He uttered the concluding words with intense bitterness. A strange, bewildered horror pa.s.sed over Lady Winsleigh"s face.
"I don"t believe it," she said rather faintly.
"Believe it or not, it is true!" he replied curtly. "Ask the manager of the Brilliant, if you doubt me. Winsleigh, it"s no use my stopping here any longer. As her ladyship refuses to give any explanation--"
"Wait a moment, Errington," interposed Lord Winsleigh in his coldest and most methodical manner. "Her ladyship refuses--but _I_ do not refuse!
Her ladyship will not speak--she allows her husband to speak for her.
Therefore," and he smiled at his astonished wife somewhat sardonically, "I may tell you at once, that her ladyship admits to having purchased from Violet Vere for the sum of 20 pounds, the letter which she afterwards took with her own hands to your wife." Lady Winsleigh uttered an angry exclamation.
"Don"t interrupt me, Clara, if you please," he said, with an icy smile.
"We have so many sympathies in common that I"m sure I shall be able to explain your unspoken meanings quite clearly." He went on, addressing himself to Errington, who stood utterly amazed.
"Her ladyship desires me to a.s.sure you that her only excuse for her action in this matter is, that she fully believed the reports her friend, Sir Francis Lennox, gave her concerning your supposed intimacy with the actress in question,--and that, believing it, she made use of it as much as possible for the purpose of destroying your wife"s peace of mind and confidence in you. Her object was most purely feminine--love of mischief, and the gratification of private spite! There"s nothing like frankness!" and Lord Winsleigh"s face was a positive study as he spoke. "You see,"--he made a slight gesture towards his wife, who stood speechless, and so pale that her very lips were colorless--"her ladyship is not in a position to deny what I have said. Excuse her silence!"
And again he smiled--that smile as glitteringly chilled as a gleam of light on the edge of a sword. Lady Winsleigh raised her head, and her eyes met his with a dark expression of the uttermost anger. "Spy!" she hissed between her teeth,--then without further word or gesture, she swept haughtily away into her dressing-room, which adjoined the boudoir, and closed the door of communication, thus leaving the two men alone together.
Errington felt himself to be in a most painful and awkward position. If there was anything he more than disliked, it was a _scene_--particularly of a domestic nature. And he had just had a glimpse into Lord and Lady Winsleigh"s married life, which, to him, was decidedly unpleasant. He could not understand how Lord Winsleigh had become cognizant of all he had so frankly stated--and then, why had he not told him everything at first, without waiting to declare it in his wife"s presence? Unless, indeed, he wished to shame her? There was evidently something in the man"s disposition and character that he, Philip, could not as yet comprehend,--something that certainly puzzled him, and filled him with vague uneasiness.
"Winsleigh, I"m awfully sorry this has happened," he began hurriedly, holding out his hand.
Lord Winsleigh grasped it cordially. "My dear fellow, so am I! Heartily sorry! I have to be sorry for a good many things rather often. But I"m specially grieved to think that your beautiful and innocent young wife is the victim in this case. Unfortunately I was told nothing till this morning, otherwise I might possibly have prevented all your unhappiness.
But I trust it won"t be of long duration. Here"s this letter," he returned it as he spoke, "which in more than one way has cost so large a price. Possibly her ladyship may now regret her ill-gotten purchase."
"Pardon me," said Errington curiously, "but how did you know--"
"The information was pressed upon me very much," replied Lord Winsleigh evasively, "and from such a source that up to the last moment I almost refused to believe it." He paused, and then went on with a forced smile, "Suppose we don"t talk any more about it, Errington? The subject"s rather painful to me. Only allow me to ask your pardon for my wife"s share in the mischief!"
Something in his manner of speaking affected Sir Philip.
"Upon my soul, Winsleigh," he exclaimed with sudden fervor, "I fancy you"re a man greatly wronged!"
Lord Winsleigh smiled slightly. "You only _fancy_?" he said quietly.
"Well,--my good friend, we all have our troubles--I dare say mine are no greater than those of many better men." He stopped short, then asked abruptly, "I suppose you"ll see Lennox?"
Errington set his teeth hard. "I shall,--at once!" he replied. "And I shall probably thrash him within an inch of his life!"
