It had been his misfortune, he said, to marry at Quebec
in early life a woman whose reputation proved to be in every way bad
and scandalous. The discovery had nearly killed him; but he had
ultimately separated from her, and had never seen her since. He had
hoped and prayed she might be dead; but recently in London, when
they were starting on this journey, he had discovered that she was
still alive. At first he had decided to keep this dark intelligence
from her beloved ears; but he had felt that he could not do it. All
he hoped was that such a condition of things would make no
difference in her feelings for him, as it need make no difference in
the course of their lives.
Thereupon the spirit of this proud and masterful lady showed itself
in violent turmoil, like the raging of a nor'-west thunderstorm--as
well it might, God knows. But she was of too stout a nature to be
broken down by his revelation, as many ladies of my acquaintance
would have been--so far from home, and right under the Line in the
blaze o' the sun. Of the two, indeed, he was the more wretched and
shattered in spirit, for he loved her deeply, and (there being a
foreign twist in his make) had been tempted to this crime by her
exceeding beauty, against which he had struggled day and night, till
he had no further resistance left in him. It was she who came first
to a decision as to what should be done--whether a wise one I do not
attempt to judge.
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