CHAPTER I., II., III., IV., V., VI., VII., VIII., IX., X., XI., XII., XIII., XIV., XV.
MRS. ARTHUR.
BY
MRS. OLIPHANT,
AUTHOR OF
“The Chronicles of Carlingford,”
&c. &c.
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes.
. . . . . . .
A woman mov’d is like a fountain troubled.”
TAMING OF THE SHREW.
DIBDIN.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,
13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1877.
All rights reserved.
{1}
MRS. ARTHUR.
CHAPTER I.
IT was like a dream when it was all over, so huddled up at the end, soseemingly causeless; the sudden outburst of accumulated dissatisfactionand failure breaking out in a moment, a storm out of a clear sky, as itwere. There was no adequate reason for the catastrophe; greater troubleshad been between them before, more violent disputes; perhaps it was thatnever before had there been any witnesses, nor had the menace everbefore come from Arthur’s side. When he left Underhayes, almost carriedoff by Durant, yet with many stings in his heart, which in time, atleast, might slay the love that was still warm within him,{2} Arthur couldthink of his married life only as a dream. Nancy had refused to see him.She would make no arrangement, listen to no terms, make no promises;indeed, she would not communicate with her husband or his friend exceptthrough her parents, and refused to say anything except that all wasover, that she never wanted to hear Arthur’s name again. The father andmother were without any question deeply distressed. Mrs. Bates was, onthe whole, a sensible woman, who, though she might be disposed to backup her married daughter in a certain amount of folly and hot-headednessas to the honours and privileges which were “no more than what she had aright to,” was yet horrified at the notion of practical divorce anddisjunction such as this; and her husband not only shared this moralhorror, but was profoundly excited by the idea of having his daughter,whom he had believed to be provided for, once more on his hands. Allthrough that long Sunday, and for some d