subjective processes!  If he could only be borne away by the passion he felt and yet could not feel completely!  He wanted Patty, he knew, but did he want her enough to justify the effort that he must make to win her?  Would she be worth to him the break with his mother, with his traditions, with his inherited ideals?  He saw her small, slight figure in the dappled sunlight under the budding trees.  He saw her vivid flower-like face, her romantic eyes, and the arch and charming smile with which she watched his approach.  Yes, he wanted her, he wanted her, and she was the only thing on God’s earth, he told himself rhetorically, that he did want with the whole of his nature!

Quickening his steps, he turned in the direction of the Capitol Square, which stretched, like the painted curtain of a theatre, across the end of the street.  A singular intuition, a presentiment, had come to him that if he could sustain this impulse, this tide of energy until he saw Patty, he should be cured—­he should find freedom of spirit.  Only through love, he had discovered, could there be resurrection from this spiritual death of the last two or three years.  Only through some tremendous rush of desire could he overcome the partial paralysis of his will.  His instinct, he knew, was right, but would his resolution last until he had found Patty?

It was early afternoon, and the faintly tinted shadows, as smooth as silk, were falling straight across the bright green grass on the hillside.  The Square was almost deserted at this hour, except for the old men on the benches and the squirrels that were preparing to return to their nests in the trees.  The breath of spring was over all, roving, fragrant, provocative.

He shrank from going straight to the house; but Patty was not in the walks, and he realized that if he found her at all it would be within doors.  Perhaps it was better so.  After all, he must become accustomed to the mansion and all that it contained, including Gideon Vetch, if he really loved Patty!  And did he really love her?  Oh, was it all to begin over again after the days and nights when he had threshed it out alone in desperation of mind?  Had he lost not only all that was vital, but all that was stable, that was positive and affirmative in his life?

He stood for a moment with his eyes on the fresh young leaves which stirred softly.  Then, as if hope and courage had passed into him with the air of spring, he turned away and walked rapidly to the gate of the Governor’s house.  His hand was on the iron fence, and he was about to enter the yard, when the door opened and Patty came out on the porch with Julius Gershom.  Stepping quickly back under the trees, Stephen watched the girl descend the steps, pass the