God forbid that it should ever come
to that, both for his sake and for hers; and, above all, for the
sake of that boy who was so dear to them both! But there would be
the vile whispers, and dirty slanders would be dropped from envious
tongues into envious ears, and minds prone to evil would think evil
of him and of his. Had not Lady Milborough already cautioned him?
Oh, that he should have lived to have been cautioned about his
wife, that he should be told that eyes outside had looked into the
sacred shrine of his heart and seen that things there were fatally
amiss! And yet Lady Milborough was quite right. Had he not in his
hand at this moment a document that proved her to be right? 'Dear
Emily'! He took this note and crushed it in his fist and then
pulled it into fragments.
But what should he do? There was, first of all considerations, the
duty which he owed to his wife, and the love which he bore her. That
she was ignorant and innocent he was sure; but then she was so
contumacious that he hardly knew how to take a step in the direction
of guarding her from the effects of her ignorance, and maintaining
for her the advantages of her innocence.
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