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Cognition and Addiction
A Researcher’s Guide from Mechanisms
Towards Interventions
Edited by
Antonio Verdejo-Garcia
Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier
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Notices
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changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any
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Typeset by TNQ Technologies
I have been dedicated to edit this book during the last couple of years, but the
knowledge and collaborations that have made it possible span over 15 years.
Thus, I would like to dedicate this book to my mentors: Professors Miguel
Perez-Garcı́a, Antoine Bechara, and Karen Bolla and to the many colleagues and
friends (and colleagues who became friends) with whom I have shared amazing
research and life adventures in Granada, Barcelona, Iowa, Baltimore, Cambridge,
and Melbourne. To my parents, for fighting to give me a university education and
teaching me to always decide by myself. Huge thanks to my wife, Natalia, for
being an inspiration and spring of energy for so many personal and career
choicesdI look up to you every single day.
Antonio Verdejo-Garcı́a,
Melbourne, May 2019
Contributors
Merideth A. Addicott, Department of Psychiatry, Uni- Nicolas Cabé, Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Uni-
versity of Arkansas for Medical Science, Little Rock, versité de Paris, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de
AR, United States Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la
Robin L. Aupperle, Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Mémoire Humaine, Caen, France
Tulsa, OK, United States Zhipeng Cao, School of Psychology, University College
Alex Baldacchino, Division of Populations and Health Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Science, St Andrews Medical School, University of Adrian Carter, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental
St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia;
Joël Billieux, Addictive and Compulsive Behaviours UQ Centre for Clinical Research, University of
Laboratory, Institute for Health and Behaviours, Uni- Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
versity of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg Natalie Castellanos-Ryan, Universite de Montreal, CHU
Marilisa Boffo, Addiction Development and Psychopathol- Ste Justine, Montreal, QC, Canada
ogy (ADAPT) Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Luke Clark, Centre for Gambling Research at UBC,
University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Psychology, University of British
Department of Psychology, Education and Child Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Patricia Conrod, Universite de Montreal, CHU Ste Jus-
The Netherlands tine, Montreal, QC, Canada
Matthias Brand, General Psychology: Cognition and Fleur Davey, Research and Development Department,
Center for Behavioral Addiction Research (CeBAR), NHS Fife, Dunfermline, Fife, United Kingdom
University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany;
Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Andrew Dawson, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental
Essen, Germany Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Damien Brevers, Laboratory of Psychological Medicine Logan T. Dowdle, Department of Psychiatry and Behav-
and Addictology, Faculty of Medicine, Brugmann- ioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical University
Campus, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, of South Carolina. Charleston, SC, United States
Belgium; Research in Psychology Applied to Motor Timothy C. Durazzo, Stanford University and Palo Alto
Learning, Faculty of Motor Sciences, Erasme Campus, VA Medical Center, Stanford, CA, United States
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium Hamed Ekhtiari, Laureate Institute for Brain Research,
Gabriel Brooks, Centre for Gambling Research at UBC, Tulsa, OK, United States
Department of Psychology, University of British Mario Ferrari, Centre for Gambling Research at UBC,
Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada Department of Psychology, University of British
S.J. Brooks, School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Matt Field, Department of Psychology, University of
Kingdom; Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala Uni- Sheffield, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom
versity, Uppsala, Sweden
S. Funk, Department of Psychology, University of Cape
M. Aryana Bryan, Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Health Intervention Development, University of Utah,
Salt Lake City, UT, United States
xv
xvi Contributors
Gloria Garcia-Fernandez, School of Psychological Daniel H. Lench, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral
Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical University of
Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Aus- South Carolina. Charleston, SC, United States
tralia; Faculty of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Angéline Maillard, Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL
Oviedo, Spain Université de Paris, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de
Eric L. Garland, Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la
Health Intervention Development, University of Utah, Mémoire Humaine, Caen, France
Salt Lake City, UT, United States Pierre Maurage, Laboratory for Experimental Psychopa-
Rita Z. Goldstein, Departments of Psychiatry and Neuro- thology, Psychological Science Research Institute,
science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve,
York, NY, United States Belgium
Raul Gonzalez, Center for Children and Families, Dieter J. Meyerhoff, University of California San Fran-
Department of Psychology, Florida International Uni- cisco and San Francisco VA Medical Center, San
versity, Miami, FL, United States Francisco, CA, United States
Renee D. Goodwin, Department of Epidemiology and Scott J. Moeller, Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook
Biostatistics, School of Public Health, The City Uni- University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY,
versity of New York, New York, NY, United States; United States
Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Catharine Montgomery, School of Natural Sciences and
Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University,
United States Liverpool, United Kingdom
Anna E. Goudriaan, Amsterdam UMC, Department of Laura O’Halloran, School of Psychology, Trinity College
Psychiatry, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research; Arkin
Mental Health; Department of Quality of Care and Ileana Pacheco-Colón, Center for Children and Families,
Research and Jellinek, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Department of Psychology, Florida International Uni-
versity, Miami, FL, United States
Wayne Hall, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, University
of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; Centre for Martin P. Paulus, Laureate Institute for Brain Research,
Youth Substance Abuse Research, University of Tulsa, OK, United States
Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; National Tomás Paus, Bloorview Research Institute, Holland
Addiction Centre, Kings College London, London, Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON,
WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom Canada; Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry,
Adam W. Hanley, Center on Mindfulness and Integrative University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Health Intervention Development, University of Utah, MacKenzie R. Peltier, Yale School of Medicine, Depart-
Salt Lake City, UT, United States ment of Psychiatry, New Haven, CT, United States; VA
Colleen A. Hanlon, Department of Psychiatry and Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, United
Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical States
University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United Brian Pennie, School of Psychology, Trinity College
States Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Matthew O. Howard, University of North Carolina at Anne Lise Pitel, Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Uni-
Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States versité de Paris, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de
Andrew Jones, Department of Psychological Sciences, Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la
University of Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Mémoire Humaine, Caen, France
Kingdom Marc N. Potenza, Departments of Psychiatry and Neuro-
Daniel L. King, School of Psychology, The University of science and Child Study Center, Yale School of Med-
Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia; College of Educa- icine, New Haven, CT, United States; The Connecticut
tion, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University, Council on Problem Gambling, Wethersfield, CT,
Adelaide, SA, Australia United States; The Connecticut Mental Health Center,
New Haven, CT, United States
Jacob W. Koudys, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON,
Canada
Contributors xvii
Boris B. Quednow, Experimental and Clinical Pharma- Douglas Steele, Institute of Neuroscience, Ninewells
copsychology, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy Hospital Medical School, University of Dundee,
and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Dundee, Tayside, United Kingdom
Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Centre Ryan M. Sullivan, Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook
Zurich, University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY,
of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland United States; Department of Psychology, University of
C. Rabier, Department of Psychology, University of Cape Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, United States
Town, Cape Town, South Africa Serenella Tolomeo, Division of Populations and Health
Kavya Raj, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Science, St Andrews Medical School, University of St
Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom
Tonisha Kearney Ramos, Department of Psychiatry and Tess den Uyl, Addiction Development and Psychopathol-
Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Medical ogy (ADAPT) Laboratory, Department of Psychology,
University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
States Alireza Valyan, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran,
Tara Rezapour, Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Iran
Tehran, Iran; Iranian National Center for Addiction Antonio Verdejo-Garcia, School of Psychological Sci-
Studies, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, ences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health,
Tehran, Iran Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Carl A. Roberts, Institute of Psychology, Health and Fausto Viader, Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Uni-
Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United versité de Paris, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de
Kingdom Caen, GIP Cyceron, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la
Adam J. Rubenis, Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Mémoire Humaine, Caen, France
Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Robert Whelan, School of Psychology, Trinity College
Anthony C. Ruocco, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Canada Reinout W. Wiers, Addiction Development and Psychopa-
H.B. Schiöth, Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala thology (ADAPT) Laboratory, Department of Psychology,
University, Uppsala, Sweden University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ryan Smith, Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oulmann Zerhouni, UFR Sciences Psychologiques et
OK, United States Sciences de l’Éducation (SPSE), Université Paris Nan-
Mehmet Sofuoglu, Yale School of Medicine, Department terre, Nanterre, France
of Psychiatry, New Haven, CT, United States; VA Anna Zilverstand, Department of Psychiatry, University
Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
United States
Biographies
Antonio Verdejo-García has a PhD in Psychology research center, and the University of Granada, and he
(Addiction Neuropsychology, University of Granada, is the Chair of the Neuroscience Interest Group of the
2006) and a Masters in Psychological and Biomedical International Society of Addiction Medicine.
Aspects of Health and Illness (University of Granada, Professor Verdejo-García has led numerous studies on
2002). After his PhD, he continued specialized training the cognitive and neural substrates of substance and
in addiction neuroscience in highly prestigious research behavioral addictions, and new cognitive training and
centers: Johns Hopkins Medical Institute (Neurology), remediation interventions for treating substance use dis-
IMIM-Hospital del Mar (Pharmacology) and the University orders. He is internationally recognized as an expert in this
of Cambridge (Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience field, as evinced by several international Editorial Board
Institute). positions including top-ranked addiction journals. He has
Currently, Antonio Verdejo-García is an Australian published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, and his
Medical Research Future Fund Fellow and holds a Full work has attracted over 10,000 citations and has been
ProfessoreResearch appointment at the Turner Institute for translated into clinical trials of neurocognitive interventions
Brain and Mental Health (Monash University), where he is and policy recommendations regarding application of
the Deputy Lead of the Addiction and Mental Health neuroscience principles for the prevention and treatment of
Program. He also holds honorary appointments at Turning addictions.
Point, Australia’s leading national addiction treatment and
xix
Foreword
Since the seminal paper of Dr. Leshnerdthen the director variations of this model with new perspectives for treatment.
of the National Institute on Drug Abusedin Science In the Chapters 14e16, similar reviews are presented for
in 1997, addiction is generally regarded to be a bio- gambling and gaming disorders.
psychosocial disorder with strong genetic and neuro- In addition to their role as risk factors in the develop-
biological underpinnings and a chronic-intermittent course ment of addiction, cognitive impairments are often a
with periods of recovery followed by relapse and often with consequence of chronic, excessive drug use with negative
serious psychosocial deterioration. Based on animal studies effects on the course of the disorder and on treatment
and human genetic and neuroimaging studies, Dr. Leshner effectiveness. In the Chapters 8e13, reviews on the
concluded that addiction is a brain disease and that addicted consequences of drug use are presented for the different
people are patients who deserve (reimbursed) treatment. substances of abuse, including alcohol, tobacco, cannabis,
According to the underlying biopsychosocial model, cocaine, MDMA, and opioids. These chapters invariably
addiction is the outcome of a preexisting hyperactive brain show not only that drug use may lead to cognitive
reward system in combination with a deficient cognitive impairments but also that (sustained) abstinence will lead to
control system in combination with neuroplastic changes partial or complete recovery of cognitive functions and
caused by continued drug use. Originally, the model was probably to better long-term outcomes of treatment.
predominantly presented in terms of dysfunctional brain Treatment is the focus of the next part of the book
structures and neurotransmitter abnormalities with rela- (Chapters 17e23). In a series of highly informative reviews,
tively little attention to the cognitive representations of the authors show that there are currently many more treat-
these abnormalities. As a consequence, the link between the ment options than motivational interviewing and cognitive
neurobiological abnormalities and the behavioral mani- behavioral treatment, including cognitive bias modification,
festations of addictions was incomplete, and the search for working memory training, inhibition control training,
new treatments was mainly directed to the discovery of goal management training, mindfulness-based relapse
new medications against relapse. Recent developments in prevention (MBRP), transcranial magnetic stimulation, and
our knowledge about the neurocognitive aspects of the the use of cognition-enhancing medications. With the
development of addictive behaviors, the neurocognitive exception of approach bias modification and MBRP, these
consequences of chronic drug use, and the potential new interventions need to be tested in large-phase III trials,
treatments directed at improvement of preexisting and but most of them show great promise and will redirect
drug-induced neurocognitive deficits have created new treatment from talking to training and from face-to-face
hope for patients with an addiction. interventions to online treatments. In the last two chapters of
This is the first book that provides a comprehensive the book (Chapters 29 and 30), the authors provide an in-
review of what we now know about cognition and addic- tegrated review of both existing and new treatment options
tion. An impressive lineup of experts presents a broad and and a theory-based proposal for optimal combinations of
in-depth overview of what is known about the cognitive cognitive interventions based on a thorough understanding
underpinnings of addiction, neurocognitive approaches to of the underlying cognitive models.
treatment and future research perspectives. Chapters 24e28 are more contemplative in nature and
The book starts with a well-balanced presentation of make the reader think about population neuroscience, the
what we know about preexisting (genetic and learned) use of cognitive information in combination with genetics,
cognitive processes that are responsible for the change from the cognitive effects of reduced consumption versus
recreational drug use to goal-driven, drug seeking and finally complete abstinence, and finally the (limited) impact of
ending in chronic compulsive and habitual addictive scientific knowledge about cognition and addiction on
behaviors leading to physical and/or psychosocial decline policy development.
