He had no doubt that he had made this clear to her and that she
sympathized with him. As a married man it was his desire and intention
not to allow his interest in this ambition to interfere with the
enjoyment of the new great happiness which had come into his life. He
would be a professional recluse no longer. He would cast off his work
when he left his office, and devote his evenings to the aesthetic
delights of Selma's society. They would read aloud; he would tell her
his plans and ask her advice; they would go now and then to the theatre;
and, in justice to her, they would occasionally entertain their friends
and accept invitations from them. With this outlook in mind he had made
such an outlay as would render his home attractive and cosey--simple as
became a couple just beginning life, yet the abode of a gentleman and a
lover of inspiring and pretty things.
As has been mentioned, Littleton was a Unitarian, and one effect of his
faith had been to make his point of view broad and straightforward. He
detested hypocrisy and cant, subterfuge and self-delusion. He was
content to let other people live according to their own lights without
too much distress on their account, but he was too honest and too
clear-headed to be able to deceive himself as to his own motives and his
own conduct.
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