"That"s right! I shan"t be sorry!" and Lord Winsleigh"s hand clenched almost unconsciously. "I hope you understand, Errington, that if it hadn"t been for my son, I should have shot that fellow long ago. I dare say you wonder,--and some others too,--why I haven"t done it. But Ernest--poor little chap! . . . he would have heard of it,--and the reason of it,--his young life is involved in mine--why should I bequeath him a dishonored mother"s name? There--for heaven"s sake, don"t let me make a fool of myself!" and he fiercely dashed his hand across his eyes.
"A duel or a divorce--or a horsewhipping--they all come to pretty much the same thing--all involve public scandal for the name of the woman who may be unhappily concerned--and scandal clings, like the stain on Lady Macbeth"s hand. In your case you can act--_your_ wife is above a shadow of suspicion--but I--oh, my G.o.d! how much women have to answer for in the miseries of this world!"
Errington said nothing. Pity and respect for the man before him held him silent. Here was one of the martyrs of modern social life--a man who evidently knew himself to be dishonored by his wife,--and who yet, for the sake of his son, submitted to be daily broken on the wheel of private torture rather than let the boy grow up to despise and slight his mother. Whether he were judged as wise or weak in his behavior there was surely something n.o.ble about him--something unselfish and heroic that deserved recognition. Presently Lord Winsleigh continued in calmer tones--
"I"ve been talking too much about myself, Errington, I fear--forgive it!
Sometimes I"ve thought you misunderstood me--"
"I never shall again!" declared Philip earnestly.
Lord Winsleigh met his look of sympathy with one of grat.i.tude.
"Thanks!" he said briefly,--and with this they shook hands again heartily, and parted. Lord Winsleigh saw his visitor to the door--and then at once returned to his wife"s apartments. She was still absent from the boudoir--he therefore entered her dressing-room without ceremony.
There he found her,--alone, kneeling on the floor, her head buried in an arm-chair,--and her whole frame shaken with convulsive sobs. He looked down upon her with a strange wistful pain in his eyes,--pain mingled with compa.s.sion.
"Clara!" he said gently. She started and sprang up--confronting him with flushed cheeks and wet eyes.
"_You_ here?" she exclaimed angrily. "I wonder you dare to--" she broke off, confused by his keen, direct glance.
"It _is_ a matter for wonder," he said quietly. "It"s the strangest thing in the world that I--your husband--should venture to intrude myself into your presence! Nothing could be more out of the common. But I have something to say to you--something which must be said sooner or later--and I may as well speak now."
He paused,--she was silent, looking at him in a sort of sudden fear.
"Sit down," he continued in the same even tones. "You must have a little patience with me--I"ll endeavor to be as brief as possible."
Mechanically she obeyed him and sank into a low fauteuil. She began playing with the trinkets on her silver chatelaine, and endeavored to feign the most absolute unconcern, but her heart beat quickly--she could not imagine what was coming next--her husband"s manner and tone were quite new to her.
"You accused me just now," he went on, "of being a spy. I have never condescended to act such a part toward you, Clara. When I first married you I trusted you with my life, my honor, and my name, and though you have betrayed all three"--she moved restlessly as his calm gaze remained fixed on her--"I repeat,--though you have betrayed all three,--I have deliberately shut my eyes to the ruin of my hopes, in a loyal endeavor to shield you from the world"s calumny. Regarding the unhappiness you have caused the Erringtons,--your own maid Louise Renaud (who has given you notice of her intention to leave you) told me all she knew of your share in what I may call positive cruelty, towards a happy and innocent woman who has never injured you, and whose friend you declared yourself to be--"
"You believe the lies of a servant?" suddenly cried Lady Winsleigh wrathfully.
"Have not _you_ believed the lies of Sir Francis Lennox, who is less honest than a servant?" asked her husband, his grave voice deepening with a thrill of pa.s.sion. "And haven"t you reported them everywhere as truths? But as regards your maid--I doubted her story altogether. She a.s.sured me she knew what money you took out with you yesterday, and what you returned with--and as the only place you visited in the morning was the Brilliant Theatre,--after having received a telegram from Lennox, which she saw,--it was easy for her to put two and two together, especially as she noticed you reading the letter you had purchased--moreover"--he paused--"she has heard certain conversations between you and Sir Francis, notably one that took place at the garden-party in the summer at Errington Manor. Spy? you say? your detective has been paid by you,--fed and kept about your own person,--to minister to your vanity and to flatter your pride--that she has turned informer against you is not surprising. Be thankful that her information has fallen into no more malignant hands than mine!"
