the wife
was neither expected nor desired. There lay my letters with their seals
unbroken. I know all _his_ letters by heart, Mr. Triplet. The seals
unbroken--unbroken! Mr. Triplet."

"It is abominable!" cried Triplet fiercely. "And she who sat in my
seat--in his house, and in his heart--was this lady, the actress you so
praised to me?"

"That lady, ma'am," said Triplet, "has been deceived as well as you."

"I am convinced of it," said Mabel.

"And it is my painful duty to tell you, madam, that, with all her
talents and sweetness, she has a fiery temper; yes, a very fiery
temper," continued Triplet, stoutly, though with an uneasy glance in
a certain direction; "and I have reason to believe she is angry, and
thinks more of her own ill-usage than yours. Don't you go near her.
Trust to my knowledge of the sex, madam; I am a dramatic writer. Did you
ever read the 'Rival Queens'?"

"No."

"I thought not. Well, madam, one stabs the other, and the one that is
stabbed says things to the other that are more biting than steel. The
prudent course for you is to keep apart, and be always cheerful, and
welcome him with a smile--and--have you read 'The Way to keep him'?"

"No, Mr. Triplet," said Mabel, firmly, "I cannot feign. Were I to
attempt talent and deceit, I should be weaker than I am now. Honesty and
right are all my strength. I will cry to her for justice and mercy. And
if I cry in vain, I shall die, Mr. Triplet, that is all."

"Don't cry, dear lady," said Triplet, in a broken voice.

"It is impossible!" cried she, suddenly. "I am not learned, but I can
read faces. I always could, and so could my Aunt Deborah before me. I
read you right, Mr. Triplet, and I have read her too. Did not my heart
warm to her among them all? There is a heart at the bottom of all her
acting, and that heart is good and noble."

"She is, madam! she is! and charitable too. I know a family she saved
from starvation and despair. Oh, yes! she has a heart--to feel for the
_poor,_ at all events."

"And am I not the poorest of the poor?" cried Mrs. Vane. "I have
no father nor mother, Mr. Triplet; my husband is all I have in the
world--all I _had,_ I mean."

Triplet, deeply affected himself, stole a look at Mrs. Woffington. She
was pale; but her face was composed into a sort of dogged obstinacy.
He was disgusted with her. "Madam," said he, sternly, "there is a wild
beast more cruel and savage than wolves and bears; it is called 'a
rival,' and