He had
looked about him and in the arrogance of his youth and in the pride of his
good body and mind had condemned all childless marriages as a selfish
waste of good lives. With her he had agreed that such lives were without
point and purpose. Now he remembered that in the days of her audacity and
daring she had more than once expressed the hope that in case of a
childless issue to their marriage one or the other of them would have the
courage to cut the knot that tied them and venture into another effort at
right living at any cost.
In the months after Sue's last recovery, and during the long evenings, as
they sat together or walked under the stars in the park, the thought of
these talks was often in Sam's mind and he found himself beginning to
speculate on her present attitude and to wonder how bravely she would meet
the idea of a separation. In the end he decided that no such thought was
in her mind, that face to face with the tremendous actuality she clung to
him with a new dependence, and a new need of his companionship. The
conviction of the absolute necessity of children as a justification for a
man and woman living together had, he thought, burned itself more deeply
into his brain than into hers; to him it clung, coming back again and
again to his mind, causing him to turn here and there restlessly, making
readjustments, seeking new light.
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