Things could not remain as they were. Sooner
or later it must inevitably come to the knowledge of his friends.
What would they think of him for leading such a life at Pilar's
side, in her house? She had children who would some day sit in
judgment upon her conduct and his. And how did he stand in the eyes
of the servants and the visitors whose acquaintance Pilar had forced
upon him? If at least she would give up her outside circle of
friends! But that she either could not or would not do, and so
brought ill-natured witnesses of their relations to the house, and
Wilhelm must needs accommodate himself to an intercourse with
second-rate people who inevitably form the set of a woman whose
domestic circumstances are not clearly, or rather all too clearly
defined. And before these people, who appeared to him greatly
inferior to himself, both morally and intellectually, he was forced
to cast down his eyes. Reflect as he might upon the situation, the
result was always the same--it must be put to an end to. But how?
There remained always the possibility that her husband might die and
she be thus free to marry him. Strange, he always hurried over this
solution of the difficulty. In his inner consciousness he was
apparently not desirous of making the connection a lifelong one,
even if sanctioned by lawful formalities.
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