ull by the horns, must abandon his great career and his
country and seek refuge in another land, say America, taking Beatrice
and Effie with him. Once the child was out of the jurisdiction, of
course no court could force her from him.

Of the two courses, even in so far as he himself was concerned, what
between the urgency of the matter and the unceasing pressure of his
passion, Geoffrey inclined to the latter. The relations between himself
and Honoria had for years been so strained, so totally different
from those which should exist between man and wife, that they greatly
mitigated in his mind the apparent iniquity of such a step. Nor would he
feel much compunction at removing the child from her mother, for
there was no love lost between the two, and as time went on he guessed
shrewdly there would be less and less. For the rest, he had some
seventeen thousand pounds in hand; he would take half and leave Honoria
half. He knew that he could always earn a living wherever he went, and
probably much more than a living, and of whatever he earned a strict
moiety should be paid to Honoria. But first and above everything, there
was Beatrice to be considered. She must be saved, even if he ruined
himself to save her.

Lady Honoria, it is scarcely necessary to say, had little idea that she
was driving her husband to such dangerous and determined councils. She
wanted to frighten Geoffrey, not to lose him and all he meant to her;
this was the last thing that she would wish to do. She did not greatly
care about the Beatrice incident, but her shrewd common sense told her
that it might well be used as an engine to ruin them all. Therefore she
spoke as she did speak, though in reality matters would have to be bad
indeed before she sought the aid of a court of law, where many things
concerning herself might come to the light of day which she would prefer
to leave in darkness.

Nor did she stop here; she determined to attack Geoffrey's position in
another way, namely, through Beatrice herself. For a long time Honoria
hesitated as to the method of this attack. She had some knowledge of the
world and of character, and from what she knew of Beatrice she came
to the sound conclusion that she was not a woman to be threatened, but
rather one to be appealed to. So after much thought she wrote to her
thus:--

"A story, which I still hesitate to believe, has come to me by means of
anonymous letters, as to your conduct with my husband. I do not