The Descent of Man and Other Stories

Excerpt from The Descent of Man: And Other Stories, Madame De Treymes

But if, from the outset, he found his idea the most agreeable of fellow-travellers, it was only in the aromatic solitude of the woods that he tasted the full savour of his adventure. There, during the long cool August days, lying full length on the pine-needles and gazing up into the sky, he would meet the eves of his companion bending over him like a nearer heaven. And what eyes they were - c1ear yet un fathomable, bubbling with inexhaustible laughter, yet drawing their freshness and sparkle from the central depths of thought! To a man who for twenty years had faced an eye reflecting the commonplace with per feet accuracy, these escapes into the inscrutable had always been peculiarly inviting; but hitherto the Pro fessor's mental infidelities had been restricted by an unbroken and relentless domesticity. Now, for the first time since his marriage, chance had given him six weeks to himself, and he was coming home with his lungs full of liberty.

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