(Chapters 1e7). In addition to the well-known dual-process This book is a remarkable set of reviews and position
model, the authors present extensions and/or integrated papers presented as chapters edited by one of the best
xxi
xxii Foreword
scientists in the field of cognition and addiction. Thanks to interested in the topic. I therefore highly recommend this
his broad and in-depth knowledge of the field and his book to everybody in the field.
ability to recruit the best experts on such diverse topics; Wim van den Brink, MD PhD
this book is currently by far the best introduction to Em. Professor of Psychiatry and Addiction,
cognition and addiction for neuroscience and psychology Amsterdam University Medical Centers,
students and researchers and for clinical psychologists, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
psychiatrists, neurologists, and for all other people
Acknowledgments
The Editor (Antonio Verdejo-García) is funded by an acknowledge Professor Wim van den Brink, a trailblazer
Australian Medical Research Future Fund, Next Generation addiction researcher and inspirational figure for many (back
Clinical Researchers CDF2 Fellowship (MRFF 1141214) then) young researchers in cognition and addiction and a
and wish to acknowledge this support, trusting that the tireless supporter of early career scientists, for writing the
book will contribute to the fellowship legacy by training a foreword of the book. Last not least, sincere acknowledg-
new generation of addiction researchers. The Editor would ments to the Elsevier editorial team including Joslyn
also like to acknowledge all the contributors for generously Chaiprasert-Paguio, who planted the first seed of this book,
sharing their unique knowledge and limited timedthey and Tracy Tufaga, who has invaluably helped to make it
make up an outstanding cast and are the ones who give true grow.
value to this book. The Editor would also like to specially
xxiii
Introduction
Cognition refers to mental processes and encompasses gambling addictions, and the cognitive sequela asso-
“all forms of knowing and awareness, such as ciated with the chronic use of different substances, such
conceiving, remembering, judging, imagining, and as alcohol, cannabis, stimulants and opioids, and
problem solving” (APA Dictionary of Psychology). gambling modalities. The cognitive profiles associated
Addiction is a mental health condition and, not surp- with different drugs and addictive behaviors are dis-
risingly, is associated with cognitive biases and deficits. cussed in the context of current topics and contro-
The last 20 years have witnessed an unprecedented versies, such as the therapeutic effects of cannabinoids,
expansion in the understanding of the cognitive the aftermath of the synthetic opioid crisis, or the
underpinnings of addiction vulnerability and chronicity. advent of online gambling and gaming activities
This growth has been fueled by theoretical and techno- (Curran et al., 2016; Karilla et al., 2018; Kardefelt-
logical advancement. Neurobehavioral models of addi- Winther et al., 2017). Section (3) introduces novel
ction have shed light on the cognitive mechanisms of neuroscience-informed treatment approaches to
aberrant reward valuation, cognitive control, and rescue cognitive deficits and improve clinical out-
decision-making (Bickel et al., 2018; Everitt and Robbins, comes for people with addictions. These approaches
2016; Goldstein and Volkow, 2002; Verdejo-Garcia and include computerized cognitive training programs to
Bechara, 2009), overcoming old views about addictive retrain salience-related biases and build response
behavior been “self-destructive” or “morally weak” inhibition and working memory capacity, cognitive
(discussed in Hyman, 2007, Am J Bioeth). The advent of remediation therapies focused on executive functions,
automated computerized testing, neuroimaging, mindfulness interventions targeting cognitive control
and other biomedical techniques such as gene and monitoring, and pharmacological enhancement
sequencing and manipulation, and novel intervention and brain-stimulation techniques. Finally, Section (4)
approaches such as cognitive training and remediation, provides unique new vistas on research approaches
neuroscience-informed psychotherapies and neuro- that are pushing the boundaries of the cognition and
modulation have fueled the knowledge gain and addiction field. These exciting new avenues include
revamped the landscape of cognition and addiction population neuroscience, namely, the application of
research (Ekhtiari et al., 2019; Kwako et al., 2016; cutting-edge neuroscience tools to population-based
Mackey et al., 2016). This book attempts to provide a cohorts, neuroepidemiology, i.e., the leverage of
comprehensive view of this renewed landscape. epidemiology data to address neurocognitive ques-
The book is structured in four main sections: (1) tions, neuroethics, and longitudinal brain mapping. In
Cognitive Principles, (2) Cognitive Risk Factors and addition, it provides a pedagogic approach to the use
Consequences, (3) Cognitive Interventions, and (4) of new techniques for “big data” collection and
New Vistas. Section (1) covers updated neurocognitive analysis, and the application of genetic and neuro-
theories of addiction and its evidence base. These imaging techniques to understand the lifespan of
include views on addiction as a disorder that involves addiction pathophysiology, from preterm vulnerability
an aberrant transition from impulsivity to compulsivity, to adult abstinence-based neuroplasticity and recovery.
impaired response inhibition and salience attribution,
The book has been conceived with an inclusive and
decision-making dysfunctions, social cognition and
international perspective and includes contributors
interaction deficits, and personality comorbidities
from Europe, Africa, America, Australia, and the
underpinned by common alterations in executive
Middle East, which provide a truly global viewpoint.
functions. Section (2) reviews the cognitive alterations
The contributors are outstanding researchers and
that underlie vulnerability to substance use and
xxv
xxvi Introduction
clinicians, and the contents are geared towards a broad Biobehav. Rev. 104, 118e140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.
audience including research students, researchers 2019.06.007. Epub 2019 Jul 2. Review. PubMed PMID: 31271802.
and academics, and frontline clinicians interested Everitt, B.J., Robbins, T.W., 2016. Drug addiction: updating actions to
habits to compulsions ten years on. Annu Rev Psychol 67, 23e50.
in learning and applying cognitive principles and
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033457.
techniques in addiction research, prevention, assess-
Goldstein, R.Z., Volkow, N.D., 2002. Drug addiction and its underlying
ment, treatment, and recovery. We hope to succeed in neurobiological basis: neuroimaging evidence for the involvement of
our main goal, that readers share our enthusiasm about the frontal cortex. Am. J. Psychiatry 159 (10), 1642e1652.
this fascinating field. Hyman, S.E., 2007. The neurobiology of addiction: implications for
voluntary control of behavior. Am. J. Bioeth. 7 (1), 8e11.
Kardefelt-Winther, D., Heeren, A., Schimmenti, A., van Rooij, A.,
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Chapter 1
Cognition: the interface between nature

and nurture in addiction
Antonio Verdejo-Garcia
School of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Introduction externalization among people with addiction (e.g., “I have a

disease, I can’t do anything about it”) (Hall et al., 2015b).
A key question in the field of addiction is whether some In this chapter, I will argue that a focus on cognitiond
people are hardwired to develop addictive disorders or if, encompassing thinking, emotion, and related behaviors,
conversely, drugs and “addictive products” or related as well as their neural underpinningsdcan provide a more
contexts generate addictions. Historically, the answers to comprehensive and integrative understanding of the nature
this question have fluctuated as a function of prevailing and the course of addiction. Cognition sits at the interface
theories. Old moral views and personality models saw of biological, psychological, and social drivers of addictive
inherent weaknesses in the individual (Eysenck, 1997; disorders, hinging on the interplay between nature and
Peele, 1987). Learning theories have focused on the ability nurture. Genetic and early environmental influences shape
of drugs and “addictive products” (e.g., electronic gaming the cognitive traits that make us vulnerable or resilient to
machines) to generate aberrant learning, which is then drug use/gambling and related social contexts (e.g., product
resistant to extinction relatively uniformly across availability, peer pressure) (Belcher et al., 2014). At the
individuals (Robinson and Berridge, 2003, 2008). Social same time, drugs and gambling modify learning and
theories have treated addiction as a manifestation of a cognitive control processes and change the way we interact
certain context and environment (e.g., the classic studies on with others and the environment (Everitt and Robbins,
Vietnam War veterans) (Moore, 1993; Zinberg, 1984). 2016; Goldstein and Volkow, 2011; Moeller and Goldstein,
Nowadays, there is agreement that none of these models, in 2014). By focusing on cognition, we can overcome
isolation, can satisfactorily explain the nature and the the reductionism of the “disease model,” i.e., it’s not in
course of addiction, but at the same time, there is a lack of the brain, it’s at the interface between the brain and the
comprehensive frameworks. Contemporary models have environment, and foster self-agency about recovery,
embraced a biopsychosocial approach, but there is a bias i.e., it’s not indelible, the same influences that originally
toward the bio-, at least in discovery science and thera- shaped cognition in a certain way can help restore or
peutic development, especially after the advent of neuro- compensate cognitive mechanisms to facilitate recovery
imaging tools and genetic manipulation techniques within (Garavan and Weierstall, 2012). To articulate this vision,
animal studies (Hall et al., 2015a). The current prevailing I will first discuss the role of cognition in contemporary
view is that addiction is a “brain disorder,” characterized by addiction theories and outline a cognition-centered
drug- or gambling-related neuroadaptations that ultimately integrative approach. Next, I will summarize cognitive
have an impact on psychological functioning (changes in neuroscience evidence showing that individual variations in
thinking, emotions, and behaviors) and social interaction core cognitive processes, particularly reward-related
(Volkow et al., 2011; Volkow et al., 2016). Critics of this processes and higher-order cognitive skills, plus
view argue that it mistakenly reproduces a physical disease disorder-specific impacts on such processes, can explain
model (inadequate for mental disorders or social both addiction vulnerability and disordered states and
constructs), lacks integration of social and environmental chronicity.
drivers, and fosters feelings of hopelessness and
Cognition and Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815298-0.00001-0 1

2 Cognition and Addiction
Cognition to bridge the gap between Translating the key notions of these models into a
cognitive framework can help to broaden their scope and
neurobiological models and social
impact. Essentially, contemporary neurobiological theories
accounts of addiction characterize the “backend” of addiction-related alterations.
Contemporary theories of addiction generally posit neuro- The “frontline” is the complex harmful behavior and the
biological alterations in three systems: the incentive negative social consequences that policy makers and
salience (or reward) system, the stress system, and the preventionists try to counteract and clinicians have to face
executive control system, which map into the striatum, (i.e., uncontrolled drug/gambling use, distress, deterioration
extended amygdala, and prefrontal cortex circuits, respec- of health and quality of life, lack of social support, personal
tively (Koob and Volkow, 2010). Incentive salience and social burden). In between these two, there is a range of
alterations are responsible for reward sensitization cognitive alterations involving reward valuation and
(increased motivation toward drugs/gambling resulting learning, emotion processing and affect regulation, and
from repeated administrationdi.e., instead of the expected executive control and decision-making affecting personal
habituation) and reward prediction errors (i.e., expecting and social domains (e.g., valuation of individual rewards
more reward than what is actually received). Heightened such as salary and career and social rewards such as
motivation toward drugs/gambling also occurs at the cost of friendships and relationships). And these alterations trace
reduced motivation toward natural reinforcers (Goldstein back to specific traits that interact with environmental and
and Volkow, 2002, 2011). Alterations in the stress system social factors before and during the emergence of addiction
account for persistently elevated negative affect, which can and can potentially cooperate with contextual factors in the
manifest as chronic stress and depression, as well as path to addiction recovery (Celma-Merola et al., 2018).
predominance of negative reinforcement mechanisms in the As addictions take time to develop, we can chronologically
control of behavior. That is, negative affective states map the unfolding of cognitive drivers and their interaction
become the norm, behaviors are mostly energized to try to with environmental and social factors. Cognitive-affective
get rid of unpleasant feelings, and this behavior results in traits, such as reward sensitivity, negative affectivity, and
short-term relief but long-term augmentation of the stress impulsivity/self-control, influence child and adolescent
response. Finally, executive alterations are responsible for learning and academic and social development. The inter-
the tendency to focus on immediate responses and short- action between these traits and environmental/social
term outcomes, neglecting goals and long-term conse- influences (socioeconomic disadvantage, trauma, poor
quences. Different theories emphasize two or more of these parenting, academic failure, peer pressure or social isola-
alterations and related brain systems. For example, “dual tion) predicts the onset of addictive behaviors. Once
models” focus on the imbalance between incentive salience initiated, drug use and gambling contribute to exacerbate
(ventral striatum) and executive control (dorsolateral preexisting traits, for example, they sensitize reward
prefrontal cortex [DLPFC] and anterior cingulate cortex) learning and stress responses and deteriorate cognitive
(McClure and Bickel, 2014). Stress models emphasize the control, fostering impulsive decisions and compulsive
link between negative affect (hypothalamicepituitarye behaviors. These changes contribute to worsen the
adrenal axis, amygdala, hippocampus) and poor control contextual milieu (i.e., loss of productivity, income, social
over stress-related responses (dorsal striatum, DLPFC), capital, and support) and foster a spiral of distress and
which has been ascribed to impulsivity (e.g., negative impoverishment of quality of life. Although this scenario
urgencydthe tendency to act impulsively under negative describes the “typical” developmental course of addictive
affect) or compulsivity (e.g., repetitive behaviors that “fly behaviors across adolescence and young adulthood, it can
under the radar” of top-down executive supervision) also apply to late-onset addiction, in which interpersonal
(Figee et al., 2016; Verdejo-García et al., 2007). Executive and social factors (e.g., trauma, relationship problems,
control and decision-making models highlight the unemployment) interact with cognitive characteristics
misalignment between goal-related systems (ventromedial (e.g., emotion regulation and resilience against negative
prefrontal cortex) and motivational, emotional, and affect, self-control, cognitive flexibility) as well as drug-
contextual drivers (striatum, insula, amygdala/hippocam- and gambling-related effects to generate protection against,
pus) (Bechara, 2005; Redish et al., 2008; Verdejo-García or escalation toward, addiction problems. Therefore,
and Bechara, 2009). Although the significance of these cognitive traits predict the onset of addictive behaviors via
models dwells in the way they characterize the drivers of direct and indirect pathways (e.g., interaction with
addictive behaviors, while acknowledging that these drivers academic and social factors and stressful life events). At the
are shaped by and operate in social contexts, they often same time, drug use and gambling deteriorate or exacerbate
come across as reductionist biological accounts of cognitive traits and their underlying neural processes,
behavior. giving rise to abnormal cognitive states or cognitive
Cognition: the interface between nature and nurture in addiction Chapter | 1 3
deficits, as well as contextual and social factors adolescence) and overlapping brain underpinnings
(i.e., disordered states), leading to the vicious cycle of involving lateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate
addiction. regions (Vijayakumar et al., 2014a,b). Moreover, consci-
entiousness and cognitive control are strongly correlated
with intelligence quotient (IQ) and particularly fluid intel-
Evidence for the double role of ligence, probably reflecting meaningful interactions
cognition in addiction vulnerability and between trait characteristics and cognitive skills, as well as
consequences between these two and some of the social-contextual
determinants of IQ (e.g., social disadvantage correlates
The view that cognition may be the key to unlock the with low conscientiousness, poorer cognitive control and
nature and the course of addiction stands on evidence from low IQ) (Yücel et al., 2012). It could be argued that more
longitudinal studies, endophenotype-based approaches, and “affective” traits such as reward sensitivity or negative
“neurotoxicity-controlled designs” comparing people with emotionality do not fit in this pattern, but there are good
addiction versus nonaddicted recreational users and people reasons to think they do. For example, the trait of reward
with substance versus behavioral addictions. Longitudinal sensitivity overlaps with the ability to learn from reward
designs enable researchers to identify cognitive traits as feedback, which is critical for cognitive and social devel-
well as other factors that predate the onset of addictive opment as well as academic achievement (Telzer, 2016).
behaviors and to track the changes that result from drug/ In this context, longitudinal evidence has established
gambling use once initiated. It is worth noting that animal that lower general cognitive skills, lower conscientiousness
studies can also successfully address this transition (from (or higher disinhibition/impulsivity), and higher negative
trait characteristics to disorder-related states) but this affectivity predate and predict the onset of substance use/
approach will be covered in Chapter 2, and thus here I will gambling and the development of addictive disorders.
