ne who has
taken my wife's side till I know that my wife has consented to pay to
me that obedience which I, as her husband, have a right to demand. If
Emily will do as I request of her, as I command her,"--as Trevelyan
said this, he spoke in a tone which was intended to give the highest
possible idea of his own authority and dignity,--"then she may see
her child without delay."

"What is it you request of my daughter?"

"Obedience;--simply that. Submission to my will, which is surely a
wife's duty. Let her beg my pardon for what has occurred,--"

"She cannot do that, Louis."

"And solemnly promise me," continued Trevelyan, not deigning to
notice Lady Rowley's interruption, "that she will hold no further
intercourse with that snake in the grass who wormed his way into my
house,--let her be humble, and penitent, and affectionate, and then
she shall be restored to her husband and to her child." He said this
walking up and down the room, and waving his hand, as though he were
making a speech that was intended to be eloquent,--as though he had
conceived that he was to overcome his mother-in-law by the weight
of his words and the magnificence of his demeanour. And yet his
demeanour was ridiculous, and his words would have had no weight had
they not tended to show Lady Rowley how little prospect there was
that she should be able to heal this breach. He himself, too, was so
altered in appearance since she had last seen him, bright with the
hopes of his young married happiness, that she would hardly have
recognised him had she met him in the street. He was thin, and pale,
and haggard, and mean. And as he stalked up and down the room, it
seemed to her that the very character of the man was changed. She
had not previously known him to be pompous, unreasonable, and absurd.
She did not answer him at once, as she perceived that he had not
finished his address;--and, after a moment's pause, he continued.
"Lady Rowley, there is nothing I would not have done for your
daughter,--for my wife. All that I had was hers. I did not dictate to
her any mode of life; I required from her no sacrifices; I subjected
her to no caprices; but I was determined to be master in my own
house."

"I do not think, Louis, that she has ever denied your right to be
master."

"To be master in my own house, and to be paramount in my influence
over her. So much I had a right to demand."

"Who has denied your right?"

"She has submitted herself to the co