Harland_Jessamine.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
lace, lawn, and flannel yonder."
, inwardly provoked at the irreverent and in-
elegant description of the royal cherub, could yet respond,
with apparent composure.
" does it from a sense of duty, or a desire to please,
probably."
followed the direction of the wife's scornful eyea.
. 381
folding- doors were open, and through the arch,
way, they had a view of the mother, tempting her boy
with a flower she had taken from a bouquet, near by,
laughing at his open mouth, starting eyes, and fluttering
arms, as he tried to seize it. had approached her
while his wife was speaking to ; accosted her be-
fore she was aware of his vicinity. remark, deliv-
ered with his most insinuating smile, and in his inimita-
ble manner, was evidently a compliment to the beauty of
the child ; but she met it with lightness bordering upon
contempt. the flower, she lifted the babe from
his temporary throne on the stuffed back of an easy chair,
and walked away.
. tittered shrilly, and clapped her hands.
" decided rebuff ! " she sneered, more loudly than
good breeding would have counselled. " is strange.
, that your lady-killer is so slow to learn the
mortifying fact that he ceases to be irresistible when he
has been guilty of the mistake of matrimony.''
, nervously sensitive to her tones, heard and saw
her, while he affected to do neither ; saw, likewise, by
whom she was standing, and that she showed beside her
neighbor as a tawdry, artificial rose, faded and tumbled,
does when near a stately, living lily.
and admitting all this, he heaved an inaudible
sigh that did not touch his eyes or chasten his careless
smile. inward moan was not '^ miserable "
or " that was 1 " or anything else poetical or tragic ;
but " could have afforded it ! "
" fair will wear better than mia ca/ra sposa ! "
he owned, candidly. " money outlasts beauty, and
is more necessary to a man's happiness. is only a
382 .
liixuiy; an indulgence too costly for the enjoyment of
most wedded pairs. eyes and a profile wonld
not have paid my debts, nor the future claims of carriage
makers, and horse-jockeys, and yacht-builders. !
have done all that man could, in the like circumstances-
bread buttered on both sides by , than a dry
slice with ."
owed no grudge ; found placid satis-
faction in reviewing their intercourse, akin to that he ex-
perienced in the contemplation of a fine, m^zzo-tinto en-
graving or a moonlit landscape. irritated and
piqued him. her gay insensibility were bravado, he
would yet make her drop the mask. wife was right
in afiirming that the passion for conquest was not extinct
after a year of married bliss.
" did worship me in those daysl " he ruminated.
" me madly and entirely, as men are seldom
loved, as few women are capable of loving. she
take me for an idiot in supposing that credit the
thoroughness of her cure ! "
in a desultory way through the rooms, bowing
to this, and exchanging a pleasant word with that one of
the friends collected to do honor to the infant scion of
the house, he contrived to waylay in the hall.
had transferred the baby to the nurse's care, and was re-
turning to her guests. tierce impulse possessed as
he marked her happy face, flushed by excitement into
loveliness that had never been hers in her girlhood.
was passing him vriith a slight and nonchalant bow, when
he arrested her.
" speak with you for a moment ? "
. 383
"?'' she said, dubiously, looking toward . the
parlors crowded with company.
^^Now! can wait no longer 1 any one in the
library?"
she could reply, he had pushed the door back,
and led her in. room was not needed for the use of
the guests, and was unlighted except by the low fire in the
gmte.
" will light the gas 1 " said , trying to withdraw
her hand from his clutch.
tightened the grasp. is said that every man is a
savage at some time of his life. brutish devil was
rampant now in the polished citizen of the world, the in-
dolent epicure. he were ever to regain his lost influ-
ence, it must be by a coup d^dtat by threats, rather than
flattery. would show her what she risked in attempt-
ing to dupe and foil him. desperate expedient, but
the case was not a hopeful one.
" affectation of prudery is this?" he asked,
roughly. " was when you were less scrupulous about
granting me interviews in the firelight. you imagine,
silly child, that your overacted farce of wifely devotion
blinds me as it does the fools you have called together to-
night to witness this pretty display of domestic felicity ?
