第129章

“HewasonceortwicecrosswithmewhenIsaiditseemedapitytobespendingthemoneyinthebank(whichmightbeafterwardwanted)insteadofearningmoreinbusiness。GoodMr。Bapchild，happeningaboutthistimetobeinLondon，staidoverSunday，andcametodinewithusbetweentheservices。Hehadtriedtomakemypeacewithmyrelations——buthehadnotsucceeded。Atmyrequesthespoketomyhusbandaboutthenecessityofexertinghimself。Myhusbandtookitill。Ithensawhimseriouslyoutoftemperforthefirsttime。GoodMr。Bapchildsaidnomore。Heappearedtobealarmedatwhathadhappened，andhetookhisleaveearly。

“Shortlyafterwardmyhusbandwentout。Igotteareadyforhim——buthenevercameback。Igotsupperreadyforhim——buthenevercameback。ItwaspasttwelveatnightbeforeIsawhimagain。Iwasverymuchstartledbythestatehecamehomein。Hedidn’tspeaklikehimself，orlooklikehimself：hedidn’tseemtoknowme——wanderedinhismind，andfellallinalumplikeonourbed。Iranoutandfetchedthedoctortohim。

“Thedoctorpulledhimuptothelight，andlookedathim；

smelledhisbreath，anddroppedhimdownagainonthebed；turnedabout，andstaredatme。’What’sthematter，Sir？’Isays。’Doyoumeantotellmeyoudon’tknow？’saysthedoctor。’No，Sir，’

saysI。’Whywhatsortofawomanareyou，’sayshe，’nottoknowadrunkenmanwhenyouseehim!’Withthathewentaway，andleftmestandingbythebedside，allinatremblefromheadtofoot。

“ThiswashowIfirstfoundoutthatIwasthewifeofadrunkenman。

“Ihaveomittedtosayanythingaboutmyhusband’sfamily。

“Whilewewerekeepingcompanytogetherhetoldmehewasanorphan——withanuncleandauntinCanada，andanonlybrothersettledinScotland。Beforeweweremarriedhegavemealetterfromthisbrother。ItwastosaythathewassorryhewasnotabletocometoEngland，andbepresentatmymarriage，andtowishmejoyandtherestofit。GoodMr。Bapchild(towhom，inmydistress，Iwrotewordprivatelyofwhathadhappened)wrotebackinreturn，tellingmetowaitalittle，andseewhethermyhusbanddiditagain。

“Ihadnotlongtowait。Hewasinliquoragainthenextday，andthenext。Hearingthis，Mr。Bapchildinstructedmetosendhimtheletterfrommyhusband’sbrother。HeremindedmeofsomeofthestoriesaboutmyhusbandwhichIhadrefusedtobelieveinthetimebeforeIwasmarried；andhesaiditmightbewelltomakeinquiries。

“Theendoftheinquirieswasthis。Thebrother，atthatverytime，wasplacedprivately(byhisownrequest)underadoctor’scaretogetbrokenofhabitsofdrinking。Thecravingforstrongliquor(thedoctorwrote)wasinthefamily。Theywouldbesobersometimesformonthstogether，drinkingnothingstrongerthantea。Thenthefitwouldseizethem；andtheywoulddrink，drink，drink，fordaystogether，likethemadandmiserablewretchesthattheywere。

“ThiswasthehusbandIwasmarriedto。AndIhadoffendedallmyrelations，andestrangedthemfromme，forhissake。Herewassurelyasadprospectforawomanafteronlyafewmonthsofweddedlife!

“Inayear’stimethemoneyinthebankwasgone；andmyhusband