only focus on human research. Endophenotype studies rely In population-based cohorts within the general population,
on the assumption that cognition is an intermediate feature lower cognitive ability (IQ) measured in late adolescence
between the biological drivers and the complex behavioral predicts the risk of subsequent substance addiction during
manifestations of addictive disorders (Verdejo-García et al., adult life (Latvala et al., 2016). Although the association
2008). As such, the cognitive traits that predispose certain seems primarily due to genetic influences, these influences
people to addiction can be identified in their first-degree are indirectly inferred from behavioral genetic analyses,
relatives, and the cognitive differences between people which can slightly overestimate genetic versus environ-
with addiction and their unaffected relatives reflect drug mental effects (Joseph, 2002; Kendler et al., 2016). Inter-
use/gambling-related changes. Similarly, studies comparing estingly, the most predictive aspects of IQ in relation to
people with addiction and recreational users, or people with addiction are the inductive and verbal domains (strongly
substance versus behavioral addictions, can contribute to associated with cognitive control) versus the visuospatial
disentangling addiction-related traits and addiction- and technical domains. Within high-risk cohorts, which
resulting deficits. In the following sections, I summarize target individuals at greater risk of developing addiction
relevant evidence from each of these approaches. problems by virtue of family history or personality, studies
have consistently found that high levels of impulsivity/
disinhibition (or low levels of conscientiousness and
Longitudinal studies
cognitive control) measured in childhood predict the onset
A key assumption of the cognitive framework articulated in of addictive behaviors in adolescence and the development
this chapter is that certain cognitive traits and skills predate of addictive disorders (substance use disorders and
and influence onset of addictive behaviors. Before discus- gambling disorder) during young adulthood (Acheson
sing the evidence, it is important to note that although et al., 2011; Lovallo et al., 2013; Slutske et al., 2012; Tarter
“traits” and “skills” have been traditionally approached et al., 2004; Tarter et al., 2003). This association is direct
from different disciplines, i.e., personality versus cognitive and significant after controlling for other environmental and
sciences, respectively, now we know that they are mean- social factors (e.g., background, socioeconomic status,
ingfully intertwined and underpinned by common neural parenting), although it is possible that some of these factors
circuits and processes. As an example, the construct of conflate into impulsivity measures within the high-risk
“conscientiousness,” which has a long tradition in person- samples. Recently, longitudinal studies have focused on
ality science, is very similar to the concept of “cognitive adolescence as a natural model of risk within the general
control” or “disinhibition” within modern cognitive population and have incorporated multisite designs and
neuroscience (Nigg, 2017). In support of this view, these imaging measures as part of multimodal assessment
two constructs have similar developmental trajectories protocols including history (i.e., background characteris-
(peaking between 12 and 16 years during childhood and tics), personality, and cognitive/brain measures. One of
these studies, the IMAGEN consortium, found that a siblings. In the executive tests of working memory and
combination of background characteristics, the personality planning, stimulant users performed poorer than siblings
facets of conscientiousness and anxiety sensitivity, and and controls, and siblings poorer than controls. Conversely,
structural (GM:WM ratio; parenchymal volume) and inhibitory control measured with the Stop-Signal Task
cognitive-evoked functional brain features (right precentral (a motor impulsivity task) differed between the sibling pairs
gyrus activation during reward outcome and inhibition and controls but not between stimulant users and their
failure and bilateral superior frontal gyrus during reward siblings, suggesting that inhibitory control deficits are more
outcome) predict future binge drinking (a proxy of prob- of a vulnerability for and less of a consequence of addic-
lematic alcohol use and addictive behaviors) (Whelan et al., tion. Interestingly as well, there were no significant
2014). Conversely, ventromedial prefrontal cortex activa- differences between the groups on tests of memory or
tion during emotional reactivity and face recognition was a attention, suggesting that only certain cognitive functions,
better predictor of current binge drinking, probably i.e., those related to cognitive control/executive functions,
reflecting alcohol-related neuroadaptations. play a crucial role in the nature and course of addiction.
Altogether, longitudinal results support the dynamic Finally, structural neuroimaging measures revealed a set of
model sketched in the previous sections, whereby cognitive regions displaying overlapping abnormalities in both
traits and difficulties associated with cognitive control/ stimulant users and their siblings, compared with healthy
disinhibition and negative affectivity contribute to addic- controls: the putamen and the amygdala had both signifi-
tion vulnerability and are subsequently exacerbated by cantly larger volumes, while the posterior insula, the left
addictive behaviors. postcentral gyrus, and the superior temporal gyrus had
lower volumes (Ersche et al., 2012a).
Endophenotype studies Altogether, endophenotype studies support the notion
that specific trait characteristics, including heightened
In a series of studies including sibling pairs with the same impulsivity and negative affectivity and related neural
biological parents, one affected and one unaffected with systems, confer vulnerability to addiction and are subse-
stimulant use disorders, Ersche and colleagues identified quently exacerbated by drug use, leading to greater deficits
cognitive and brain features associated with addiction in executive functions and further behavioral dysregulation.
vulnerability (i.e., shared by affected and unaffected
siblings) and changes associated with stimulant use. With
Neurotoxicity-controlled studies
regard to trait impulsivity, indicated by self-reports
reflecting different aspects of impulsiveness and novelty This section summarizes the findings from two approaches:
seeking, stimulant users showed greater impulsivity than (i) comparing dependent versus recreational cocaine users
both sibling and controls, but there were also sizable and (ii) comparing substance users and gamblers. The first
differences between siblings and controls (Ersche et al., approach offers insights into which aspects of cognition
2010). Therefore, this approach shows that impulsivity is a deteriorate as a function of addiction progression (i.e., those
vulnerability factor for addiction, but crucially it is also observable in dependent vs. recreational users and
exacerbated by substance use. Interestingly, the main controls). The second approach offers insights into which
differences between siblings and controls were in the aspects of cognition are more sensitive to substance-
nonplanning aspect of impulsivity (theoretically associated induced neuroadaptations (i.e., those observable in
with the construct of conscientiousness) (Whiteside and substance users vs. gamblers) and which aspects are related
Lynam, 2001), whereas the main difference between to common vulnerability factors (overlapping between
stimulant users and siblings was in the disinhibition aspect substance users and gamblers and different from healthy
of novelty seeking, which reflects behavioral dysregulation, controls).
as manifested, for example, in uncontrolled drug use and/or
gambling. In a subsequent study that included trait Dependent versus recreational users
measures of impulsivity and compulsivity, emotional
sensitivity (negative affectivity and stress) and self- In a series of studies by Quednow and colleagues, people
evaluation (self-efficacy, locus of control, and social with cocaine addiction (meeting Diagnostic and Statistical
comparison), and cognitive measures of executive control Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM] criteria for depen-
and disinhibition, results showed that stimulant users, dence) and those with recreational cocaine use (but not
siblings, and controls differed in most of these measures dependence) underwent trait and neuropsychological
(Ersche et al., 2012b). Both sibling pairs differed from assessments. Both groups used cocaine as their primary
controls on impulsivityecompulsivity, negative affectivity, drug (>40 g per month) and were currently abstinent, but
and self-evaluation, suggesting that stimulant use exacer- critically cocaine exposure was eight times higher in the
bates the traits that are already elevated in nonaffected dependent versus the recreational group, as indicated by
hair toxicology analyses. With regard to trait and cognitive measures of cognitive flexibility (reversal learning perfor-
aspects of impulsivity, findings showed significant differ- mance and related brain activation) (Verdejo-Garcia et al.,
ences between the two cocaine groups and controls in 2015). The perseveration error rate (an index of cognitive
general impulsiveness and novelty seeking. However, only inflexibility) was higher in cocaine users versus gamblers
attentional-impulsive traits differed between dependent and and controls. In addition, cocaine users showed less
recreational usersdthey were higher in the dependent DLPFC activation during reversal shifting (i.e., the “flexi-
group. In addition, there were no differences between the bility” trials) versus gamblers and controls, whereas both
groups on cognitive measures of disinhibition, including cocaine users and gamblers showed reduced ventrolateral
attentional and motor impulsivity tasks (Rapid Visual prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) activation compared with
Processing or Stop-Signal Task) (Vonmoos et al., 2013b). controls and no differences between each other. The
When examining executive functions, findings showed DLPFC is strongly and generally implicated in executive
significant differences between dependent users, recrea- control and seems to be specifically affected by cocaine
tional users, and controls in tests of working memory and use, whereas the VLPFC is more specifically implicated in
recall consistency (an index of strategic retrieval). goal-related cognitive control and seems to be similarly
In addition, sustained attention was affected in recreational associated with cocaine and gambling use.
users and correlated with cumulative cocaine exposure Altogether, these studies suggest that positive urgency
(Vonmoos et al., 2013a). A subsequent study in this cohort and reduced response inhibition represent vulnerability
incorporated measures of decision-making, involving both factors for substance use and behavioral addictive disor-
individual rewards and social rewards. Both dependent and ders, whereas working memory and cognitive flexibility
recreational cocaine users exhibited social decision-making deficits are specific consequences of substance use.
deficits (more self-serving behavior in social economic
exchange games). However, only dependent users showed
deficits in tasks involving individual-based rewards, Cognition at the interface between
including the Iowa Gambling Task and Delay Discounting, nature and nurture
which also correlated with cocaine dose and duration
(Hulka et al., 2014). Here, I started by proposing that cognition sits at the
Altogether, these studies suggest that impulsivity and interface between the vulnerability for and the conse-
related cognitive constructs (sustained attention) represent quences of addiction and that it is pivotal to understand the
vulnerability factors or early signs of exposure to drug use, interplay between individual-based factors (genetics,
whereas working memory and executive-memory retrieval neuroadaptations) and environmental and social drivers.
deficits are specific consequences of substance use. The evidence reviewed suggests that an array of
cognitive traits and skills, which encompasses “personal-
ity” concepts of conscientiousness and negative affectivity
Stimulant users versus gamblers
(as manifested in emotional sensitivity or negative urgency)
These studies compared the trait characteristics and the and “cognitive” constructs associated with fluid intelli-
cognitive performance of people with cocaine addiction gence, attention, (dis)inhibition, and social decision-
versus those with gambling disorder and minimal exposure making, are part of the vulnerability to substance use and
to substance use, which was restricted to alcohol abuse behavioral addictive disorders, whereas traits associated
(as per DSM-IV-TR) and smoking. In an initial study with behavioral dysregulation and cognitive deficits in
examining trait impulsivity and executive functions, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and reward-based
findings showed that the negative urgency trait (acting decision-making are associated with the consequences of
impulsively under negative affect) was higher in cocaine substance and behavioral addictions. Of note, there is an
users versus gamblers and controls and higher in gamblers important overlap and continuity between premorbid traits
than controls. Conversely, positive urgency (acting impul- and “disordered states,” given conceptual similarities and
sively under negative affect) was elevated in cocaine users shared variance between, e.g., fluid intelligence, conscien-
and gamblers versus controls (showing no differences tiousness, and executive functions.
between each other) (Albein-Urios et al., 2012). The anal- The relevance of social cognition processes in the
ysis of executive function tests showed that cocaine users vulnerability to addiction (revealed by endophenotype and
had poorer working memory than both gamblers and neurotoxicity-controlled studies) also illustrates the inter-
controls, whereas response inhibition performance active nature of cognitionedrugs/addictive productse
(measured with an attentional inhibition task, the Stroop environment relationships, as faulty social decision-making
Test) was similar among cocaine users and gamblers and in processes can facilitate deviant social behavior (reduced
both cases poorer than in controls. A subsequent study social integration or heightened sensitivity to peer pressure)
examined the same cohort using the brain and behavioral and drug/gambling use, which can ultimately exacerbate
and broaden social-cognitive deficits, fostering a vicious Garavan, H., Weierstall, K., 2012. The neurobiology of reward and
cycle of social impoverishment. cognitive control systems and their role in incentivizing health
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Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 9, 30e43.
Chapter 2
From impulses to compulsions

Kavya Raj1 and Antonio Verdejo-Garcia2
1
Brain, Mind and Society Research Hub, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; 2School of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for
Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Introduction outcomes of such behaviors are negative (Zapata et al.,

2010). Environmental stimuli associated with the effects of
Addiction can be conceptualized as a loss of control over drug self-administration gain incentive salience via
drug-seeking and -taking behavior, whereby drug use that Pavlovian conditioning, and drug-seeking responses are
was initially voluntary and recreational progresses to a automatically elicited by conditioned S-R loops (Everitt
habit, and ultimately a compulsion, continuing to persist and Robbins, 2005). Drug-seeking and -taking behavior
despite harmful consequences (Belin et al., 2013; Everitt controlled by this S-R process is severed from the value of
and Robbins, 2005, 2013, 2016). It is hypothesized that this the drug and can operate without full engagement of
behavioral transition from impulsive choices to compulsive cognitive control processes (Belin et al., 2013). Whether
drug seeking and taking is underpinned by a shift in the drug use is controlled by A-O or S-R mechanisms, at a
neural loci of control from the ventral to the dorsal striatum behavioral level, can be tested through outcome devalua-
(Belin and Everitt, 2008; Everitt and Robbins, 2013, 2016), tion procedures to observe whether instrumental respond-
as well as a progression from prefrontal cortical to ing for drug rewards changes as the outcome value changes
subcortical striatal control (Chen et al., 2013; Everitt and (Dickinson et al., 2002).
Robbins, 2016; Murray et al., 2012; Renteria et al., 2018). The shift from A-O to S-R mechanisms mediating drug
This chapter summarizes the animal and human evidence use is documented by a consistent body of animal research.
that sustains this notion, starting with preclinical studies, In a sophisticated series of experiments, Olmstead et al.
continuing with human neuroimaging and cognitive (2001) utilized a heterogenous chained schedule of intra-
studies, and concluding with ideas for future directions. venous cocaine self-administration in which rats performed
an initial drug-seeking response, which in turn provided
Animal models of drug-seeking habits access to a secondary drug-taking response that resulted in
delivery of cocaine. After briefly establishing cocaine self-
and compulsions administration, drug-seeking responses were shown to be
A key approach to understanding the transition from sensitive to devaluation when the taking link of the chained
voluntary to compulsive drug use is through the lens of schedule was extinguished, indicating that at an initial stage
Pavlovian and instrumental learning (Robbins and Everitt; of cocaine seeking, behavior is goal-directed and influenced
Everitt and Robbins, 2013). According to this perspective, by the value of the response outcome. To replicate and
initial drug use is goal-directed and controlled by action- extend this finding, Zapata et al. (2001) utilized a modified
outcome (A-O) mechanisms. In this context, drug-related chained schedule of intravenous cocaine self-administration
actions are sensitive to changes in outcome value, and and demonstrated that, following a moderate number of
thus drug seeking can stop if drug value decreases or is training sessions, initial cocaine seeking is goal directed
outweighed by alternative reinforcers (Everitt and Robbins, and sensitive to devaluation. However, as sessions
2005). However, as drug use escalates, a parallel instru- increased and the cocaine-seeking experience was
mental learning mechanism comes to dominate responding, extended, 43% of the sample continued to respond after the
and behavior shifts to a stimuluseresponse (S-R) habit outcome had been devalued, indicating that drug-seeking
process that is insensitive to outcome devaluation, i.e., behavior had become habitual for this subgroup and was
precludes stopping or changing behavior, even when the operating through an S-R mechanism. Similarly, while

instrumental responding for alcohol at early stages of (Letchworth et al., 2001; Porrino et al., 2004). In rats with
training is goal-directed, after 8 week of training, behav- well-established habitual cocaine-seeking behavior,
ioral control over alcohol seeking shifts to S-R habit presentation of drug-related cues during cocaine seeking
mechanisms and is no longer sensitive to devaluation results in marked increases of extracellular dopamine in the
(Corbit et al., 2012). These findings illustrate how escala- dorsal striatum but not in the nucleus accumbens core or
tion of drug use results in resistance of drug seeking to shell (Ito et al., 2002). Moreover, dopamine receptor
outcome devaluation, and thus habitual S-R behaviors. antagonist infusion into this region of the dorsal striatum in
While habitual drug-seeking and -taking behavior alone which elevated extracellular dopamine is detected signifi-
cannot provide a comprehensive explanation for addiction, cantly reduces S-R driven, cocaine-seeking behavior
it provides the foundation for compulsive drug use (Everitt (Belin and Everitt, 2008; Vanderschuren et al., 2005). The
and Robbins, 2016). Perseveration of habitual drug-seeking same infusion in the nucleus accumbens, however,
behavior despite drastically negative outcomes, such as produces no effect on habitual cocaine seeking (Vander-
deterioration of health and family bonds or loss of social schuren et al., 2005), indicating that once behavior has
support and employment, is a core aspect of addiction become S-R dominant, ventral striatal regions that are
(Ersche et al., 2011). Aversive conditioning studies in rats entwined with A-O mechanisms lose influence over actions
show that, after sufficient training and exposure, respond- that have become compulsive.
