. The circumstances we
have detailed were exceedingly painful to the parties most
interested; but their effect, like the surgeon's knife, was
salutary. Mr. Lane afterwards regarded his wife from an entirely
different point of view, and found her a very different woman from
what he had at first believed her to be. He saw in her a strength of
character and a clearness of intellect for which he had never given
her credit; and, from looking down upon her as a child or an
inferior, came to feel towards her as an equal.

His indignation at the treatment she had received in Philadelphia
was extreme. The man named Bond he knew very well, and he at first
determined to call him to account personally; but as this would lead
to a mortifying notoriety and exposure of the whole affair, he was
reluctantly induced to keep silence. Bond has never crossed his way
since: it might not be well for him to do so.

Some years have passed. No one who meets Mr. and Mrs. Lane, at home
or abroad, would dream that, at one time, they were driven asunder
by a strong repulsion. Few are more deeply attached, or happier in
their domestic relations; but neither trespasses on the other's
rights, nor interferes with the other's prerogative. Mutual
deference, confidence, respect, and love, unite them with a bond
that cannot again be broken.

THE INVALID WIFE.

"MY poor head! It seems as if it would burst!" murmured Mrs. Bain,
as she arose from a stooping position, and clasped her temples with
both hands. She was engaged in dressing a restless, fretful child,
some two or three years old. Two children had been washed and
dressed, and this was the last to be made ready for breakfast.

As Mrs. Bain stood, with pale face, closed eyes, and tightly
compressed lips, still clasping her throbbing temples, the bell
announcing the morning meal was rung. The sound caused her to start,
and she said, in a low and fretful voice--

"There's the breakfast bell; and Charley isn't ready yet; nor have I
combed my hair. How my head does ache! I am almost blind with the
pain."

Then she resumed her work of dressing Charley, who struggled, cried,
and resisted, until she was done.

Mr. Bain was already up and dressed. He was seated in the parlour,
enjoying his morning paper, when the breakfast bell rang. The moment
he heard the sound, he threw down his newspaper, and, leaving the
parlour, ascended to the dining-room. His two oldest children were
there, ready to