as the
former. And then her present misery was enhanced by the fact that
she was now banished from the second home which she had formerly
possessed. Hitherto she had always been able to escape from Lady
Baldock to the house of her friend, but now such escape was out of
the question. Lady Laura and Lord Chiltern lived in the same house,
and Violet could not live with them.

Lady Baldock understood all this, and tortured her niece accordingly.
It was not premeditated torture. The aunt did not mean to make her
niece's life a burden to her, and, so intending, systematically work
upon a principle to that effect. Lady Baldock, no doubt, desired
to do her duty conscientiously. But the result was torture to poor
Violet, and a strong conviction on the mind of each of the two ladies
that the other was the most unreasonable being in the world.

The aunt, in these days, had taken it into her head to talk of poor
Lord Chiltern. This arose partly from a belief that the quarrel was
final, and that, therefore, there would be no danger in aggravating
Violet by this expression of pity,--partly from a feeling that it
would be better that her niece should marry Lord Chiltern than that
she should not marry at all,--and partly, perhaps, from the general
principle that, as she thought it right to scold her niece on all
occasions, this might be best done by taking an opposite view of
all questions to that taken by the niece to be scolded. Violet was
supposed to regard Lord Chiltern as having sinned against her, and
therefore Lady Baldock talked of "poor Lord Chiltern." As to the
other lovers, she had begun to perceive that their conditions were
hopeless. Her daughter Augusta had explained to her that there was
no chance remaining either for Phineas, or for Lord Fawn, or for Mr.
Appledom. "I believe she will be an old maid, on purpose to bring me
to my grave," said Lady Baldock. When, therefore, Lady Baldock was
told one day that Lord Chiltern was in the house, and was asking to
see Miss Effingham, she did not at once faint away, and declare that
they would all be murdered,--as she would have done some months
since. She was perplexed by a double duty. If it were possible that
Violet should relent and be reconciled, then it would be her duty to
save Violet from the claws of the wild beast. But if there was no
such chance, then it would be her duty to poor Lord Chiltern to see
that he was not treated with contumely and ill-humour.

"Does she