Lady Merivale never visited Barminster Castle again. She had succeeded
in convincing her husband of the harmless nature of her flirtation with
Adrien, and patiently bore the brunt of his very natural resentment at
the publicity accorded to his name at the trial; though he acknowledged
that under the circumstances she could have done nothing else but come
forward to exonerate Leroy. Then her ladyship retired into the country
with her husband, who was greatly gratified in the dutiful interest she
showed in him and his farm. All love of intrigue seemed to have died out
when her flirtation with Adrien ended, nor was it ever revived.
Society also lost its fashionable monarch, as far as Leroy was
concerned. The vow that he had registered beside the dead body of the
girl who had so loved him, was religiously kept. He disappeared from his
former place in the world of amusement, and the devotees of pleasure
knew him no more.
After the funeral, he stayed on at Barminster Castle for a time, with
his father and Lady Constance; but, with the consent of both, he
departed a few months later for Africa, on a big-game shooting
expedition.
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