Now Gertrude had never liked Undy Scott; she had attributed
to him whatever faults her husband might have as a
husband; and at the present moment she was not inclined
to fight for any of the Scott family.
‘He is a very worldly man, I think,’ said
she.
‘Worldly!—no—but hellish,’
said Alaric; ’hellish, and damnable, and fiendish.’
‘Oh, Alaric, what has he done?’
’Never mind; I cannot tell you; he has done
nothing. It is not that he has done anything,
or can do anything to me—but his heart—but
never mind—I wish—I wish I had
never seen him.’
’Alaric, if it be about money tell me the worst,
and I’ll bear it without a murmur. As long
as you are well I care for nothing else—have
you given up your place?’
’No, dearest, no; I can keep my place.
It is nothing about that. I have lost no money;
I have rather made money. It is the ingratitude
of that man which almost kills me. But come, dearest,
we will go down to Charley. And Gertrude, mind
this, be quite civil to Mrs. Val at present.
We will break from the whole set before long; but
in the meantime I would have you be very civil to
Mrs. Val.’
And so they went down to dinner, and Alaric, after
taking a glass of wine, played his part almost as
though he had no weight upon his soul. After
dinner he drank freely, and as he drank his courage
rose. ‘Why should I tell her?’ he
said to himself as he went to bed. ‘The
chances are that all will yet go well.’
MRS. VAL’S NEW CARRIAGE
On the next morning Alaric went to his office without
speaking further as to the trouble on his mind, and
endeavoured to comfort himself as best he might as
he walked down to his office. Then he had also
to decide whether it would better suit his purpose
to sell out at once and pay up every shilling that
he could, or whether he would hold on, and hope that
Undy’s predictions would be fulfilled, and that
the bridge shares would go on rising till they would
sell for all that was required of him.
Unfortunate man! what would he have given now to change
his position for Norman’s single clerkship,
or even for Charley’s comparative poverty!
Gertrude stayed within all day; but not all day in
solitude. About four in the afternoon the Hon.
Mrs. Val called, and with her came her daughter Clem,
now Madame Jaquetanape, and the two Misses Neverbend.
M. Jaquetanape had since his marriage made himself
very agreeable to his honourable mother-in-law, so
much so that he now occupied the place in her good
graces which Undy had formerly filled, and which after
Undy’s reign had fallen to Alaric’s lot.
Mrs. Val liked to have about her some confidential
gentleman; and as she never thought of placing her
confidence in her husband, she was prone to select
first one man and then another as her taste and interest
dictated. Immediately after their marriage, Victoire
