e moment that
his wife chose for leaving him; and the first proof of love she gave
their daughter, as soon as she set foot in her own home, was to abandon
that child's father and the house where she could no longer find the
mode of life to which she had been accustomed. At Kirby Mallory, the
vindictive Lady Noel, who detested Lord Byron, doubtless did the rest,
together with the governess. And the young heiress, just enriched by a
legacy inherited from an uncle, thus newly restored to wealth, had not
courage to leave it and them all again. With the kind of nature she
possessed, she must have taken pride in a sort of exaggerated firmness;
thus seeking to gain strength for trampling under foot all
heart-emotions, as if they were so many weaknesses, incompatible with
the stern principles that she considered virtues. By assuming the point
of view proper to some minds, it is easy to conceive all this,
especially when one knows England.

But was it really for the purpose of allowing her to give such a
spectacle to the world, and to secure for herself the comforts of life,
that God had given to her keeping Lord Byron's noble spirit? Did she
forget that it was not simply a good, honest, ordinary man, like the
generality of husbands, that she had married; but that Heaven, having
crowned his brow with the rays of genius, imposed far other obligations
on his companion? Did she forget that she was responsible before God and
before that country whose pride he was about to become? Ought she to
have preferred an easy life to the honor of being his wife; of
sustaining him in his weaknesses; of consoling and forgiving him, if
necessary; in short, of being his guardian angel? If she aspired to the
reputation of a virtuous woman, could true virtue have done otherwise?
Ere this God has judged her above; but, here below, can those possessing
hearts have any indulgence for her?

We hear constantly repeated--because it was once said--that men of great
genius are less capable than ordinary individuals of experiencing calm
affections and of settling down into those easy habits which help to
cement domestic life. By dint of repeating this it has become an axiom.
But on what grounds is it founded? Because these privileged beings give
themselves to studies requiring solitude, in order to abstract and
concentrate their thoughts; because, their mental riches being greater,
they are more independent of the outer world and the intellectual
resources