" his tone changing suddenly " that any amount of
coldness and cruelty can extinguish my love for you?
the love you once confessed in my arms was recipro-
cated by yourself, then the betrothed of him, who now
believes you to be his loyal consort ? have found it
an easy task to deceive him, because it is not in him to
worship you as do. may struggle to escape from
me, but you know am speaking the truth, and leaving
884 .
half of it untold. 't drive me to distraction,
or shall divulge that which your husband, with all his
phlegmatic philosophy, may resent. , possibly,
upon me-^ertainly upon you-in treatment you wiU find
it hard to bear. have warned you before, that generous
forgiveness of an offence to his dignity and self-love is a
height of virtue unknown to . warn you
that you are dealing with a desperate, because a miserable
man ! "
" is a specimen of the superior manliness, the
lofty magnanimity you vaunt as your characteristics is
it?''
had wrested her hand from him. faint, red
glare revealed the outlines of a figure drawn up to its
full height, and instinct with anger and defiance.
clear accents were stinging hailstones.
" am not afraid of you, if do shrink from your
touch. am glad you have given me this opportunity to
say what you ought to know. played upon my inex-
perience and loneliness, when was committed a too
trustful child to your care by my betrothed and my
father. tampered with my active imagination and
my credulity_, until you wrought in my mind false and
florid views of life ; and when your train was ready to
be fired, insinuated suspicions which you knew were
groundless 1 of 's honor, and his fidelity to
me."
" suggested no suspicions ! " he interrupted.
" nourished the germs planted by 's
slander. when did not know where, or upon what
stood; when my brain was teeming with unhealthy
fancies, and my heart sick with fever and thirst, you
. 385
offered me what yon called love dragged from me the
admission that it was returned."
" perfect frankness is the order of the day, allow
me to observe that the * dragging ' was not a difficult
process 1 " interjected , offensively.
" am willing to allow your amendment;-^if yon will
consent to have me repeat this story in detail to all who
are assembled in the other room," she returned, undaunted.
" should enjoy the task, because it would pave the way
for an avowal should exult in proclaiming to the uni-
verse. is that value the least hair of my husband's
head more than ever did you body, soul, and what you
denominate as your heart; that had rather serve him
as a bond-slave, and never receive a word or glance of
affection, if might live near and for him than to reign
an at your side ; that never comprehend the
height, depth and fulness of his condescension and love
at any other time as when reflect that these are bestowed
upon a woman who was once misled into the conviction
that yon were a true man, and that she cared for you.
stand ready to say all this and more. am no weak
girl, now, to be terrified by bugbears. is a per-
f ectness, even of human love, that casteth out fear.
forget this when you threaten me with my husband's
displeasure."
laughed, and all the comers of the quiet room
caught up the mirthful echoes.
" , if stood where you do, could tell him all
you have said, without a blush or tremor. have
never done this, you owe to my reluctance to betray to
him the baseness of one in whose veins runs the same
blood as in his. would spare him the pain and shame
17
886 .
of seeing you for what you are. wish he knew
everything 1 "
" think he does 1"
she wscS speaking, a shape had loomed into mo-
tion from a recess formed by two bookcases at the further
end of the library, and was now at her side. her hus-
band's voice greeted her astonished ears, she felt his sup-
porting arm about her.
" , my darling 1 " he said, at her stifled scream.
" came in for a book just before you entered.
hearing . ' preliminary remark thought it best
to let you vindicate yourself without my help. that
needed to hear your justification, but meant that he
should. will go back to our friends, now.
tell , that you are waiting to take her home % '*
to .
" you please,'' was the equally formal reply.
week later, brought . a
piece of startling news.
" is certainly true 1 " she insisted, as the other looked
her incredulity, " house and furniture are offered
for sale. is very doubtful when they will return.
may reside abroad for years ^take up their perma-
nent abode in . . affects to treat the plan
as one they have been considering this great while, but
there are queer stories afloat. is indiscreet, you
know. had a violent scene in the hearing of the
servants on their return from the ' christening
party. most unlikely, but a popular, rumor is that
was furiously jealous of her husband's attentions
to , or her sister, that night. threatened to
. 387
leave him, and go home to her father, unless he would
take his oath never to speak to either of them again/'
" may well say ^unlikely!'" . said,
eyeing the doctor apprehensively, as he sat up to his eye-
brows in a book at a distant mndow. " are going
to , you say % '^
doctor had lowered his volimie, let go his cravat,
and pushed up his spectacles.
" says, and is in ecstasies (apparently) at the
prospect. for . , he professes to think
society a very wishy-washy affair compared
with circles."
" ! " snorted the doctor. " could not
choose more wisely and consistently. is the world's
repertory of gilded shams 1 "
tied a double knot in his handkerchief.