We will suppose some months to have elapsed in this manner--months,

to me, of prolonged torture and suspicion. Circumstanees, like

petty billows of the sea, kept chafing upon the low places of my

heart, keeping alive the feverish irritation which had already done

so much toward destroying my peace, and overthrowing the guardian

outposts of my pride and honor. How long the strife was to bo

continued before the ocean-torrents should be let in--before the

wild passions should quite overwhelm my reason--was a subject of

doubt, but not the less a subject of present and of exceeding fear.

In these matters, I need not say that there was substantially very

little change in the character of events that marked the progress

of my domestic life. William Edgerton still continued the course

which he had so unwittingly begun. He still sought every opportunity

to see my wife, and, if possible, to see her alone. He avoided me

as much as possible; seldom came to the office; absolutely gave

up his business altogether; and, when we met, though his words and

manner were solicitously kind, there was a close restraint upon the

latter, a hesitancy about the former, a timid apprehensiveness in

his eye, and a generally-shown reluctance to approach me, which I

could not but see, and could not but perceive, at the same time,

that he endeavored with ineffectual effort to conceal. He was

evidently conscious that he was doing wrong. It was equally clear

to me that he lacked the manly courage to do right. What was all

this to end in?

The question became momently more and more serious.

Suppose that he possessed no sort of influence over my wife! Even

suppose his advances to stop where they were at present--his course

already, so far, was a humiliating indignity, allowing that it

became perceptible to the eyes of others. That revelation once

made, there could be no more proper forbearance on the part of the

husband. The customs of our society, the tone of public opinion--nay,

outraged humanity itself--demanded then the interposition of the

avenger. And that revelation was at hand.

Meanwhile, the keenest eyes of suspicion could behold nothing in

the conduct of Julia which was not entirely unexceptionable. If

William Edgerton was still persevering in his pursuit, Julia seemed

insensible to his endeavors. Of course, they met frequently when

it was not in my power to see them. It was my error to suppose that

they met more frequently still--that he saw her invariably in his

morning visits to the studio, which was not often the case--and,

when they did meet, that she derived quite as much satisfaction

from the interview as himself. Of their meetings, except at night,

when I was engaged in my miserable watch upon them, I could say

nothing. Failing to note anything evil at such periods, my jealous

imagination jumped to the conclusion that this was because my

espionage was suspected, and that their interviews at other periods

were distinguished by less prudence and reserve. And yet, could

I have reasoned rightly at this period, I must have seen that,

if such were the case, there would have been no such display of

EMPRESSMENT as William Edgerton made at these evening visits. Did

he expend his ardor in the day, did he apprehend my scrutiny at

night, he would surely have suppressed the eagerness of his

glance--the profound, all-forgetting adoration which marked his

whole air, gaze, and manner. Nor should I have been so wretchedly

blind to what was the obvious feeling of discontent and disquiet

in her bosom. Never did evenings seem to pass with more downright

dullness to any one party in the world. If Edgerton spoke to her,

which he did not frequently, his address was marked by a trepidation

and hesitancy akin to fear--a manner which certainly indicated

anything but a foregone conclusion between them; while her answers,

on the other hand, were singularly cold, merely replying, and

calculated invariably to discourage everything like a protracted

conversation. What was said by Edgerton was sufficiently harmless--nor

harmless merely. It was most commonly mere ordinary commonplace,

the feeble effort of one who feels the necessity of speech, yet

dares not speak the voluminous passions which alone could furnish

him with energetic and manly utterance. Had the scales not been

abundantly thick and callous above my eyes, how easily might these

clandestine scrutinies have brought me back equally to happiness

and my senses! But though I thus beheld the parties, and saw the

truth as I now relate it, there was always then some little trifling

circumstance that would rise up, congenial to suspicion, and

cloud my conclusions, and throw me back upon old doubts and cruel

jealousies. Edgerton's tone may, at moments, have been more

faltering and more tender than usual; Julia's glance might sometimes

encounter his, and then they both might seem to fall, in mutual

confusion, to the ground. Perhaps she sung some little ditty at

his instance--some ditty that she had often sung for me. Nay, at

his departure, she might have attended him to the entrance, and

he may have taken her hand and retained his grasp upon it rather

longer than was absolutely necessary for his farewell. How was

I to know the degree of pressure which he gave to the hand within

his own? That single grasp, not unfrequently, undid all the

better impressions of a whole evening consumed in these unworthy

scrutinies. I will not seek further to account for or to defend

this unhappy weakness. Has not the great poet of humanity said-"Trifles, light as air,

Are, to the jealous, confirmations strong

As proofs Of Holy Writ"?




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