ing for oral cocaine (Miles et al., 2003) and alcohol In addition to the ventral striatum progressively losing
(Dickinson et al., 2002) perseveres even after devaluation control over drug-seeking behavior, the transition from
through nausea-inducing lithium chloride injections voluntary to compulsive drug use is further underpinned by
(Nachman, 1963). Recent evidence suggests that as few as a transition within competing regions of the dorsal striatum:
16 training sessions are sufficient to render alcohol-seeking from the posterior dorsomedial striatum (pDMS, early
behavior unresponsive to devaluation through aversive acquisition) to the anterior dorsolateral striatum (aDLS,
conditioning (López et al., 2016). Drug reinforcers are habitual drug seeking) (Balleine et al., 2009; Murray et al.,
significantly more resistant to aversive conditioning than 2012; Yin et al., 2004). Electrophysiological evidence from
natural foodebased reinforcers, for which responding is rodents performing motivational tasks shows that early
more readily reverted to an A-O process, perhaps due to acquisition correlates with DMS activity, but as training
evolutionary reasons (Dickinson et al., 2002; Miles et al., extends and behavior becomes S-R dominant, DLS activity
2003). This indicates that drug reinforcers induce an S-R increases (Thorn et al., 2010). At early stages of cocaine
habit process far more rapidly than natural rewards. self-administration, pharmacologically disabling the pDMS
Moreover, drug-induced difficulty to shift between S-R and by infusing that region with a D2 agonist infusion reduces
A-O processes suggests that a dominant habit system may initial cocaine seeking (Murray et al., 2012). At the same
become “compulsive” and trigger automatic drug-seeking time point, deactivating the aDLS with the same D2 agonist
behaviors under aversive conditions. infusion has no effect on cocaine seeking, indicating that
early A-Oedriven, drug seeking is dependent on the DMS
Neural circuits: transitioning from the and not the DLS. However, once self-administration is
well-established and S-R driven, cocaine-seeking behavior
ventral to dorsal striatum can only be reduced by disabling the aDLS, whereas
Converging evidence from animal research shows that the disabling the pDMS had no effect on behavior (Murray
transition from voluntary to habitual and eventually et al., 2012). A similar study utilizing microinjections of
compulsive use is neurally underpinned by a progression lidocaine to deactivate striatal regions has shown that
from the ventral to the dorsal striatum, via dopaminergic disabling the DLS in cocaine-seeking rats can successfully
circuits (Belin and Everitt, 2008; Everitt and Robbins, renew A-O control over compulsive cocaine-seeking
2005; Vanderschuren et al., 2005; Vanderschuren and behavior (Zapata et al., 2010), signifying that, within the
Everitt, 2005). This transition has been neatly revealed in dorsal striatum, the DMS relinquishes control to the DLS as
animal models of stimulant addiction. Early acquisition of drug use becomes S-R driven. Similar findings are reported
cocaine seeking depends on the nucleus accumbens core, a for alcohol seeking (Corbit et al., 2012). Deactivating the
region of the ventral striatum; lesions to this area disrupt DMS at early stages of alcohol exposure shifts control to
establishment of drug-seeking behavior (Ito et al., 2004). the habit system, preventing behavior from being sensitive
Yet, as cocaine exposure escalates and becomes chronic, to devaluation. However, after prolonged alcohol exposure,
drug-related neuroadaptationsdsuch as changes in meta- deactivation of the DLS (yet not DMS) is needed to reen-
bolic activity and density of dopamine transporter binding gage the goal-directed system. Moreover, this rich body of
sitesdincreasingly extend from the ventral striatum to research suggests that control over actions occurs through
encompass dorsal striatal regions, the caudate and putamen competing goal-directed (DMS) and habit (DLS) systems,
From impulses to compulsions Chapter | 2 11
and that while typically the DMS and DLS are simulta- cocaine despite electric foot shocks, extended cocaine
neously able to control the same behavior (Renteria et al., self-administration induced substantial hypoactivity in the
2018; Yin et al., 2006), this competition may be repeatedly prelimbic cortex. Furthermore, in vivo optogenetic stimu-
dominated by the DLS in substance use disorders, lation of the prelimbic cortex significantly diminished
ultimately resulting in compulsive drug use. cocaine-seeking responses. In contrast, in vivo optogenetic
It is important to note that while control of behavior inhibition of the prelimbic cortex during cocaine
may devolve to the DLS, ventral regions of the striatum self-administration significantly increased cocaine-seeking
may continue to influence and interact with the dorsal responses. More recent work by Limpens et al. (2014)
striatum. Belin and Everitt (2008) showed that combining a provides comparable findings and directly implicates the
unilateral lesion of the nucleus accumbens core with prelimbic cortex in loss of executive control. Inactivation of
contralateral dorsolateral striatum dopamine receptor the prelimbic cortex significantly reduces a previously
blockade reduces habitual cocaine intake, yet leaving newly conditioned suppression of cocaine seeking in rats, thereby
learned instrumental-seeking responses unaffected (Belin enabling the expression of compulsive drug-seeking
and Everitt, 2008; Everitt and Robbins, 2016). Therefore, behavior. Hypofunction of the prelimbic cortex has also
notwithstanding the progressive transition from ventral to been reported in opiate reward learning, wherein down-
dorsal striatal regions, ongoing interactions between the regulation of prefrontal-excitatory N-methyl D-aspartate
nucleus accumbens core and DLS will have a critical role in receptors substantially increases sensitivity to the
the formation and persistence of compulsive drug-seeking rewarding effects of opiate administration (Bishop et al.,
behavior. 2010). Together, these results not only indicate that
extended drug use induces marked neuroplastic changes in
Devolving from prefrontal to striatal prefrontal excitability but also that these changes are
critically involved in the expression of compulsive drug-
control seeking behavior. Moreover, when considered alongside
Along with the progressive strengthening of DLS-driven previous animal research (Belin and Everitt, 2008; Zapata
S-R habit processes, compulsive drug use is concurrently et al., 2010), these findings support the hypothesis that
mediated by weakened prefrontal control over striatal compulsive drug-seeking behavior may be driven by
regions (Koob and Volkow, 2010; Renteria et al., 2018). a combination of DLS hyperactivation and prelimbic/
Habitual behavior that occurs in the face of aversive con- frontal hypoactivation, whereby weakened prefrontal
ditions would typically promote the transition back to A-O activity enables the striatum and habit system to maintain
processes and encourage ventral striatal regions to regain control.
control of behavior (Everitt and Robbins, 2016; Murray In addition to the prelimbic cortex, hypoactivation of
et al., 2012); however, in substance use disorders, drug- the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) (key region for decision-
seeking behavior perseveres despite harmful outcomes making in humans) has also been implicated in compul-
(Ersche et al., 2011). Dorsomedial and ventral striatal sive drug-seeking behavior (Renteria et al., 2018). Habitual
regions that are integral to the functioning of the ethanol use in mice induces marked reductions in OFC
goal-directed system receive prefrontal cortical projections, excitability (Renteria et al., 2018). The OFC directly
and prefrontal cortex (PFC) hypofunction has been reported projects onto the DMS and is critically involved in excit-
across substance use disorders (Goldstein and Volkow, atory circuits of the goal-directed system (Renteria et al.,
2011). Thus, a contributing factor to the development and 2018). Ethanol-induced suppression of OFC excitability
maintenance of compulsive drug seeking may be hypo- reduces glutamatergic transmission from the OFC to the
function of prefrontal regions and weakened cortical DMS via the direct output pathway and thus disrupts
projections to the striatum, which enables the DLS habit goal-directed control over ethanol-seeking behavior
system to remain dominant in controlling behavior (Renteria et al., 2018). Importantly, stimulating the OFC to
(Limpens et al., 2014). increase excitatory activity in the OFC-striatal circuit
Animal studies indicate that hypofunction of the notably reinstates goal-directed control over previous S-R
prelimbic cortexdwhich is homologous to the dorsolateral ethanol-seeking behavior (Renteria et al., 2018). Yet
prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in humans (Bizon et al., 2012; again, these findings indicate that habit-driven drug seeking
Koob and Volkow, 2016)dmay be tightly linked to may stem from drug-induced OFC hypoactivation and
compulsive drug seeking (Chen et al., 2013; Bishop et al., subsequent disruption of communication to striatal regions
2010; Limpens et al., 2014). In fact, lesions to the prelimbic critical for goal-directed control. Collectively, animal
area enable the formation of inflexible S-R habits (Killcross research across models of various substance use disorders
and Coutureau, 2003). A seminal study by Chen et al. indicates that compulsive drug-seeking behavior may arise
(2013) demonstrated that, in rats that compulsively seek from a complex interaction between an intrastriatal shift
toward dorsolateral control and PFC hypoactivation, which which may suggest that greater dorsal striatal volume
together enable rigid S-R habit processes to continue con- increases risk for drug-related S-R conditioning and
trolling and perpetuating drug-seeking behavior under substance use disorders (Everitt and Robbins, 2016).
harmful or aversive conditions. Together, these findings suggest that dorsal striatal regions
(the putamen and caudate) are crucial to S-R driven
habitual craving responses in cocaine users, and that
Translating animal models to dopamine dysfunction within these regions may play a
understand compulsivity in people with fundamental role in the severity of drug use.
Similar findings have been reported in alcohol-
substance use disorders dependent individuals (Sjoerds et al., 2013, 2014;
Advancing from animal research, human studies also Vollstädt-Klein et al., 2010). Alcohol-related cues provoke
indicate that compulsive drug use may be underpinned by greater cue-induced activation in the left dorsal striatum in
an over reliance on S-R mechanisms as well as prefrontal- heavy drinkers (Schulte et al., 2012; Vollstädt-Klein et al.,
striatal adaptations (Ersche et al., 2011; Sjoerds et al., 2013; 2010). In addition, Vollstädt-Klein et al. (2010) found that
Vollstädt-Klein et al., 2010). In this section, we focus on while heavy drinkers show more cue-evoked activation in
cue-reactivity studies, in which drug-related cues are used the dorsal striatum, light drinkers show a stronger response
to provoke a conditioned craving response analogous to in the ventral striatum. Moreover, they showed a significant
habitual S-R behaviors (Koob and Volkow, 2010; Pickens positive relationship between activation of the dorsal
et al., 2011; Sinha and Li, 2007; Tricomi et al., 2009; Yoder striatum and scores on an obsessive-compulsive scale
et al., 2009). Craving (a compelling desire to use the drug) (a proxy of compulsivity), whereas ventral striatal activa-
is a paramount clinical phenomenon and a proxy of tion had a negative relationship with the same scale. This
compulsive drug use in clinical studies (Skinner and Aubin, study provides persuasive support for the notion of a
2010; Tiffany et al., 2012). The cue-reactivity procedure ventral to dorsal striatal control shift as alcohol use
enables researchers to observe behavioral and neural becomes more severe and compulsive (Vollstädt-Klein
responses to drug-related cues, providing an indirect et al., 2010). More recent work by Sjoerds et al. (2013,
measure of the severity of compulsive and automatic 2014) has shown that, during an instrumental learning task
responding in drug users (Carter and Tiffany, 1999; designed to explore potential imbalances between goal-
Tricomi et al., 2009). directed and habit learning processes, alcohol-dependent
A consistent finding that emerges in cue-reactivity individuals demonstrate a significant overreliance on S-R
studies across various substance use populations is the habit learning, resulting in poor task performance
importance of the dorsal striatum (caudate and putamen in outcomes. Additionally, poor task performance coincides
humans) in the transition from recreational to compulsive with decreased activation of brain regions implicated in
use (Ersche et al., 2011, 2012a,b; Sjoerds et al., 2013; goal-directed processes and increased activation in habit
Volkow et al., 2006; Wong et al., 2006; Zhou et al., 2018). learning brain regions, namely the posterior putamen
Early functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and (analogous to the DLS in rodents). These results provide
positron emission tomography studies in cocaine users considerable evidence to indicate an overactive and
established that cue-induced craving is associated with inflexible habit system in alcohol-dependent individuals,
increased metabolic activity, dopamine release, and dopa- which appears to heavily depend on dorsal striatal regions
mine receptor occupancy in the dorsal striatum (Garavan (Sjoerds et al., 2013). Furthermore, duration of alcohol
et al., 2000; Volkow et al., 2006; Wong et al., 2006). dependence was strongly associated with greater
Interestingly, the caudate (which is the human homologue cue-induced activation of the posterior putamen (Sjoerds
of the DMS in rodents; Balleine and O’Doherty, 2009) et al., 2014), further supporting the hypothesized ventral to
response to sexually explicit stimuli is blunted in cocaine dorsal striatal shift as behavior advances toward addiction.
users, suggesting that S-R tendencies are sensitized to drug As the putamen is analogous to the DLS in rodents and the
cues and relatively insensitive to natural reinforcers caudate analogous to the DMS, this is a crucial detail for
(Garavan et al., 2000). Furthermore, increases in dopamine the S-R habit hypothesis first proposed by Everitt and
receptor occupancy (Wong et al., 2006) and dopamine Robbins (2005), which would predict greater putamen
release (Volkow et al., 2006) in the dorsal striatum are adaptations as seen in rodent studies (Everitt and Robbins,
proportionate to increases in cue-induced cocaine cravings 2016).
and also corresponded with addiction severity (Volkow Changes in neural activation and adaptations in the
et al., 2006). In addition to functional differences, structural dorsal striatum are also observed in nicotine- (McClernon
MRI studies indicate that, when compared with their et al., 2009) and cannabis-use disorder groups (Zhou et al.,
noncocaine using siblings, cocaine-dependent individuals 2018, 2019). Following a 24-h period of abstinence in adult
have enlarged putamen volumes (Ersche et al., 2011, 2013), tobacco smokers, smoking cues elicited greater activation
in the dorsal striatum, specifically the putamen, relative to hypoactivation may strongly contribute to the perpetuation
neutral cues (McClernon et al., 2009). Participants with of compulsive drug-seeking behavior, wherein multiple
cannabis dependence, compared with drug-naïve controls, prefrontal regions are critically involved in enabling dor-
show an aberrant pattern of functional connectivity sostriatal S-R control of behavior.
involving less efficient communication between both
ventral and dorsal striatum and the PFC (Zhou et al., 2018). Recommendations for future research
More specifically, when comparing dependent versus
nondependent cannabis users exposed to a cue-reactivity Animal experiments and cross-sectional human neuro-
paradigm, dependent users alone demonstrated heightened imaging studies strongly support the role of dorsal striatal
dorsal striatal activation during cue exposure (Zhou et al., control and weakened prefrontal regulation in compulsive
2019). drug use. However, human studies have not yet fully
Cumulatively, the results of human imaging cue- demonstrated the proposed dynamic shift between im-
reactivity studies support the consensus within animal pulses and compulsions or ventral to dorsal striatal control
literature and suggest that dorsostriatal adaptations are that putatively occurs in each individual over time. We
involved in compulsive drug use. In addition to evidence of propose two ways to trace this dynamic shift in the future.
