d, but while the heavens around are still all
black and murky, then the woman's sufferings begin. When passion
gives way to thought and memory, she feels the loneliness of her
position,--the loneliness, and the possible degradation. It is all
very well for a man to talk about his name and his honour; but it is
the woman's honour and the woman's name that are, in truth, placed in
jeopardy. Let the woman do what she will, the man can, in truth, show
his face in the world;--and, after awhile, does show his face. But
the woman may be compelled to veil hers, either by her own fault, or
by his. Mrs. Trevelyan was now told that she was to be separated from
her husband, and she did not, at any rate, believe that she had done
any harm. But, if such separation did come, where could she live,
what could she do, what position in the world would she possess?
Would not her face be, in truth, veiled as effectually as though she
had disgraced herself and her husband?

And then there was that terrible question about the child. Mrs.
Trevelyan had said a dozen times to her sister that her husband could
not take the boy away from her. Nora, however, had never assented to
this, partly from a conviction of her own ignorance, not knowing what
might be the power of a husband in such a matter, and partly thinking
that any argument would be good and fair by which she could induce
her sister to avoid a catastrophe so terrible as that which was now
threatened.

"I suppose he could take him, if he chose," she said at last.

"I don't believe he is wicked like that," said Mrs. Trevelyan. "He
would not wish to kill me."

"But he will say that he loves baby as well as you do."

"He will never take my child from me. He could never be so bad as
that."

"And you will never be so bad as to leave him," said Nora after a
pause. "I will not believe that it can come to that. You know that he
is good at heart,--that nobody on earth loves you as he does."

So they went on for two days, and on the evening of the second day
there came a letter from Trevelyan to his wife. They had neither of
them seen him, although he had been in and out of the house. And
on the afternoon of the Sunday a new grievance, a very terrible
grievance, was added to those which Mrs. Trevelyan was made to bear.
Her husband had told one of the servants in the house that Colonel
Osborne was not to be admitted. And the servant to whom he had given
this order was the--cook. There is no