tiful woman rageing
men proclaimed. Was there no scheme of some other sort, and far less
agreeable, to make amends for Steignton? She was shrewd at divination;
she guessed her lord's design. Rather than meet Lady Charlotte, she
proposed to herself the 'leap' immediately; knowing it must be a leap
in the dark, hoping it might be into a swimmer's water. She had her own
pin-money income, and she loathed the chain of her title. So the leap
would at least be honourable, as it assuredly would be unregretted,
whatever ensued.

While Aminta's heart held on to this debate, and in her bed, in her
boat, across the golden valley meadows beside her peaceful little
friend, she gathered a gradual resolution without sight of agencies or
consequences, Lord Ormont was kept from her by the struggle to
master his Charlotte a second time--compared with which the first was
insignificant. And this time it was curious: he could not subdue her
physique, as he did before; she was ready for him each day, and she was
animated, much more voluble, she was ready to jest. The reason being,
that she fought now on plausibly good grounds: on behalf of her
independent action.

Previously, her intelligence of the ultimate defeat hanging over the
more stubborn defence of a weak position had harassed her to death's
door. She had no right to retain the family jewels; she had the most
perfect of established rights to refuse doing an ignominious thing. She
refused to visit the so-called Countess of Ormont, or leave her card,
or take one step to warrant the woman in speaking of her as her
sister-in-law. And no,--it did not signify that her brother Rowsley was
prohibited by her from marrying whom he pleased. It meant, that to judge
of his acts as those of a reasoning man, he would have introduced
his wife to his relatives--the relatives he had not quarrelled
with--immediately upon his marriage unless he was ashamed of the woman;
and a wife he was ashamed of was no sister-in-law for her nor aunt for
her daughters. Nor should she come playing the Black Venus among
her daughters' husbands, Lady Charlotte had it in her bosom to say
additionally.

Lord Ormont was disconcerted by her manifest pleasure in receiving him
every day. Evidently she consented to the recurrence of a vexatious
dissension for the enjoyment of having him with her hourly. Her
dialectic, too, was cunning. Impetuous with meaning, she forced her
way to get her meaning out, in a manner effective t