eye as malevolent as a demon.

"She reached out her hand toward the bell.

"'What are you going to do?' I asked.

"'Ring for my maid,' said she.

[Illustration: "VERY WELL. HERE IT IS."]

"'Don't,' said I, getting between her and the bell. 'Think; stop, I
implore you. This is our last chance for a reconciliation.'

"She stepped back with a cruel smile. She had a small penknife in her
hand. Her eyes glittered venomously.

"'Reconciliation,' she said, with a sneer. '_I_ don't want it; _I_
don't want _you. You_ came and forced yourself here. Ring for my maid,
and I will let her show you the door.'

"'You can't mean it?' I said.

"'I do mean it,' she replied. 'Ring the bell,' she added, imperiously.

"I stood looking at her.

"'Leave the room, then,' she said.

"'I must have a satisfactory answer,' said I.

"'Very well,' said she. 'Here it is.'

"And saying this she took the penknife by the blade, between her thumb
and finger, and slung it at me. It struck me on the arm, and buried
itself deep in the flesh till it touched the bone. I drew it out, and
without another word left the room. As I went out I heard her
summoning the maid in a loud, stern voice.

"Well, after that I went to the Continent, and spent about six months.
Then I returned.

"On my return I found every thing changed. She had sent off all the
servants, and brought there a lot of ruffians whom she was unable to
manage, and who threw every thing into confusion. All the gentry
talked of her, and avoided the place. My friends greeted me with
strange, pitying looks. She had cut down most of the woods, and sold
the timber; she had sent off a number of valuable pictures and sold
them. This was to get money, for I afterward found out that avarice
was one of her strongest vices.

"The sight of all this filled me with indignation, and I at once
turned out the whole lot of servants, leaving only two or three maids.
I obtained some of the old servants, and reinstated them. All this
made my wife quite wild. She came up to me once and began to storm,
but I said something to her which shut her up at once.

"One day I came home and found her on the portico, in her
riding-habit. She was whipping one of the maids with the butt end of
her riding-whip. I rushed up and released the poor creature, whose
cries were really heart-rending, when my wife turned on me, like a
fury, and struck two blows over my head. One of the scars is on my
forehead still. See.