a party to the matter, I have called to see you on
the subject. I regret, exceedingly, that any misunderstanding has
occurred, and do not intend that either myself or family shall take
sides in so painful an affair. All that I can do, however, to heal
the difficulty, shall be done cheerfully."

"What does she say?" asked Lane, when he had composed himself.

"She makes no specific complaint."

"What does she propose doing?"

"She avows her intention of living separate from you, and supporting
herself and child by her own efforts."

This declaration aroused a feeling of indignant pride in the
husband's mind. "It is my child as well as hers," said he. "She may
desert me, if she will; but she cannot expect me to give up my
child. To that I will never submit."

"My dear sir," said Mr. Edmondson, "do not permit your mind to
chafe, angrily, over this unhappy matter. That will widen not heal,
the breach. In affairs of this kind, pardon me for the remark, there
are always faults on both sides; and the duty of each is to put away
his or her own state of anger and antagonism and seek to reconcile
the other, rather than to compel submission. As a man, you have the
advantage of a stronger and clearer judgment,--exercise it as a man.
Feeling and impulse often rule in a woman's mind, from the very
nature of her mental conformation; and we should remember this when
we pass judgment on her actions. There is often more honour in
yielding a point than in contending for it to the end, in the face
of threatened disaster. Let me then urge you to seek a reconciliation,
while there is yet opportunity, and permit the veil of oblivion to
fall, while it may, over this painful event. As yet, the fact has not
passed from the knowledge of myself and wife. Heal the breach, and
the secret remains where it is."

"If she will return, I will receive her, and forgive and forget all.
Will you say this to her from me?"

"Why not go to her at once? See her face to face. This is the best
and surest way."

"No," said Lane, coldly. "She has left me of her own choice; and,
now, she must return. I gave her no cause for the rash act. Enough
for me that I am willing to forgive and forget all this. But I am
not the man to humble myself at the feet of a capricious woman. It
is not in me."

"Mr. Lane, you are wrong!" said the visitor, in a decided tone. "All
wrong. Do you believe that your wife would have fled from you
without a real or imagined cause?"