in at this moment to lay the table for lunch, and Dan
went to the looking-glass with the inconsequence of a child, and
forgot his grievance in the contemplation of his own beloved image and
in abusing Lady Galbraith. Abusing somebody was mental relaxation of
the most agreeable kind to him. Feeling that he had gone too far, he
was gracious to Beth during lunch, and just before he went out he
kissed her, and said, "We won't mention that fellow again, Beth. I
don't believe you'd do anything dishonourable."

"I should think not!" said Beth.

When he had gone, she returned to her secret chamber, the one little
corner sacred to herself, to her purest, noblest thoughts, her highest
aspirations; and as she looked round, it seemed as if ages had passed
since she last entered it, full of happiness and hope. It was as if
she had been innocent then, and was now corrupted. Her self-control
did not give way, but she could do nothing, and just sat there, wan
with horror; and as she sat, every now and then she shivered from head
to foot. She had known of course in a general way that such things did
happen, that married women did give their husbands cause for jealousy;
but to her mind they were a kind of married women who lived in another
sphere where she was not likely to encounter them. She had never
expected to be brought near such an enormity, let alone to have it
brought home to herself in a horrible accusation; and the effect of it
was a shock to her nervous system--one of those stunning blows which
are scarcely felt at first, but are agonising in their after effects.
When the reaction set in, Beth's disgust was so great it took a
physical form, and ended by making her violently sick. It was days
before she quite recovered, and in one sense of the word she was never
the same again.

CHAPTER XLI

Dan said no more about Sir George Galbraith; and indeed he had no
excuse, for Sir George did not come again. There were other men,
however, who came to the house, Dan's own friends; and now that Beth's
eyes were opened, she perceived that he watched them all suspiciously
if they paid her any attention; and if she showed the slightest
pleasure in the conversation of any of them, he would be sure to make
some sneering remark about it afterwards. Dan was so radically vicious
that the notion of any one being virtuous except under compulsion was
incomprehensible to him.

"Your spirits seem to go up when Mr. Vanrickards is here,"