Her own affairs were entirely sufficient to occupy her mind.

Her position had become more impossible to alter and more ghastly.

That night Wilbur had brought home a present to celebrate her success.

It was something which she had long wanted and which she knew he could ill afford:--a circlet of topazes for her hair.

She kissed him and put it on to please him, but it was to her as if she were crowned because of her infamy and she longed to snatch the thing off and trample it.