e really--?"

He burst out laughing maliciously, he penetrated my jealousy, and
guessed my question almost before it had passed my lips.

"Yes," he said, "Eustace did really love her--and no mistake about it.
She had every reason to believe (before the Trial) that the wife's death
would put her in the wife's place. But the Trial made another man of
Eustace. Mrs. Beauly had been a witness of the public degradation of
him. That was enough to prevent his marrying Mrs. Beauly. He broke off
with her at once and forever--for the same reason precisely which has
led him to separate himself from you. Existence with a woman who knew
that he had been tried for his life as a murderer was an existence that
he was not hero enough to face. You wanted the truth. There it is! You
have need to be cautious of Mrs. Beauly--you have no need to be jealous
of her. Take the safe course. Arrange with the Major, when you meet Lady
Clarinda at his dinner, that you meet her under an assumed name."

"I can go to the dinner," I said, "under the name in which Eustace
married me. I can go as 'Mrs. Woodville.'"

"The very thing!" he exclaimed. "What would I not give to be present
when Lady Clarinda introduces you to Mrs. Beauly! Think of the
situation. A woman with a hideous secret hidden in her inmost soul: and
another woman who knows of it--another woman who is bent, by fair means
or foul, on dragging that secret into the light of day. What a struggle!
What a plot for a novel! I am in a fever when I think of it. I am beside
myself when I look into the future, and see Mrs. Borgia-Beauly brought
to her knees at last. Don't be alarmed!" he cried, with the wild light
flashing once more in his eyes. "My brains are beginning to boil again
in my head. I must take refuge in physical exercise. I must blow off the
steam, or I shall explode in my pink jacket on the spot!"

The old madness seized on him again. I made for the door, to secure my
retreat in case of necessity--and then ventured to look around at him.

He was off on his furious wheels--half man, half chair--flying like
a whirlwind to the other end of the room. Even this exercise was not
violent enough for him in his present mood. In an instant he was down
on the floor, poised on his hands, and looking in the distance like a
monstrous frog. Hopping down the room, he overthrew, one after another,
all the smaller and lighter chairs as he passed them; arrived at the
end, he turned, surveyed the pros