That wretched being, Mr. Darrell, seems also to have written to
her, trying to save himself through her. And the only time I saw
her laugh was when she spoke of having had a furious letter from
Lady Grosville about the references to Grosville Park. It was like
the laugh of a mischievous, unhappy child.

"Then we came back to the main matter, and I implored her to let me
take her home. First I gave her your letter. She read it, flushed
up, and threw it away from her. 'He commands me!' she said,
fiercely. 'But I am no one's chattel.' I replied that you had only
summoned her back to her duty and her home, and I asked her if she
could really mean to repay your unfailing love by bringing anguish
and dishonor upon you? She sat dumb, and her stubbornness moved me
so that I fear I lost my self-control and said more, much more--in
denunciation of her conduct--than I had meant to do. She heard me
out, and then she got up and looked at me very bitterly and
strangely. I had never loved her, she said, and so I could not
judge her. Always from the beginning I had thought her unfit to be
your wife, and she had known it, and my dislike of her, especially
during the past year, had made her hard and reckless. It had seemed
no use trying. I just wanted her dead, that you might marry a wife
who would be a help and not a stumbling-block. Well, I should have
my wish, for she would soon be as good as dead, both to you and to
me.

"All this hurt me deeply, and I could not restrain myself from
crying. I felt so helpless, and so doubtful whether I had not done
more harm than good. Then she softened a little, and asked me to
let her go to bed--she would think it all over and write to me in
the morning....

"So, my dear William, I can only pray and wait. I am afraid there
is but little hope, but God is merciful and strong. He may yet save
us all.

"But whatever happens, remember that you have nothing to reproach
yourself with--that you have done all that man could do. I should
telegraph to you in the morning to say, 'Come, at all hazards,' but
that I feel sure all will be settled to-morrow one way or the
other. Either Kitty will start with me--or she will go with
Geoffrey Cliffe. You could do nothing--absolutely nothing. God help
us! She seems to have some money