The Descent of Man and Other Stories

Project Gutenberg's The Descent of Man and Other Stories, by Edith Wharton This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: The Descent of Man and Other Stories Author: Edith Wharton Posting Date: August 11, 2009 [EBook #4519] Release Date: October, 2003 First Posted: January 29, 2002 Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DESCENT OF MAN, OTHER STORIES *** Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines. THE DESCENT OF MAN AND OTHER STORIES BY EDITH WHARTON TABLE OF CONTENTS The Descent of Man The Other Two Expiation The Lady's Maid's Bell The Mission of Jane The Reckoning The Letter The Dilettante The Quicksand A Venetian Night's Entertainment THE DESCENT OF MAN I When Professor Linyard came back from his holiday in the Maine woods the air of rejuvenation he brought with him was due less to the influences of the climate than to the companionship he had enjoyed on his travels. To Mrs. Linyard's observant eye he had appeared to set out alone; but an invisible traveller had in fact accompanied him, and if his heart beat high it was simply at the pitch of his adventure: for the Professor had eloped with an idea. No one who has not tried the experiment can divine its exhilaration.