, Howard; and my better angel
tells me I shall succeed.'"

"And what did he reply to that?"

"That the name of her better angel was Vanity; that his father would see
through her blandishments; that he forbade her to prosecute her schemes;
and much more to the same effect. To all of which she answered by a
vigorous stamp of her foot, and the declaration that she was going to do
what she thought best in spite of all opposition; that it was a lover,
and not a tyrant that she had married, and that if he did not know what
was good for himself, she did, and that when he received an intimation
from his father that the breach in the family was closed, then he would
acknowledge that if she had no fortune and no connections, she had at
least a plentiful supply of wit. Upon which he remarked: 'A poor
qualification when it verges upon folly!' which seemed to close the
conversation, for I heard no more till the sound of her skirts rustling
past my door assured me she had carried her point and was leaving the
house. But this was not done without great discomfiture to her husband,
if one may judge from the few brief but emphatic words that escaped him
before he closed his own door and followed her down the hall."

"Do you remember those words?"

"They were swear words, sir; I am sorry to say it, but he certainly
cursed her and his own folly. Yet I always thought he loved her."

"Did you see her after she passed your door?"

"Yes, sir, on the walk outside."

"Was she then on the way to the train?"

"Yes, sir."

"Carrying the bag of which you have spoken?"

"Yes, sir; another proof of the state of feeling between them, for he
was very considerate in his treatment of ladies, and I never saw him do
anything ungallant before."

"You say you watched her as she went down the walk?"

"Yes, sir; it is human nature, sir; I have no other excuse to offer."

It was an apology I myself might have made. I conceived a liking for
this homely matter-of-fact woman.

"Did you note her dress?"

"Yes, sir; that is human nature also, or, rather, woman's nature."

"Particularly, madam; so that you can describe it to the jury before
you?"

"I think so."

"Will you, then, be good enough to tell us what sort of a dress Mrs. Van
Burnam wore when she left your house for the city?"

"It was a black and white plaid silk, very rich----"

Why, what did this mean? We had all expected a very different
description.

"It was made fashionably,