but
she had impressed Emily with an admiration for her practical good
sense and proper feeling. The lady who was a lady had begun to
feel that in the troubles of her life she might find a much less
satisfactory companion than the lady who was not a lady. She would do
as Mrs. Parker had told her. She would not be afraid. Of course it
was right that she should speak on such a matter. She knew herself
to be an obedient wife. She had borne all her unexpected sorrows
without a complaint, with a resolve that she would bear all for his
sake,--not because she loved him, but because she had made herself
his wife. Into whatever calamities he might fall, she would share
them. Though he should bring her utterly into the dirt, she would
remain in the dirt with him. It seemed probable to her that it might
be so,--that they might have to go into the dirt;--and if it were
so, she would still be true to him. She had chosen to marry him, and
she would be his true wife. But, as such, she would not be afraid of
him. Mrs. Parker had told her that "a woman should never be afraid
of 'em," and she believed in Mrs. Parker. In this case, too, it was
clearly her duty to speak,--for the injury being done was terrible,
and might too probably become tragical. How could she endure to think
of that woman and her children, should she come to know that the
husband of the woman and the father of the children had been ruined
by her husband?

Yes,--she would speak to him. But she did fear. It is all very well
for a woman to tell herself that she will encounter some anticipated
difficulty without fear,--or for a man either. The fear cannot be
overcome by will. The thing, however, may be done, whether it be
leading a forlorn hope, or speaking to an angry husband,--in spite
of fear. She would do it; but when the moment for doing it came, her
very heart trembled within her. He had been so masterful with her,
so persistent in repudiating her interference, so exacting in his
demands for obedience, so capable of making her miserable by his
moroseness when she failed to comply with his wishes, that she could
not go to her task without fear. But she did feel that she ought not
to be afraid, or that her fears, at any rate, should not be allowed
to restrain her. A wife, she knew, should be prepared to yield, but
yet was entitled to be her husband's counsellor. And it was now the
case that in this matter she was conversant with circumstances which
were unknown to he