OF course Alice had no knowledge of any of this. To her, the fourth year of the marriage of David and Fidelia appeared to proceed as had the others; and to Alice, this year brought little change. What there was seemed to be for the better. Her friends said: "Alice grows lovelier every year and her tragic experience with that boy whom she did everything for, has only brought out the real quality of her character."
She was becoming lovelier with the fresh, young maturity of her twenty-five years. She was as slender as when she was in college; oh, she looked to her figure! She was slight in the waist, her limbs were smooth and light but little changes came, all to make her more attractive. Her neck rounded beautifully and her bosom was fuller. She walked a great deal and swam in summer and in winter exercised under the direction of a dancer.
When people praised her beauty of character, she frequently wondered what they would say if they knew what feelings sometimes lay under her calmness, what instincts seized her, what passions played in her dreams. Alice came to understand perfectly how a woman, who has been robbed of her love by another, may do wild, desperate things.
Once to have been loved by the boy you loved and
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