titled, he had lost that too, and consequently
we remained penniless. This much I heard with indifference; the money he
received had never benefited me, and had only given him the means for a
life you cannot imagine, and which I could not, if I would, describe to
you; but when he ended by telling me that, as all my relations were
rich, I must contrive to get fresh supplies from some of them, my
patience gave way altogether. Even my fear of him yielded to my anger;
for the first time since our arrival in Canada I spoke to him with all
the bitterness I felt. A horrible scene followed--he threatened to kill
me, and I believe would have done it but for the hope of yet obtaining
money by my means. I tried to escape, but could not; and, at last, when
he was tired of torturing me, he took off a long red sash which he wore,
and tied me to the bed. There, Lucia, for four-and-twenty hours he kept
me a prisoner, standing in a constrained attitude, without rest or food.
How I endured so long without fainting, I do not know; fear of something
worse must have given me unnatural strength, for he never left the
house, but spent the early part of the day in searching all my cupboards
and boxes for money or anything worth money, and the later part in
drinking. Mr. Strafford had gone over to the Canadian shore, or
probably, missing me from the school, he would have come in search of
me. Mary did come, but at the sight of my husband, she went away without
knowing anything of me. All night he sat drinking, for he had brought a
quantity of whisky home some time before, and towards morning he lay
down for a while, but so that I could not move without disturbing him.
After two or three hours' sleep he got up and went away, leaving me
still tied, and telling me I had better think of what he had said, and
make up my mind to get money in some way. When I heard the sound of his
paddle, and knew that he was really gone, the force that had sustained
me gave way; I fainted, and in falling, the sash happily broke, though
not until one of my wrists was badly sprained. The pain of my wrist
brought me back to consciousness. As soon as I could, I wrapped myself
in a shawl and went to Mary's cottage, to ask her to bandage it for me,
and to take my excuses to the school, where I was quite unable to go
that day.

"No one, not even Mr. Strafford, knew the cause of my sprained wrist,
or the conduct of my husband that day and night, but it was impossible
that w