dorsostriatal changes, human studies also implicate hypo- One is through longitudinal studies. Assessing PFC-
activation in multiple prefrontal regions across substance striatal function and related phenotypes (cue-conditioned
use disorders (Goldstein and Volkow, 2011; Zilverstand craving, impulsivity, and compulsivity) among children
et al., 2018; see Chapter 3 in this book), much the same as and adolescents before exposure to drugs and then
animal research. Individuals with alcohol use disorder throughout adolescence and young/mid adulthood would
exhibit decreased engagement of the ventromedial PFC compellingly tell us if neural and cognitive transitions
(encompassing the OFC), which directly projects to the similar to those observed in animals occur over the course
ventral striatum, indicating OFC-striatal dysfunction of human addiction. The advent of new ambitious and
(Sjoerds et al., 2013). Similarly, individuals with alcohol exciting longitudinal research initiatives, such as the
use disorder who relapse into compulsive use show hypo- Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study
activation of the medial PFC during a goal-directed (https://abcdstudy.org/), has created a unique opportunity
decision-making task (Sebold et al., 2017), again suggest- to pursue this otherwise incredibly complex challenge.
ing disrupted prefrontal control of behavior. Structural The ABCD study will track the neurobiological and
imaging research by Ersche et al. (2013) demonstrates behavioral development of >11,000 children and includes
significant reductions in OFC gray matter volume in detailed measures of cognition, brain function, and drug
compulsive cocaine users, while recreational cocaine users use, providing a unique opportunity to address longitudi-
exhibit increased OFC volume. The increase in gray matter nal research questions. The study also has a remarkable
volume for recreational users may reflect a protective factor open data sharing policy, opening endless possibilities for
or potential resilience against progressing to compulsive early career researchers. Another potential approach is
drug use (Ersche et al., 2013). Lastly, more recent using rapidly evolving epigenetic tools. Discovering
preliminary research aiming to directly translate animal epigenetic markers of ventral and dorsal striatal nuclei
studies on hypoactivation of the prelimbic cortex (which is gene expression and conducting intraindividual analyses
the homolog of the human DLPFC) and optogenetic of changes in these markers over the course of substance
stimulation has utilized repetitive transcranial magnetic use and addiction, paralleled by detailed phenotyping,
stimulant (rTMS) to electrically stimulate the DLPFC in would be another persuasive (although currently futuris-
human cocaine users (Terraneo et al., 2016). rTMS of the tic) approach.
DLPFC significantly improved symptomology in
individuals with cocaine use disorder, as well as substan- References
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Chapter 3
Dual models of drug addiction: the

impaired response inhibition and
salience attribution model
Anna Zilverstand1 and Rita Z. Goldstein2
1
Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States; 2Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Icahn School of
Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
Dual models of addiction that the impairments of two neuropsychological

functionsdimpaired response inhibition and salience
Addiction is a chronically relapsing disorder, characterized attributiondand their underlying neural substrates
by continued drug seeking despite reduced pleasure from contribute to the clinical symptomatology of addiction
drug-taking and substantial negative consequences to the encompassing craving, intoxication, bingeing, and with-
individual and their kin. Neurobiological models of drug drawal across a broad range of substance addictions,
addiction seek to explain this perplexing phenomenon by including nicotine, alcohol, and illicit drug addictions
understanding the changes in the brain driving this (Goldstein and Volkow, 2002, 2011; Zilverstand et al.,
behavior. Early neurobiological models focused on the role 2018). This model proposed for the first time that broad
of the reward system (also named “reinforcement,” higher-order cognitive functions involved in the “ability to
“approach,” “drive,” “motivational,” or “dopamine” sys- track, update, and modulate the salience of a reinforcer as a
tem), proposing that it was the repeated activation of the function of context and expectation” and the “ability to
positive reinforcement system that fueled repeated drug control and inhibit prepotent responses,” and their under-
taking (Wise and Bozarth, 1987). This theory was later lying neural networks, were impaired in human drug
refined as the “incentive-sensitization theory,” which pro- addiction (Goldstein and Volkow, 2002). Indeed, recent
posed that the attribution of incentive salience is the un- evidence suggests that impairments in iRISA in human
derlying function of the dopaminergic system, and that the drug addiction are linked to the altered function of six
increased attribution of salience to drugs or drug cues is large-scale brain networks: the limbic-orbitofrontal reward
associated with a “sensitization” or upregulation of this network, the fronto-insular-parietal salience network, the
system in drug addiction (Robinson and Berridge, 1993). prefrontal executive network, the fronto-parietal self-
However, while these early models explained how drug directed network, the subcortical habit, and memory net-
taking would propel the urge to seek drugs, they could not works (Fig. 3.1). The conclusions made and the evidence
explain the inability of addicted individuals to inhibit this reviewed in this chapter are, unless stated otherwise, a
urge (Jentsch and Taylor, 1999). Therefore, later dual summary of the evidence discussed in a systematic review
models of addiction proposed an interaction between a of 105 task-related neuroimaging studies published from
“drive” system (e.g., the reward system) and a “control” 2010 until 2018, which compared individuals with alcohol,
system located in the prefrontal cortex, which would need cannabis, heroin, stimulant, and other addictions to healthy
to be deployed to inhibit a sensitized reward system, but controls (Zilverstand et al., 2018). With very rare excep-
shows impairments with chronic drug use (Jentsch and tions, findings were consistent across different drug-
Taylor, 1999). A contemporary updated dual model, pri- addicted populations and are hence discussed under the
marily based on evidence from human neuroimaging assumption that the iRISA model provides a common
studies, is the impaired Response Inhibition and Salience model of addiction, independent of the primary drug of
Attribution (iRISA) model (Goldstein and Volkow, 2002, choice.
2011; Zilverstand et al., 2018). The iRISA model proposes

FIGURE 3.1 Evidence from more than 100 neuroimaging studies in drug-addicted individuals supports dual models of addiction, such as the impaired
response inhibition and salience attribution (iRISA) model. Findings demonstrate that abnormal levels in the reward and salience networks can be linked
to a shift in incentive salience, with decreased incentive salience of nondrug-related stimuli and increased salience of drug-related cues, whereas changed
function of the salience and executive networks underlies impaired response inhibition. Additionally, neuroimaging data suggest that altered function of
the habit, memory, and self-directed networks underlie altered learning processes linked to both impaired response inhibition and salience attribution.
Adapted from Zilverstand, A., Huang, A.S., Alia-Klein, N., Goldstein, R.Z., 2018. Neuroimaging impaired response inhibition and salience attribution in
human drug addiction. A systematic review. Neuron 98, 886e903.
Neuroimaging evidence for dual models model. Importantly, this shift in incentive value was
stronger in drug-addicted individuals who had used drugs
The reward network consists of the ventral striatum, sub- more frequently and for longer durations, in general man-
genual/rostral cingulate, and orbitofrontal and anterior ifesting more severe addiction, suggesting that these
prefrontal cortex, which together support the appraisal of changes may be a direct consequence of drug use (Zilver-
incentive value by estimating subjective value based on stand et al., 2018). Stronger abnormalities in the activation
expected reward outcomes. This network has been termed levels of the reward network were also linked to a greater
the “reward network,” as these brain regions show a likelihood of relapse in drug users seeking to remain
consistently strong response during rewarding events (in abstinent (Li et al., 2015; Seo et al., 2013), indicating that
contrast to the “salience network,” which reacts robustly to the incentive value shift toward drug-related stimuli con-
both pleasant and unpleasant events). In task neuroimaging tributes to the maintenance of drug seeking and taking in
studies, the reward network showed enhanced activation human drug addiction. Finally, treatment of individuals
levels when, compared to controls, addicted individuals with drug addiction led to a reduction of abnormalities in
were exposed to drug cues (Filbey et al., 2016; Hong et al., the reward network (Zilverstand et al., 2016), suggesting
2017; Kim et al., 2014; Kober et al., 2016; Li et al., 2012, such behavioral and neural normalizations may be a treat-
2015; Ray et al., 2015; Tabatabaei-Jafari et al., 2014), ment target, potentially reducing drug use and enhancing
providing evidence for an increased incentive value of drug abstinence.
cues to drug users. In contrast, studies that used gambling A second network shown to have abnormal brain
paradigms in drug users as compared with controls found function in drug addiction is the salience network, which
reduced activation levels of the reward network during gain encompasses the insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex,
anticipation (Luijten et al., 2017), as well as during loss and inferior parietal cortex. This network integrates inter-
anticipation and realization of monetary loss (Gowin et al., oceptive information with external inputs to detect salient
2017; Gradin et al., 2014; Worhunsky et al., 2017), sug- events, controlling the allocation of attentional control to-
gesting reduced incentive value of monetary rewards and ward them. Similar to the reward network, the salience
losses in drug addiction. Studies employing social- network was found to be hyperengaged when drug users
emotional stimuli to provoke an affective reaction simi- were confronted with drug-related stimuli (Kühn and Gal-
larly demonstrated a blunted reward network response in linat, 2011; Zilverstand et al., 2018) and hypoengaged
addicted individuals (Asensio et al., 2010; Caldwell et al., when drug users were anticipating monetary gains (Luijten
2015; Canterberry et al., 2016; Costumero et al., 2017; et al., 2017) or anticipating or realizing monetary loss in
Hong et al., 2017; Seo et al., 2013; Wesley et al., 2016), gambling tasks (Gowin et al., 2017; Gradin et al., 2014;
further indicating that the incentive value of nondrug- Stewart et al., 2014; Wesley et al., 2011) or when they were
related stimuli may be decreased in drug addiction. Taken confronted with social-emotional stimuli in emotion prov-
together, these findings suggest a shift of incentive value ocation task designs (Asensio et al., 2010; Costumero et al.,
away from nondrug rewards and toward drug-related cues 2017; Gilman et al., 2010; Hong et al., 2017; Landi et al.,
across addicted populations, as proposed by the iRISA 2011; Maurage et al., 2012; Seo et al., 2013). Beyond the
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
Chapter XXI
Lionel Holland was, of course, mistaken in accepting as genuine
my indifference as to whether the Gascoynes were civil to me or no.
Since they had asked me to their house it was necessary I should
become as intimate as possible, and Lionel could not know how I
had schemed and intrigued to make myself acceptable in their sight.
I had nibbled all round their circle, so to speak, unobtrusively
attempting to identify myself as much as possible with the people
they knew. This was a matter of no little difficulty. I was compelled
to make it known how near I stood to the succession. This gave me
a certain sort of position, and at least tolerance, as more or less one
of themselves by the exclusive set in which the Gascoynes moved.
They still, however, showed no sign of great friendliness. Of course,
the important person to conciliate was Lady Gascoyne. She did not
belong to the difficult set by birth, and was naturally nervous of
doing anything which might show her as a novice in the art of social
selection. Not that she was in any way a snob; indeed, far from it.
She evidently liked me. I was the sort of personality that the
heiress of enterprising American ancestors—the wrong word; her
forbears could hardly be described as ancestors—would like. I had,
however, so far not interested Lord Gascoyne, whose sympathies
were limited. He had asked me to the house in a purely formal way,
and as a member of the family who had a right to be so asked.
So far I had, as it were, been conducting reconnaissances round
the network of his character and temperament in order to discover
his vulnerable point. It was extremely difficult. He was one of those
self-contained Englishmen whose sense of duty comes somewhat as
a surprise in conjunction with an apparently unenthusiastic
temperament. The very person to be a royal substitute in a
dependency. Enthusiasm is the greatest curse that can befall a
reigning Sovereign, and a really sincere, enthusiastic monarch is
distrusted by no one so much as by his own subjects. In his
presence I at once suppressed the artistic side of my character, and
pretended to a reserve and coldness in no way natural to me. Such
topics as were discussed I treated with as much pure reason as was
consistent with a respect to aristocratic prejudices, an attitude
eminently conciliatory to the English noble, who is never so happy as
when he flatters himself that he is displaying liberal tendencies.
There did not, however, appear to be any likelihood of my being
asked to Hammerton, and even my confession that I had visited the
place as a tourist failed to elicit the desired invitation. He was,
because of his limitations, the most difficult person I had yet had to
deal with. At the same time, my being on visiting terms with Lord
and Lady Gascoyne, and admitted by them to be a relative, gave me
a social status which I had not before possessed.
It was highly necessary to be swift with his lordship. I must say
that I had less compunction about removing him than I had had
about any of the others. He was so entirely impersonal in his
relations with the outer world.
I think his wife was in love with him. He was the sort of man
women love desperately where they love at all; for the simple reason
that they are never permitted to become really familiar. They are
always in the presence of their reigning sovereign. A very
wholesome thing for most women, and especially corrective for an
American woman. It had been, I fancy, a great change for her,
inasmuch as before marriage she had ruled her father absolutely. It
was a little surprising that Lord Gascoyne should have condescended
to mingle his blood with what was, after all, quite a plebeian strain.
It was the more surprising as he was in no need of money, and I
discovered afterwards that at his request her enormous dowry was
settled absolutely on her children. I wondered very much if the
dowry would revert to the American relations should she die
childless; also if, in the case of Lord Hammerton outliving his
parents, but dying a minor, the money would pass to the Gascoyne
family. It would certainly be amusing were I to inherit the American
dollars.
The great thing, however, was to secure an invitation to
Hammerton. If I could only render Lord Gascoyne some service, or
place him under an obligation to me in any way, it would probably
follow as a matter of course.
An idea struck me. There was the portrait of Lord George, the
one thing saved from the wreck of my uncle’s home. I knew that
Lord Gascoyne took the greatest pride and interest in the portrait
gallery at Hammerton, and that there was no portrait of Lord George
Gascoyne, my own immediate ancestor, among the family pictures.
Finally, seeing no way of approaching the matter as if by chance,
I wrote and offered him the portrait for the collection at Hammerton,
and he replied asking me to come and see him.
I went, and was shown into his private sanctum. He was,
considering his temperament, quite profuse in his thanks, but would
at first not hear of accepting the portrait as a gift.
“As you say, it is not by a great name,” he said; “but at the same
time it is a very good name, and is worth money, and more than
money, to me.”
I gave him to understand that if he declined it as a gift it would
hurt my feelings, as I should conclude that he did not care about
accepting anything at my hands. This I conveyed to him in as tactful
a way as possible. He saw, however, what I meant, and graciously
accepted the picture.
“You must come down and see it hung.”
He could not very well say less, but by the expression of his face
I wondered whether a vague suspicion of my motive had not, even
as he spoke, entered his mind.
However, the invitation was given, and I intended to avail myself
of it. I had no intention of allowing the matter to slip his memory.
“It must be a week-end,” I said smiling, “for, you know, I work
hard all the week.”
“Lady Gascoyne shall write and ask you. She is at Hammerton
herself at present.”
It was quite unnecessary for his lordship to inform me of Lady
Gascoyne’s whereabouts, for I followed the movements of his
household as closely as he did himself.
