d declared his
determination to annul the marriage by furnishing infamous testimony
against my character.

"After her departure a man who acted as agent for General Laurance
called to negotiate for a separation, advising me to make the best
terms in my power, as it was useless for me to attempt to cope with
General Laurance, who would mercilessly crush me if necessary, by the
publication of disgraceful slanders which my 'old lover Peleg
Peterson' had sworn to prove in open court. He offered me five
thousand dollars and my passage to San Francisco, on condition of my
renouncing all claim to the hand and name of Cuthbert Laurance. My
husband he assured me had reached his father's house in a state of
intoxication; and had since become convinced of my unworthiness, and
of the necessity of severing for ever all connection with me. Not for
an instant did I credit him. It seemed a vile machination, and I
scornfully rejected all overtures for separation, proclaiming my
resolution to assert and maintain my rights as a lawful wife. It was
open war, and how they derided my proud demand for recognition!

"Mr. Audre left college the week after Cuthbert was called so
unexpectedly away, and disappeared; and grandmother died suddenly
with rheumatism of the heart, when only a few miles distant from the
harbour of her destination. Peleg audaciously proposed that we should
ignore the empty worthless marriage ceremony, accept the Laurance
bribe, and go away to the far west, where we might begin life anew.
He told me my husband believed me unworthy, that he had convinced him
I would dishonour his noble name, and that my reputation was at his
own mercy. In my amazement and horror I defied him, dared him to do
his worst; and recklessly he accepted the rash challenge. Leaving no
clue (as I imagined), I secretly quitted the village, where gossip
was busy with my name, and went to New York. My scanty means rapidly
melted away, and I hired myself as a seamstress in a wealthy family.
Not even at this stage of affairs did I lose faith in my husband, and
bravely I confronted the knowledge that at no distant period I should
be forced to provide for a helpless infant.

"One day, in going down a steep flight of steps, with a heavy waiter
in my hands, I missed my footing, fell, and was picked up senseless
on the tiled floor at the foot of the stairs. A physician living near
was called in, and as I was only the seamstress, the information he
gave my