Weaker than a Woman — page 196: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

WEAKER THAN A WOMAN. Berg iV. -where to place the little ones,” Darcy Lonsdale would say, and then Sir Owen, knowing how far he was from being able to train a child, would say no more. — He would have loved his wife better if little children had. been there to soften him; as it was, he now spent half his time in quarreling with her and in tyrannizing over her, and the other half in fierce love-making. That to her was the worst mood of the two. He was not loved, the rich baronet; the simple towns- people told strange tales of him when gathered around their fires at night—strange evil stories that never came to his wife’s ears, or she would have left him. “T would not have let him marry my daughter,” the poor women would say; “no, not if he had been twice as rich.” There was no mistake about the fact that his name was in very evil odor among both rich and poor. Francis Haye talked over the matter with his wife some- times. Mrs. Haye looked at it quite philosophically. . “IT am told,” she said, “that he drinks over a bottle of brandy each day; if that is really the case he cannot live long.” “T do not see how that improves matters,” rejoined her husband. “T do; she is sure to have all his money, and then in a short time she can marry again.” Francis Haye was not particularly sagacious, but this view of the matter struck him at once. CHAPTER XX XV. SIR OWEN’S INSULTS. - Lady Chevenix was standing in her superb drawing-room alone; she held a folded paper in her hand which she was _ reading attentively ; then she meditated for a few min- utes, and afterward rang the bell. To the servant who an- swered it she said : “Will you ask Mrs. Haye if she can come to me? | wish particularly to speak to her.” Mrs. Haye was spending a few days at Garswood—that was what the world was told; in reality she was there because Lady Chevenix feared for her life. Sir Owen had been drinking heavily, and he had grown dangerous, as she believed. She had lost all control over him, and the terrified servants told each other of sobs and cries that Eomicbooks