, and totally neglected his
wife. She at first tried to win him back by increased tenderness, but
he spurned it; then by tears and entreaties, but he derided them. As a
last effort, she tried to pique him by coldness--this pleased him
best, for it relieved him from her presence. He made no attempt to
conceal his dislike and contempt for his unhappy helpmate, or to throw
a veil over his irregularities and dissipation. He had been much
disappointed in the discovery that he could not obtain possession of
any of the capital of his wife's fortune; and the sale of his
commission, which was soon arranged, proved far from sufficient to
meet the liabilities awaiting him on his return to England. This
knowledge of the nature of the settlement was the ostensible ground of
a quarrel with his wife, which ended in her returning to her uncle's
house, and his establishing himself at a fashionable hotel in London,
soon after their return from the Continent.

He had not been many days in England, before the implacable creditor
who held the largest bond against him found him out, and arrested him
for the amount, while riding in the Park, with all the insulting
vexation that the greatest publicity could create. That he could raise
the sum required for his release, appeared very unlikely indeed, under
the present circumstances, to be accomplished. When within the
precincts of the jail, Henry Meynell did not hesitate to write
imploringly to the wife he had outraged and the uncle he had so often
deceived, praying that they would pity his fallen condition, and
release him from the grasp of the law. He was not sparing in words of
humiliation and penitence, and promises of future good conduct. These
arts had been so often tried before, that they might well have lost
their effect on those to whom they were addressed; but his poor wife,
who was still fondly attached to him, in spite of his unpardonable
misconduct, could not bear the idea of his wasting in a jail, and used
her utmost efforts to get together whatever means she was possessed
of, and to persuade her uncle to assist him once more.

After some months' delay the necessary sum was procured, and to the
chagrin and surprise of his creditor, Henry Meynell was once more at
liberty. He visited his wife for a short time, but very soon left her
again; she had deprived herself of the means of giving him any future
assistance by her sacrifices on this occasion. He, having no further
object to ga