with mournful eyes, "or leastways you
don't know, how he worships the ground----"

"Don't," said Lettice, "don't tell me more than he would like. I--I
cannot bear to hear it all!"

"Maybe I have said too much; but you must forgive me if I have. And so,
when he was a bit better he said that he should go next morning and tell
the lawyer that she had broken her compact, and he would not pay her any
more money, but give her notice of the divorce.

"'All the heart and all the mercy is crushed out of me,' he said; 'she
has turned her venom on _her_, and she shall suffer for it.'

"So in the morning he went to his lawyer. And it was the day when she
used to call for her money, and she must have called for it and been
refused, for early in the afternoon she came round to our lodgings, and
went on like a mad woman in the street, shrieking and howling, and
saying the most horrible things you can imagine. I could not tell you
half she said, about--about us all. Oh dear, oh dear! I had heard what
one of those Frenchwomen could be, but I never saw anything like it
before, and I hope I never may again!"

"Was he there?"

"Yes, he was there. And he said to me, 'If I give her in charge, it will
have to go into the police court, and anything is better than that!' But
then she mentioned--she began to say other things, and he said, 'My God,
if this is not stopped, I shall do her an injury!' So I went out, and
fetched a policeman, and that put an end to it for the time.

"You can fancy that my poor Alan is nearly out of his mind, not knowing
what she may be up to next. One thing he is afraid of more than
anything: and to be sure I don't think he cares for anything else. Ever
since I let out your name on that first night he has been dreading what
might happen to you through her spite and malice!"

Lettice was deeply moved by Mrs. Bundlecombe's story, and as the old
woman finished she kissed her on the cheek.

"Tell him," she said, "that I have heard what he has suffered--that I
asked you, and you told me. Tell him not to think of me because I am
forewarned, and am not afraid of anything she can do. And tell him that
he should not think of punishing her, for the punishment she has brought
upon herself is enough."

"I will repeat it word for word, my dearie, and it will comfort him to
have a message from you. But I doubt he will not spare her now, for she
is more than flesh and blood can bear."

Then Lettice took her visitor to h