At Christmas I paid a flying visit to the Gascoynes in the South of
France, and was welcomed with a curious quietness of passion by
Miss Gascoyne, and like a son by her aunt and uncle.
Miss Gascoyne always exalted me, mentally if not morally, and
even in the latter direction she led me out of the limitations I had
laid down for myself, and beyond which it would be dangerous for
me to venture. I am quite capable of great moral enthusiasm, and it
has always been my habit to keep out of the way of those likely to
infect me with strenuousness.
She talked of ideals quite simply and earnestly, and without the
least suggestion of cant, and I was obliged to find some aspirations
suitable to these occasions. Being a woman in love she was content
to warm her romance at a very small fire, and, further, to imagine it
a very big blaze.
I was terribly afraid of being found out by her in any way. I knew
that once we were married she would die rather than admit that she
had made a mistake. Her loyalty would amount to fanaticism, but
she was a woman who could take strong measures before the
irrevocable was accomplished. Her attitude has been that of a
medieval saint matched with a Cenci. She has held her peace, and
she has professed to believe what she knew to be false; whilst at the
same time she has suffered agonies of abasement.
Nearly all women, however, are deceived in love. It is their
pastime. Some never discover the fact, and dream their lives away
from their marriage-day to the grave. If Miss Gascoyne hardly
possessed the phlegmatic instinct which would enable her to join the
comfortable ranks of the latter, she was none the less dwelling in a
fool’s paradise during those winter days on the Riviera. Those who
considered her cold would have been astonished had they known all.
She was a concealed volcano.
I returned to town a little exhausted by the rarified atmosphere
of reverential romance in which I had been living, and looking
forward with a sense of relief to the decadent fascination of Sibella.
Miss Gascoyne with her Utopian dreams about the life of
usefulness we were to lead required the natural antidote, and,
strangely enough, the first whiff of the perfume Sibella used, wafted
to me across the room as she rose to greet me, banished all
sensation of ever having been bored by Edith, for I never admired
her so much as when I was in the company of Sibella. In the same
way I never longed for Sibella to such an extent as when I was with
Edith.
Amongst the letters which I found waiting when I reached my
rooms there was an invitation from Lady Gascoyne asking me to give
them the following Saturday to Monday at Hammerton.
From the tone of her letter it was obvious that she had been only
too anxious to second her husband’s invitation. To do her justice,
she had no class prejudices, and such exclusiveness as she displayed
arose from her desire that her husband should think her in every
way fitted to her position.
In my daily letter to Miss Gascoyne I mentioned casually that I
had been invited to Hammerton. I knew that there were few things
which would please her so much.
It was a bitterly cold evening in January when I reached
Hammerton station, and it was snowing fast when we drove across
the stone bridge which spanned the old moat and turned in at the
gates.
There was just time to dress for dinner, and, getting into my
evening clothes as quickly as possible, I descended and found that
the only member of the party who had made his appearance was a
young American millionaire who was being introduced to English
society. I thought him particularly stupid and offensive, and was glad
when Lord Gascoyne and the other guests quickly followed and we
went to dinner.
We dined in a long, narrow room with a vaulted ceiling and gray
antique stone walls covered with tapestry. The mixture of a feudal
past with modern luxury was exceedingly grateful to a fastidious
taste. The servants came and went through a low arched door,
which must have been built during the early days of the Norman
Conquest. The walls were covered with antique implements of
battle, whilst imposing suits of armour loomed out of the shadows,
their polished surfaces reflecting here and there the blaze from the
enormous log-fire in the vast chimney-place. The party consisted of
about half a dozen people besides myself. There was the young
millionaire I have already mentioned, and who, I believe, was
destined by Lady Gascoyne for Lady Enid Branksome, a pretty, fair-
haired girl, who was staying at Hammerton with her mother. It is
surprising, when one comes to think of it, how few young Americans
marry English noblewomen. It would be interesting to inquire
whether this reticence is caused by a disinclination to live in America
—where, of course, precedence and rank would have to be dropped
—or whether the American young man does not care to buy
anything in the shape of a title which is not hereditary. It would
certainly be incongruous for Lady Enid Branksome to degenerate
into plain Mrs. Puttock of Philadelphia. It would seem almost a
murder. The Branksomes, however, were poor, and Mr. Puttock was a
multi-millionaire. He was obviously much taken with Lady Enid, who,
on her side, was evidently torn by the convicting claims of love and
interest; for young Sir Cheveley Drummond was also of the party.
This had been a great tactical error on Lady Gascoyne’s part, for he
seemed to find greater favour in Lady Enid’s eyes than did the fat,
unhealthy cheeks and vacuous expression of Mr. Puttock of
Philadelphia. At the same time, a glance at Lady Branksome’s face
impressed one with the idea that the Lady Enid would most probably
be made to do what she was told.
I have nearly always found house parties somewhat dull, unless
there happened to be present a personality of new and surprising
interest, and personalities do not frequent country-houses. But for
the work I was engaged on I might have found the Saturday till
Monday at Hammerton as dull as anything of the kind. It was,
however, of absorbing interest to me to be in the house with two
people whom I had decided on removing. The position pleased me.
This absolutely modern company in a medieval castle, and with a
medieval criminal in their midst, was truly interesting. Lady
Branksome was evidently doubtful about me, but noting the Semitic
cast of my features, and hearing that I was on the Stock Exchange,
concluded that there could only be one reason for my being in such
company, and that must be enormous wealth. Having several other
daughters just ready to burst from the schoolroom into the ranks of
the marriageable, she was tentatively affable. She was the sort of
woman I always found it very easy to get on with; of the world,
cynical and good-natured, very strong-minded, and willing to live
and let live. She was at the same time most intolerant of people
making fools of themselves, and had no intention of allowing those
who were dependent on her to do so if she could help it. Providing
she was assured that I had no intentions, she would be perfectly
friendly, even when she discovered that I was comparatively poor.
Indeed, I gathered in the course of a conversation with her, that she
had quite a weakness for adventurous young men. Probably it was
because she understood them so well that she was such an expert in
keeping them at a distance. During dinner, however, and pending
inquiries which would no doubt be conducted when the ladies were
alone, she treated me as a person rich enough to be conciliated. A
very different woman was Lady Briardale. However rich a man might
be, he was nothing to her unless he could show a pedigree. She
evidently thought very little of Mr. Puttock, and less of Mr. Rank, who
looked a Jew. She probably regarded it as a slight that she should
have been asked to meet two such absolute nobodies. She had
never heard of anybody called Puttock, or Rank. They were not
names at all. They were merely ciphers by which the lower classes
were differentiated one from the other. She would probably have
thought it more convenient if the lower classes had been known by
numbers like cabs and convicts; and, after all, they were not so
interesting as convicts, and not so useful as cabs in her eyes. She
was evidently somewhat annoyed that I should talk so well, a fact
she might have forgiven if others had not paid me the compliment of
listening. Indeed, she became quite civil to Puttock, who, she
perhaps felt, showed himself conscious of his inferiority by holding
his tongue.
Sir Cheveley Drummond, whom I knew to be entertaining, but
who was quite taken up with Lady Enid, completed the party, which
did not promise much amusement.
After dinner we all sat in the picture-gallery. The last time I had
seen it was in company with the gang of excursionists, and I
laughingly recalled the fact to Lady Gascoyne when she was showing
me where the picture of Lord George had been hung. Lady Briardale
was apparently a little astonished when she heard that Lord George
was my ancestor, and that I had presented the picture to the
collection. Lady Branksome had evidently recalled my name.
“I have been wondering, Mr. Rank, where I have heard of you,
and I remember now that it was from my youngest boy. He met you
at supper one evening. I didn’t ask where,” she said parenthetically,
“but he talked of nobody else for days.”
I remembered young Gavan Branksome, a nice, fair-haired youth,
who had attracted my notice by being somewhat like Grahame
Hallward.
“I have not seen him since.”
“No; he is in India. Did you like India, Sir Cheveley?” she said
quickly, stopping the love-sick warrior as he was making his way
across the room to Lady Enid.
Poor Sir Cheveley was forced to pause, and whilst Lady
Branksome detained him, Mr. Puttock sank into the seat which Lady
Enid had left vacant for Sir Cheveley.
“Charming man, Sir Cheveley,” said Lady Branksome, with almost
a laugh when he finally moved away. “I’ve known him all his life, and
he was always attractive, even when he was sixteen.”
I am sure she was perfectly honest in saying that she liked Sir
Cheveley. She probably liked him as much as, in her heart, she
disliked Mr. Puttock.
Poor Sir Cheveley’s disappointment, however, did not prevent his
being excellent company in the smoking-room.
I sat up in my own room thinking matters over till a late hour.
Before I arrived at Hammerton I had had vague ideas of pushing
Lord Gascoyne down a disused well, or something of that kind, in
which an old feudal castle like Hammerton might be supposed to
abound. On consideration, however, I came to the conclusion that
Lord Gascoyne would be a very difficult person to push anywhere he
did not mean to go.
I was naturally afraid of poison in such a case. It would only be
possible to use it whilst I was in the house, and that was dangerous.
My growing proximity to the succession was bringing me nearer and
nearer to the perilous land of motive. Violence, unless I were given
an extraordinarily good opportunity, was out of the question. The
cigar would not do, either, for, strange to say, Lord Gascoyne hardly
smoked at all. Cigars and pipes he never attempted, and I noticed
that as a rule he merely lit a cigarette in order to keep his guests in
countenance.
I had heard of people being made away with when out shooting,
but in my case it would hardly be possible. In the first place, I did
not shoot, having always had a disinclination to the brutal killing of
animals for the sake of pleasure. There remained as far as I could
see only the ordinary means of poisoning, with all their attendant
dangers.
An instantaneous poison would be most convenient, as it was
highly unlikely that I should have sufficient access to Lord Gascoyne
to deal with him slowly.
I rose in the morning with one scheme after another chasing
itself through my brain. Dressing rapidly, I went for a walk before
breakfast round the ancient battlements. These were quite a mile in
circumference, and the climbing of worn steps, hazardous scalings of
the walls from whence to get a better view, and a careful
examination of the various architectural designs of which the
building was constructed, occupied me very pleasantly for a full hour,
and it was half-past nine, the time for breakfast, when I turned to
re-enter the castle. As I descended some steps which led down to
the quadrangle, I was astonished to come face to face with a girl of
about nineteen or twenty and a child. She was obviously a lady, but
she had not been at the dinner-table the evening before, or in the
picture-gallery afterwards. I concluded that she was the little boy’s
governess, but who the child might be I could not imagine. I
detected at once that the girl was beautiful, and when I say I
detected I use the word advisedly, because it was not a beauty
which would be immediately appreciated. The gray eyes, oval face,
threaded gold hair, straight nose, and delicately-cut mouth were
almost too frail to impress the casual observer. I saw at once,
however, that she was rarely perfect in such a type of beauty as I
always imagined Burns’ Mary must have possessed. She wore a
quaint hood, almost like a child’s, edged with some inexpensive gray
fur. The little boy looked at me shyly, and I held out my arms. A
smile broke over his face and he offered me his ball, inviting me to
play with him. In less than a minute we were all three laughing like
old friends.
After having made myself sufficiently agreeable, I escaped from
the child, who was clamouring to me to continue the game, and ran
down the steps. I found Lady Gascoyne in sole possession of the
breakfast-table. “I am afraid we are the only early risers, Mr. Rank,”
she said.
As a matter of fact, I rather fancied I had caught a glimpse of
Lady Enid going along the road towards Hammerton woods, and I
think I was fairly correct in guessing that she was not walking at
such a rapid pace for the pleasure of her own company. Indeed, I
would not have minded taking long odds that Sir Cheveley was not
very far away.
I, of course, said nothing of this to Lady Gascoyne, but
mentioned my meeting with the girl in the gray hood.
Lady Gascoyne smiled.
“Now, isn’t she pretty, Mr. Rank?”
“Almost beautiful,” I hazarded. It is dangerous to be enthusiastic
about another woman, even to the nicest of her sex.
“That shows your good taste. Some people cannot see it.”
“It is the sort of beauty which is very rare, and not exactly
showy.”
“She is to my mind wonderful. It does one good to look at her. I
expect you are wondering who the little boy is. It is a sad story. I
had a great school friend whose father was enormously rich. About a
year after her marriage he failed, and her husband’s fortune went in
the same crash. Her husband shot himself, and she died six months
later, leaving her little boy in my care. Oh!” she added quickly,
evidently afraid that my inward comment might be a disparagement
on her dead friend, “she did so at my express desire. We loved one
another so, that it was the most natural thing she could do.”
“He seems a dear little chap.”
“He is a darling, and devoted to Hammerton already. Lord
Gascoyne is so good about it, and lets me have him here always.
Miss Lane is his governess.”
Sir Cheveley Drummond, looking a little conscious, came in at
this moment.
“How energetic everybody is this morning,” said Lady Gascoyne.
Mr. Puttock, who appeared on the scene almost as she spoke,
looked anything but energetic. He looked as effete as only a
decadent young American can look. Lady Enid, who followed,
managed to convey with great art the impression that she had just
left her room. Lady Briardale did not appear, but Lady Branksome,
unable to trust Lady Enid, arrived in good time, although she
confided to me later that she thought breakfasting in public a
barbarous practice.
After breakfast, the whole party, with the exception of Sir
Cheveley Drummond, went to church. Poor Sir Cheveley hardly saw
the point of going when he knew perfectly well that he would not be
permitted to share Lady Enid’s hymn-book.
I distinctly heard Lady Briardale say, as we were all waiting in the
hall:
“I should have thought, my dear, that he would have preferred a
synagogue.”
At church a thrill passed through me when I found that I was
seated next to Esther Lane. It was an infinite pleasure to me to be
sitting beside her through the long and stupid sermon. The yellow
winter sunlight fell across the recumbent effigies of dead and gone
Gascoynes, and made the painted window to the east a blaze of
colour.
Her presence and the surroundings filled me with a sense of
purity and peace, and I surrendered myself to the primitive
emotions. I suppose a less subtle soul would have been oppressed
with a sense of past sins, and would in such a building have been
filled with despair at the consciousness of irrevocable guilt. I
fortunately had schooled myself to control. The sensation of
goodness can, like other things, be acquired. When I had obtained
the prize for which I was striving I had not the least doubt that I
should find it easy to put away from me any unworthy feeling of
regret. Why should I not? The harm was after all very questionable.
It was not as if, so far, I had made widows and orphans. The amount
of suffering I had inflicted was limited, and at any rate I should not
leave poverty, the greatest of all ills, in my track. Indeed, under the
influence of that Sunday morning service I felt quite regenerated.
When we left the church Esther Lane and her pupil went through the
great gates of the castle into the woods beyond, and I would have
given worlds to follow her, but Lady Branksome told me that she
agreed with her son, and that I was decidedly amusing. She insisted
on my going for a walk with her. At the same time she took good
care to see that Mr. Puttock and Lady Enid were close behind.
In the afternoon I manœuvred a meeting with Esther Lane. I
surmised that she and her pupil would walk away from the castle,
and so I kept watch on the drawbridge. Everybody was more or less
occupied. I was aware that Lady Branksome had, before retiring for
her afternoon nap, left Mr. Puttock in possession of Lady Enid, who
had got rid of him with all the ease imaginable, and was now
walking with Sir Cheveley on the battlements.