Again he paused--she was still silent--but her lips trembled nervously.
"And yet I was loth to believe everything"--he resumed half sadly--"till Errington came and showed me that letter and told me the whole story of his misery. Even then I thought I would give you one more chance--that"s why I brought him to you and asked you the question before him. One look at your face told me you were guilty, though you denied it. I should have been better pleased had you confessed it! But why talk about it any longer?--the mischief is done--I trust it is not irreparable. I certainly consider that before troubling that poor girl"s happiness,--you should have taken the precaution to inquire a little further into the truth of the reports you heard from Sir Francis Lennox,--he is not a reliable authority on any question whatsoever. You may have thought him so--" he stopped short and regarded her with sorrowful sternness--"I say, Clara, you may have thought him so, once--but _now_? Are you proud to have shared his affections with--Violet Vere?"
She uttered a sharp cry and covered her face with her hands,--an action which appeared to smite her husband to the heart,--for his voice trembled with deep feeling when he next spoke.
"Ah, best hide it, Clara!" he said pa.s.sionately. "Hide that fair face I loved so well--hide those eyes in which I dreamed of finding my life"s sunshine! Clara, Clara! What can I say to you, fallen rose of womanhood?
How can I--" he suddenly bent over her as though to caress her, then drew back with a quick agonized sigh. "You thought me blind, Clara! . . ."
he went on in low tones, "blind to my own dishonor--blind to your faithlessness,--I tell you if you had taken my heart between your hands and wrung the blood out of it drop by drop, I could not have suffered more than I have done! Why have I been silent so long?--no matter why,--but _now_, now Clara,--this life of ours must end!"
She shuddered away from him.
"End it then!" she muttered in a choked voice. "You can do as you like,--you can divorce me."
"Yes," said Lord Winsleigh musingly. "I can divorce you! There will be no defense possible,--as you know. If witnesses are needed, they are to be had in the persons of our own domestics. The co-respondent in the case will not refute the charge against him,--and I, the plaintiff, _must_ win my just cause. Do you realize it all, Clara? You, the well-known leader of a large social circle--you, the proud beauty and envied lady of rank and fashion,--you will be made a subject for the coa.r.s.e jests of lawyers,--the very judge on the bench will probably play off his stale witticism at your expense,--your dearest friends will tear your name to shreds,--the newspapers will reek of your doings,--and honest housemaids reading of your fall from your high estate, will thank G.o.d that their souls and bodies are more chaste than yours! And last,--not least,--think when old age creeps on, and your beauty withers,--think of your son grown to manhood,--the sole heir to my name,--think of him as having but one thing to blush for--the memory of his dishonored mother!"
"Cruel--cruel!" she cried, endeavoring to check her sobs, and withdrawing her hands from her face. "Why do you say such things to me?
Why did you marry me?"
He caught her hands and held them in a fast grip.
"Why? Because I loved you, Clara--loved you with all the tenderness of a strong man"s heart! When I first saw you, you seemed to me the very incarnation of maiden purity and loveliness! The days of our courtship--the first few months of our marriage--what they were to you, I know not,--to me they were supreme happiness. When our boy was born, my adoration, my reverence for you increased--you were so sacred in my eyes, that I could have knelt and asked a benediction from these little hands"--here he gently loosened them from his clasp. "Then came the change--_what_ changed you, I cannot imagine--it has always seemed to me unnatural, monstrous, incredible! There was no falling away in _my_ affection, that I can swear! My curse upon the man who turned your heart from mine! So rightful and deep a curse is it that I feel it must some day strike home."
He paused and seemed to reflect. "Who is there more vile, more traitorous than he?" he went on. "Has he not tried to influence Errington"s wife against her husband? For what base purpose? But Clara,--he is powerless against _her_ purity and innocence;--what, in the name of G.o.d, gave him power over _you_?"
She drooped her head, and the hot blood rushed to her face.
"You"ve said enough!" she murmured sullenly. "If you have decided on a divorce, pray carry out your intention with the least possible delay. I cannot talk any more! I--I am tired!"