It was here in fact that Woburn's difficulties began. To marry Miss
Talcott it was necessary to be a rich man: even to dine out in her set
involved certain minor extravagances. Woburn had determined to marry her
sooner or later; and in the meanwhile to be with her as much as possible.
As he stood leaning in the doorway of the Gildermere ball-room, watching
her pass him in the waltz, he tried to remember how it had begun. First
there had been the tailor's bill; the fur-lined overcoat with cuffs and
collar of Alaska sable had alone cost more than he had spent on his
clothes for two or three years previously. Then there were theatre-
tickets; cab-fares; florist's bills; tips to servants at the country-
houses where he went because he knew that she was invited; the _Omar
Khayyam_ bound by Sullivan that he sent her at Christmas; the
contributions to her pet charities; the reckless purchases at fairs where
she had a stall. His whole way of life had imperceptibly changed and his
year's salary was gone before the second quarter was due.
He had invested the few thousand dollars which had been his portion of his
father's shrunken estate: when his debts began to pile up, he took a flyer
in stocks and after a few months of varying luck his little patrimony
disappeared. Meanwhile his courtship was proceeding at an inverse ratio to
his financial ventures. Miss Talcott was growing tender and he began to
feel that the game was in his hands.
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