Lord Gascoyne had pleaded letters, and I had arranged to fetch
him in an hour or so and go for a tramp.
As Esther Lane and her pupil crossed the drawbridge I was
leaning over the extreme end of the parapet in the most natural
manner in the world. I pretended not to notice them, and only
permitted myself to be aroused from a contemplation of the
beautiful scenery which lay below by the child flinging his arms with
a scream of delight round my legs.
She blushed as she apologised for her charge. She was evidently
a little nervous as to what her employers might think if they saw her
walking with one of their guests, and, after a short interchange of
commonplaces, tried to get rid of me. I refused to be shaken off,
and a couple of hundred yards took us out of sight of the castle.
We dropped at once into a style of conversation which was
almost intimate, and although I was with her barely three quarters
of an hour she confided a great deal in me.
Not that there was much to confide. She was the daughter of a
solicitor who had left nothing but debts. Her mother was dead, and
she was absolutely alone in the world. Her only relations were some
very distant cousins who were so poor that it had been impossible
for them to help her in any way.
“I was very lucky,” she said, gratefully, “to get such a good
situation, and it came about in the quaintest way. Lady Gascoyne
had seen all sorts of people with diplomas and recommendations
which I had not got, and she saw me sitting in the waiting-room as
she passed out. I don’t think the agent quite liked her engaging me,
but Lady Gascoyne insisted that I was just the person she wanted,
and here I am.”
She smiled contentedly. She evidently considered herself an
extremely fortunate young woman.
She attracted me enormously without in any way usurping the
place of the two women who already counted for so much in my life.
All too soon I was obliged to leave her and hurry back to Lord
Gascoyne, whom I found waiting for me.
It was the first opportunity I had had of really impressing him,
and I did not waste my time. I took such an absorbing interest in
everything about me that I fancy he was surprised to find himself
talking so much and so intimately.
I was perfectly ready to enter into the subjects which interested
him most. He was evidently deeply imbued with a belief in the divine
right of aristocracy, and with no superficial sense of its
responsibilities. He was above all things a serious man, with little
sense of humour. I imagined that Lady Gascoyne must find him dull,
but his qualities were essentially those which command women’s
respect and hold them with a certain kind of fear.
As is the case with his class—a class which the popular organs
are fond of describing as irresponsible and brainless—his knowledge
and grasp of life were very extensive. His individual sympathies may
not have been very great, but he had a general sense of justice
which marked him out as an administrator, from many who were
perhaps much his intellectual superiors. What he knew was of use to
him.
I was surprised at my own capacity for conciliating him. I
accompanied him with ease into the region of politics. He was
evidently impressed, and it was satisfactory to feel him gradually
treating me with less and less formality.
“Your race gave us one of our greatest statesmen,” he said, “for I
do not believe that anyone has understood real statesmanship better
than Disraeli.”
“Some people seem to think he was insincere,” I replied, “but I
don’t believe it. His cynicism was simply the complement of a mind
with a singularly large outlook.”
So subtle an appreciation impressed the man whose own nature
was all in a straight line. The curves of a less direct character
appealed to him as insight.
In listening to him, however, I could not help reflecting that his
kind, whatever the moralist may pretend, is far more vulgar than the
abnormal. The orchid is the most fascinating of flowers in all its
varieties, but it is rare; or do we only call that type normal which
prevails for the moment? Which is the more moral man—he who by
reason of a lack of imagination ranges himself as the mercenary of
tradition and convention, or he who rebels and finds himself
wounded and struck at wherever he turns? Not that I can claim to
be a martyr to moral restlessness, although at one time I sincerely
believe I had in me the makings of a reformer. Nevertheless, there is
always something a little vulgar about the man who ranges himself
definitely on one side.
We returned to the castle on very good terms indeed. The rest of
the party were at tea in the long picture-gallery. I like, even at this
unpleasant crisis, to linger over the memory of the picture-gallery at
Hammerton on that Sunday afternoon in midwinter. The long,
straight windows through which the frosty sunset flushed the gilded
frames and old tapestries, the firelight playing on the silver of the
tea-table drawn up before Lady Gascoyne—for there were no
servants to desecrate the most convivial of all meals—made up a
delightful picture, whilst the child Walter Chard, in his sailor clothes,
ran from one group to the other as happy and unconscious as if he
had a prescriptive right to the enchantment of the castle.
I was delighted on our assembling for dinner to find that Esther
Lane was of the party. She was dressed simply in gray, with a couple
of blush roses at her bosom. Lady Enid was talking to her when I
came in.
It fell to my lot to take her in to dinner, and we thoroughly
enjoyed ourselves. She was quite unconscious amongst these great
folk, and unaffectedly joyous. I almost fancied that Lady Gascoyne
looked at me once or twice with the faintest sign of surprise. I
sincerely hoped she would not inform Miss Lane of the fact that I
was engaged, although it was more than probable. Esther Lane was
one of those women who are, to a certain extent, lacking in the
natural defences of their sex as a result of their own honesty and
simplicity. That she was prepared to be interested in me was
obvious, and I made the most of my time. After dinner she played to
us. It was not a brilliant performance, but she was accurate and had
feeling, and she touched the keys wooingly and caressingly, making
the piano sing, a gift rare even among some so-called finished
performers. If people cannot make instruments sing they had better
leave them alone. Afterwards I played and sang, and she declared
herself ashamed of her own performance. Music had the advantage
of giving us an excuse for remaining at the piano together, and later,
when everybody else settled down to cards some way off, we were
left trying over one song after the other. When I murmured that it
seemed as if we had known each other all our lives she blushed.
Later, in the smoking-room, Sir Cheveley said he was quite
astonished to find how pretty she was. It was a fact which he
declared had grown on him gradually.
The next morning I returned to town, but I had made such good
use of my time that I carried with me an invitation to return in a
fortnight, and it was Lord Gascoyne who brought it me from his wife.
He had made quite a friend of me. It was not probable that he
had ever had a friend with anything of the bizarre about him before.
Chapter XXII
The time passed slowly, but in a fortnight I found myself again at
Hammerton sleeping beneath the same roof as Esther Lane. I met
her again on the terrace on Sunday morning, as I had expected. I
could quite follow the workings of her mind. Because she was
possessed of great self-respect, she had determined not to be on the
terrace that morning, but because she was very much in love she
was there after all. Before many moments had passed I saw that she
was aware of my engagement. There was a look of suffering in her
eyes as she turned them on me. She had the most wonderful way of
suddenly subjecting the person to whom she was speaking to their
full glance. If she could suffer because I was engaged to another
woman, she had enough sentimental interest in me to excuse my
going far. She was the character to appreciate the simulation of
agony born of a struggle between duty and affection, and I was
ready to ring up the curtain on the comedy. She was fully conscious
that I loved her. Yes, I loved her quite passionately, and yet it was
not altogether passion. It is one of the presumptuous platitudes of
conventional moralists to describe a man’s love when it ceases to be
concentrated on one individual as lust and base passion. Side by
side with this contention they will declare that the highest morality is
to love your neighbour as yourself, so little are they given to their
own boasted virtue of consistency.
I talked to her for some time about the most ordinary matters,
but I could see that she was trembling.
“I have thought of you a good deal,” I ventured.
She ignored the question, but without a show of indifference.
“I think Walter and I ought to go in.” She moved away a little
awkwardly.
“I suppose I ought to go in too.” I went to breakfast, leaving the
impression I had intended.
In the afternoon I saw her again, and before I was quite aware
of it, I had told her I loved her beyond all women in the world, and
having done so was compelled to anticipate the scene which I had
been mentally preparing.
I assured her passionately that I was not the fickle person I
might seem to be, that directly I saw her I knew that I had made a
mistake, and that I could never be happy with anyone but her.
She was too much in love to do more than make a pretence of
forbidding me to speak on the subject.
She walked straight into the carefully-hidden trap, and found
herself being made love to without the question of my engagement
being discussed, and once she had thrown down the barriers of
reserve, with the enemy actually in her camp, it was impossible to
replace them. She accused herself vehemently, however, of being
unworthy of her trust. She would resign her position. She could
never, she asserted, remain, and be guilty of duplicity. I beat down
her poor little attempts at self-defence at once. If she threw up such
a position I should never forgive myself. I would go away and never
see her again. The threat appeared to terrify her. I persisted that the
view of such affairs taken by most people was entirely wrong. I
showed that, on the contrary, it was wrong to lie and say you do not
love a person when you do, that it was quite possible to talk of our
love, to cherish it, and to welcome its influences for good, without
allowing it to get the upper hand. All of which the poor fluttering
little morsel of sentiment drank in with greedy ears, because it was
just what she wanted to believe.
The child found us dull, and cried out that he wanted to play, so I
left her and returned to keep an appointment with Lord Gascoyne.
Esther Lane was included in the dinner-party that evening, and I
again took her in. The arrangement was not so pleasant as on the
previous occasion, for there was a distinct feeling of strain between
us. I surmounted it with ease; but she was without experience, and
she suffered. I could see that she had been crying.
“You must not let yourself be wretched,” I said, as we stood a
little apart from the others waiting for the move towards the dining-
room. “It hurts me.”
“I had intended to remain in my room,” she murmured.
“Why?”
“I feel as if everyone must see that I am an impostor.”
I was about to reply lightly, but checked myself, remembering
that the heroine of the comedy was an ingénue.
“If you were not so good you would not have a sense of guilt
where there is no guilt.”
We went in to dinner.
I talked to her incessantly, and inasmuch as her happiness lay in
being with me, she was prepared to be charmed out of her misery
for however brief a period.
I was myself somewhat astonished at the hold I had secured
over her so soon. I suppose in her inmost heart she was dreaming
dreams in which all would come right. But even if I were safely
ensconced as Earl Gascoyne I could not have made such a sacrifice
as to marry her. Besides, in the sense of a mate, to take my name
and reign with me, I would not have changed Edith Gascoyne for
anyone in the world, not even for Sibella.
There is among modern English ballads one which has always
struck me as having a claim to live because of its simplicity and the
heart-throb in it. It is called ‘For ever and for ever.’ It possesses a
perfect blending of music and idea, unpretentious, but full of feeling.
As before, we spent the evening at the piano, and I sang this
song to her almost under my breath:
“I would, alas! it were not so

For ever and for ever.”
I could see that the tears were raining down her cheeks as she
listened. She held a fan so as to conceal her face from the others in
the room.
“We shall see each other again soon,” I murmured, as I said
good-night.
Lord Gascoyne and I were the last to leave the smoking-room,
and he parted from me at the foot of the stairs that led to the
bachelors’ quarters. My bedroom was half-way down a long corridor,
at the end of which there was a solid door, which gave on to the
battlements. It was bolted inside, but not locked, and I had more
than once used it to take an evening stroll when the inhabitants of
Hammerton Castle were asleep. This evening I opened the door
noiselessly and walked out on to the walls. It was a clear starlight
night and bitterly cold. I did not mind this, for I had on a thick fur
coat. I strolled along, thinking deeply, when suddenly I was brought
to a standstill by a ray of light that fell right across my path.
I looked in the direction from whence it came, and was
astonished to see Esther Lane leaning out of a window a few feet
from me. The terrace at this point took an abrupt turn, and a
comparatively new part of the castle had been built out at a tangent.
She had not noticed my approach, for I wore house-shoes, which
made no noise.
She was looking at the stars as if their ceaseless splendour might
be symbolic of an inevitable dawn of happiness somewhere. They
could not have been completely reassuring, for she was weeping,
and as I stood and watched, a convulsive sob broke from her. The
picture of the forlorn little dependent, a frail white figure in the
patch of light, with the gloomy towers and battlements of
Hammerton looming round her, affected me strangely. I leant
forward over the low wall and murmured her name.
“Esther!”
She started and looked round, drawing back quickly as she saw
me clearly defined in the moonlight.
“You must not cry. It breaks my heart.”
At the moment I fully believed what I said.
Her eyes, full of tears, were turned upon me, and, with a strange
look of fear, which haunts me to this hour, she said:
“I thought I should never see you again.”
“You were going away?”
She saw that she had betrayed her intention, and tried to excuse
herself.
“It will be better.”
“Why? If you go away I shall never come here again.”
I was upon the low wall, the ground full sixty feet below me.
“Oh, go back! you will fall.”
But I had my hand on her window-sill and one foot on a ledge a
short distance below it, whilst the other remained on the wall. She
was helpless; to have attempted to stay me would have been to
send me in all probability to certain death. She clasped her hands
and held her breath. The next moment I was in the room and by her
side.
“Don’t be afraid; only I must speak to you. We must understand
each other.”
“Oh, go away, please.”
She hid her face in her hands, utterly shamed by the presence of
a man in her room.
Poor Esther! I think she was happier. I verily believe that every
woman is happier for love fulfilled. I knew that once having chosen
her path she would follow it unflinchingly, and that she would be
true as steel. I had discerned from the first that she was capable of
martyrdom. From that day she never mentioned the word marriage.
She declared ever afterwards that it was her fault, that she should
have closed her window on me, that she had accepted the position
of mistress, and that she could not complain.
At the same time, however, it was no easy task to persuade her
to remain at Hammerton. She implored me to let her come away to
London. She vowed that she would not be an encumbrance, not
even an expense. She was sure that she could get work to do,
sufficient to keep herself; but I was firm. I had at one time some
idea of letting her live at Clapham in my deserted house, but I had
always had a superstition about allowing anyone else to live in it,
otherwise I should have sold it long before. Besides, I did not see
what excuse she was to give Lady Gascoyne for wishing to leave her,
and the latter had grown so fond of her that it was not likely she
would accept her resignation without a great deal of inquiry. Esther
declared that living a lie made her feel miserable, that she was
unworthy of her charge, and ought to resign it.
Chapter XXIII
I had still made no plans as regards Lord Gascoyne and his heir. I
must confess that I had qualms about the child, which shows how
illogical and unreasoning sentiment is. It is surely a greater crime to
kill a grown individual who has a place in the practical work of the
world, and who would be missed by hundreds, than to remove an
infant whose loss could only affect his parents. It was not easy for
me to inflict pain on a child, as my fondness for children is
exceptional. The means would have to be sudden and violent, and
they were difficult to think of. It might have been made to appear
that his death had been caused through some apparent negligence
of the nurse, had not the latter been a careful old lady through
whose hands two former generations of the Hammertons had
passed. I had, unperceived, followed her in her walks with the
Gascoyne heir, and I was afraid it would be impossible to find her
careless.
I was prepared to make away with father or child first; whichever
event came most readily to hand would have to take place. A novice
might have been impatient, but experience had taught me that one
had only to watch and wait, and the opportunity would come at the
most unexpected moment.
It was nearly time for Miss Gascoyne and her uncle and aunt to
return to town. I was wondering whether they would be asked down
with me to Hammerton. It would be somewhat awkward, but I had
infinite belief in my own powers of dissimulation and tact.
