How very much would Miss Stanbury’s tone have
been changed had she known that at that very moment
Colonel Osborne was eating his breakfast at Mrs Crocket’s
inn, in Nuncombe Putney!
BOZZLE, THE EX-POLICEMAN
When Mr Trevelyan had gone through the miserable task
of breaking up his establishment in Curzon Street,
and had seen all his furniture packed, including his
books, his pictures, and his pet Italian ornaments,
it was necessary that he should go and live somewhere.
He was very wretched at this time so wretched that
life was a burden to him. He was a man who loved
his wife, to whom his child was very dear; and he
was one too to whom the ordinary comforts of domestic
life were attractive and necessary. There are
men to whom release from the constraint imposed by
family ties will be, at any rate for a time, felt
as a release. But he was not such a man.
There was no delight to him in being able to dine
at his club, and being free to go whither he pleased
in the evening. As it was, it pleased him to go
nowhere in the evenings; and his mornings were equally
blank to him. He went so often to Mr Bideawhile,
that the poor old lawyer became quite tired of the
Trevelyan family quarrel. Even Lady Milborough,
with all her power of sympathising, began to feel
that she would almost prefer on any morning that her
dear young friend, Louis Trevelyan, should not be announced.
Nevertheless, she always saw him when he came, and
administered comfort according to her light.
Of course he would have his wife back before long.
That was the only consolation she was able to offer;
and she offered it so often that he began gradually
to feel that something might be done towards bringing
about so desirable an event. After what had occurred
they could not live again in Curzon Street nor even
in London for awhile; but Naples was open to them.
Lady Milborough said so much to him of the advantages
which always came in such circumstances from going
to Naples, that he began to regard such a trip as almost
the natural conclusion of his adventure. But
then there came that very difficult question what
step should be first taken? Lady Milborough proposed
that he should go boldly down to Nuncombe Putney, and
make the arrangement. ‘She will only be
too glad to jump into your arms,’ said Lady
Milborough. Trevelyan thought that if he went
to Nuncombe Putney, his wife might perhaps jump into
his arms; but what would come after that? How
would he stand then in reference to his authority?
Would she own that she had been wrong? Would
she promise to behave better in future? He did
not believe that she was yet sufficiently broken in
spirit to make any such promise. And he told himself
again and again that it would be absurd in him to
allow her to return to him without such subjection,
after all that he had gone through in defence of his
marital rights. If he were to write to her a long