In the meantime I concentrated my thoughts on little Lord
Hammerton. I had read of a child being smothered by a cat going to
sleep over its mouth. For a time the somewhat impracticable idea
possessed me of obtaining a gutta-percha baby, which I would fill
with hot water and arrange so that it could breathe mechanically,
and then train a cat to lie upon it. The weirdness and humour of the
idea commended itself to me. The far-fetched nature of the scheme,
however, became more apparent the more I considered it.
I thought I might become a proficient with the catapult, and aim
at the child unseen. In such a case the blame would probably fall on
a village boy. This, too, seemed rather far-fetched.
I had seen Hammerton’s nursery, or rather nurseries. Even a
child of his rank seldom has such a suite of apartments:—a night
and day nursery of lofty proportions, with rooms for the head-nurse
and her assistant opening off. It was the size and loftiness of the
rooms that were exceptional. Lady Gascoyne was a great enthusiast
on hygiene, and declared that fresh air was the best food a child
could have. In fact, I was not likely to be spared my unpleasant task
through any neglect of the little Viscount’s health.
My objection to inflicting pain upon a child gradually grew
weaker. Something had to be done.
I was seriously considering the matter when Providence put a
weapon into my hand.
I arrived one Saturday evening to find Lady Gascoyne somewhat
uneasy. Walter Chard was not well. Something quite trifling, no
doubt, but he was feverish.
I asked if I might go and see him, but Lady Gascoyne said that
she would rather I did not. It was always difficult to say how these
childish ailments would develop. It might be something infectious,
and she had Hammerton to think of. If anything happened to him
Lord Gascoyne would be broken-hearted.
“Miss Lane is with him,” went on Lady Gascoyne. “She absolutely
declines to allow anyone else to nurse him.”
I wondered whether Esther Lane had known that her undertaking
to nurse the child would prevent her from seeing me. For the
moment I was a little annoyed, as even the most supercilious man
will be when he imagines the woman he is thinking of very much at
the moment has found a duty which she places above her love.
‘I could not love thee, dear, so much,

Loved I not honour more,’
is very trash in the case of both sexes. People who say they cannot
love where they cannot respect are talking nonsense. Affection is
independent of and survives prejudice, which I should surmise is an
added terror in the lives of good people.
“You are not afraid of infection, are you?” asked Lady Gascoyne.
“Oh dear no, but what makes you think it is something
infectious?”
“I don’t know. I had a sort of instinct that it was so directly I
looked at Walter.”
I thought nothing more of Walter Chard during my visit except to
ask how he was.
“The doctor says he cannot decide for a few hours what is the
matter with him,” replied Lady Gascoyne.
On Monday morning, however, the Castle was thrown into a state
of the greatest consternation. The doctor pronounced him to be
suffering from scarlet fever, and Lord and Lady Gascoyne were filled
with alarm for the safety of their own child.
Walter Chard had been constantly with him, and any moment
little Lord Hammerton might develop the complaint.
The sick child was immediately secluded at the extreme end of
the castle, and a trained nurse was sent for. From the moment I
heard that it was scarlet fever my mind was at work. Supposing
Hammerton did not develop the complaint, would it be possible to
convey the infection to him?
If I could get near Walter Chard in the convalescent stage it
would be easy enough.
Of course, it did not follow that even if Lord Hammerton took the
infection he would die, but there was the chance that he might.
Lady Gascoyne talked of removing him from the castle at once,
but the doctor decided that it was not necessary.
“Our patient is too far away to do any mischief. He is for practical
purposes quite isolated, and if you disinfect the rooms he has been
living in you need not be in the least alarmed.”
On my return to town I waited a week, and then wrote to Lady
Gascoyne, saying that I hoped Lord Hammerton showed no signs of
having caught the infection. I displayed so exactly the right amount
of solicitude that on meeting Lord Gascoyne in town he greeted me,
for him, almost effusively.
“My wife was quite touched, Rank. Naturally, we were alarmed,
but I fancy it’s all right. The other little chap will soon be on the road
to recovery. Come down with me to-morrow if you are not afraid.”
It was exactly what I wanted. The chance might not again offer
itself to carry out my design. I met Lord Gascoyne at Waterloo, and
we travelled down together. It was the sort of travelling that suited
me to perfection; a saloon carriage had been reserved for us, and all
along the line we were treated like royalty.
I had been a little surprised that when he and Lady Gascoyne
attended anything in the shape of a function in the neighbourhood
of Hammerton they rode in a chariot with outriders. The effect was
singularly picturesque, and appealed to my Jewish love of colour. I
determined that if ever I succeeded I would retain the custom.
When we reached Hammerton we found Lady Gascoyne at the
station, quite radiant. Notwithstanding that the patient was at the
most infectious stage, there was very little danger, owing to the
complete way in which he had been isolated.
I was the only guest, and we retired early. I had, of course, seen
nothing of Esther Lane. As I walked on the terrace and smoked my
cigar I wondered if she were thinking of me. I paused at a spot
which was at the extreme end of one of the horns of a semicircle. At
the end opposite to me were the rooms in which she was nursing
her invalid. I stood looking at them thoughtfully. I was thinking of
what Lady Gascoyne had said as to the disease now being at its
most infectious stage. Contact, or the use of the same article, such
as a towel or a handkerchief, might convey the infection. I might be
doing something to advance my cause instead of idly puffing at my
cigar. The invalid’s rooms were several hundred feet away, and to
reach them I should have to scale a parapet some ten feet in height,
but it was no more than I could manage. I walked slowly round the
semicircle. The night was strangely mild, and it was not improbable
that the windows would be open.
I knew the apartments. They had once been occupied by a mad
Earl Gascoyne, and had in his day been securely barred.
These bars had, however, long since been removed, and I
remembered thinking the rooms almost the pleasantest in the castle.
They were some distance from the rest of the living part. When I
reached the terrace I saw that there was a narrow stone staircase
which I had not before noticed. At the top of this was an iron gate
which would have to be climbed. Just then I heard steps on the
terrace above me, and I had hardly time to draw into the shadow of
a buttress when Esther Lane appeared, leaning over the low wall
above my head. I threw down my cigar and stamped on it, for it
might have been its scent borne on the night air which had attracted
her.
She looked about her for a few seconds and went back. I waited
for an hour or so until the lights were turned down for the night. I
wondered which of the two women was watching by the bedside of
the invalid.
After a time I ascended the staircase and surveyed the iron gate
at the top. It looked rickety, and it would be difficult to climb over it
without making a noise. If the trained nurse found me it would not
be easy to explain my presence.
I climbed over the gate and dropped on to the other side. In the
still night air it rattled horribly, but no one seemed to have heard. I
had on house-shoes, and stole cautiously forward. I knew that the
temporary hospital was a large room with three windows opening to
the ground. Danger being almost out of the question here, the
windows had been left partly open. I stole cautiously forward and
looked in. By the dim light I saw the sick child lying on a bed well
out in the middle of the room. On a long, low chair by the fire lay
Esther Lane, in a white dressing-gown. I thought she looked
exceedingly beautiful, if a little worn with watching. Crossing to the
window furthest from where she lay, and having quite assured
myself that she was asleep, I entered cautiously and looked round. I
went first to the door that I knew gave on to the corridor. Luckily,
the key was on the inside, and I locked it. There was another door
leading to an inner room, which made me a little anxious, as I
concluded that it was occupied by the nurse. It had no key, and I
quietly placed a chair in front of it. Noiselessly I stole towards the
bed. The child’s flushed face was resting on his hand, in which was
clasped a handkerchief. This was the very thing I wanted, and with
infinite care I managed to unclasp the little fingers and draw it forth
without waking him. Wrapping it in my own handkerchief, I thrust
them both into my pocket.
I had just finished and was turning away when I became aware
that Esther Lane’s eyes were slowly opening upon me.
Luckily she did not cry out, but rose quickly with a half-
smothered exclamation. As I went swiftly but silently to her I heard
the boy stir in the bed behind me, and we both stood waiting in
suspense to see if he would wake. Luckily he only murmured once or
twice, and sank to sleep again. I was near the light, however, and
ready to extinguish it at once should he show the least sign of
waking. When his regular breathing had reassured me I drew her on
to the terrace.
“I was obliged to come,” I murmured passionately. “I had to see
you.”
“You should not have done it,” she said helplessly.—“you should
not have done it.”
“I am very sorry.”
I took my cue and passed into the mood of the reckless, love-sick
youth. I knew that to feel a passion is the only way to be convincing.
“It is dangerous, and most dangerous now.” She began to weep;
she was evidently unstrung from watching. I drew her away into a
sheltered corner of the battlements, where the moon made it almost
as light as day.
I told her that I was only happy when I was with her, and that all
my days in London were given up to thinking of her. The poor child
believed me. It appeared that she had been attempting to make
some expiation for what she considered the betrayal of Lady
Gascoyne’s confidence by her devotion to Walter Chard during his
illness.
I held her in my arms, and we remained perfectly happy and in
silence for a long time. She certainly stirred my blood to an
extraordinary degree.
She was terrified lest my visit should convey infection to the rest
of the household. I reassured her. At the same time, her having seen
me was very awkward. Hers was a character which, impelled by
conscience, might be capable of all sorts of extraordinary things,
great renunciations and burning sacrifices. I held out a vague
promise of taking her to London and allowing her to a certain extent
to share in my life. This filled her with a guilty delight, and she clung
to me with a sigh. Love in its fierce, personal aspect meant more to
her than to any woman I have ever met.
The poor little soul went back and procured some strong stuff
with which she instructed me to disinfect my clothing.
I returned to my room almost laughing with glee at having the
handkerchief from the sick boy’s bed with me.
When I reached my bedroom I packed the two handkerchiefs
carefully up in several layers of paper and then went to bed. Of
course, I had to reckon with the fact that I might take the infection,
but I will do myself the justice to say that at no time during my
career have I been much affected by a consideration for my own
safety. It has always appeared to me that an absolute disregard for
my life was the only method on which to proceed.
The next morning I excused myself from accompanying Lord and
Lady Gascoyne to church. Lady Gascoyne quite sympathised with
me.
“A gallop will do you much more good.”
I thanked her, but said I preferred a tramp.
As soon as they had walked over to the church I made my way to
Lord Hammerton’s nursery. I was no stranger to it, and was a
favourite with the nurses. The little viscount knew me quite well, and
crowed directly I appeared.
Old Mrs. Howick looked at me indulgently as I took the child in
my arms. After a time she went into the inner room, leaving me in
possession for a few minutes. I hastily took out of my pocket the
handkerchief, which was still wrapped in my own, and let it fall
across the child’s face. He clutched it with two little fat hands, and I
allowed him to play with it, and then thrust it in between his frock
and his chest and left it there. I had previously taken good care to
ascertain that it was unmarked, and was not likely to be recognised.
When the nurse came back I was still playing with the child, and
she took him from me and dressed him for his morning’s outing
without discovering the presence of the handkerchief.
I then went for a long tramp through the woods, laughing at
myself for what I could not help feeling to be a piece of absurdity.
On my return to the house I went again to the nursery. The little
viscount was asleep, and I managed to extract the handkerchief and
lay it where the air he was breathing must pass over it. Then I
removed it, and congratulated myself that I had left no foolish clue
whereby my action might be identified. Mrs. Howick was delighted at
my attentions, and told Lady Gascoyne that she never had seen his
lordship take to anyone as he had taken to me. Inwardly I hoped
that he might take to the infection with even greater ardour.
There was still the question of Esther Lane to be dealt with, if it
were possible to deal with it at all. If the child should fall ill she
would be sure to think of me and find out whether I had been to
visit him. As is always the case, my romantic susceptibilities had
landed me in a position of danger which all my other intrigues had
not done. If Esther Lane should tell the truth, my entire house of
cards would fall to the ground. The telling of the truth would involve
a general exposure. It would mean farewell to Miss Gascoyne, and
also the shutting of the gates of Hammerton Castle in my face,
which would be a far more fatal obstacle to my success.
I did not bless the day on which I had met Esther Lane, and
further cursed my own weakness. This is a habit of men when they
have obtained their desire.
I should have remembered the dictum of a celebrated
countryman of my own, which prophesies material doom for those
who are unable to control their affections. He should perhaps have
substituted another word for affections.
There were no measures for self-protection to be taken as far as
I could see. My strongest card was Esther’s love for me, and if that
were not strong enough to prevent her betraying me, nothing would.
I had wit enough to see that it was likely to prove a still stronger
weapon if I kept away from her.
I waited some days, and read one morning in a halfpenny paper
which deals in such tittle-tattle that Lord and Lady Gascoyne were in
the greatest anxiety about their only child, the heir to the title, who
was suffering from a severe attack of scarlet fever.
I had had several false alarms as to whether I myself had not
caught the infection, and having gone to bed one evening feeling
very seedy and convinced that I had, was not a little relieved on
waking the next morning to find myself perfectly well.
I wrote a note of sympathy to Lady Gascoyne, and the same day
received a wild letter of self-reproach from Esther Lane. She accused
herself of being a murderess, and of having betrayed Lady
Gascoyne’s confidence in the most despicable manner. There was
only one way out of her misery, she declared, and that was by
suicide. I hardly dared hope that she would take any step so drastic,
or so convenient. I was much reassured as to my own safety by her
imploring me not to write to her, as she did not know what might
happen, and if her correspondence were opened it might involve my
ruin, and she blamed nobody but herself.
The unexpected happened. Lord Hammerton died, and I was
now very near the succession indeed.
This was the time to strike. Whatever happened, Lord Gascoyne
must go, and as quickly as possible.
I was asked down to the funeral. Lady Gascoyne wrote me a
heart-broken letter, recalling the fondness of the dead child for me.
Mr. and Mrs. Gascoyne and Edith had returned to London the day
before the catastrophe.
“It seems, Israel,” said Mr. Gascoyne, “as if the direct line were
doomed to extinction. I sincerely pray that the title may never pass
to me. It would be really very inconvenient at my time of life and
with all my other interests. It is not likely, however, for my life is not
as good a one as most people imagine.”
I looked at him earnestly. This was the first I had heard of his
health being anything but exceedingly good.
He interpreted my glance in his own way.
“Don’t be alarmed, Israel. Nothing immediate is likely to happen,
but my doctor tells me my heart is not the sound organ it ought to
be, and that I must be very careful.”
“You must leave as much of the work to me as possible, sir,” I
said feelingly.
“So I do, so I do, Israel; but you don’t want to turn me out
altogether, do you?”
I looked hurt.
“My dear boy,” he continued good-humouredly, “I should not
have ventured to take so long a holiday if I had not had you to
depend on. Let us go to lunch and talk things over.”
I found that talking things over meant that he was anxious to
make matters easier for my marriage, and, in fact, he made them so
easy that Miss Gascoyne and I were able to fix a date within two
months of their return.
Once we were married I did not mind so much what Edith
discovered. Nevertheless, I had to admit that if I was frightened of
anybody I was frightened of my future wife. I had imagined at one
time that it would be possible to live with her on quite a dignified,
unfamiliar footing, but I had now realised what I ought to have
guessed before, that Miss Gascoyne to the man she loved was very
different from the woman the world knew. Perhaps that is a wrong
way of putting it. She was English, and a certain self-consciousness
towards the world at large was born of a morbid dread of betraying
the strength of her nature to the vulgar.
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