There was a time when bliss
Shone o'er her heart from every look of his;
When but to see him, hear him, breathe the air
In which he dwelt, was her soul's fondest prayer;
When round him hung such a perpetual spell,
Whate'er he did none ever did so well;
Yet now he comes, brighter than ever, far,
He beamed before; but ah! not bright for her.--MOORE.
Fortunately for the fascinated husband and the jealous wife, the Circuit
Court was now sitting at Blackville, and the lawyer's professional
duties demanded all Mr. Berner's time.
Only one year before this, when the struggling young lawyer depended
upon his work for his bread, he could hardly get a paying client; now
that he was entirely independent of his profession, he was overwhelmed
with business. As the wealthy master of the Black Valley manor, with its
rich dependencies of farms, quarries, mills, and hamlets, he might have
led the easy life of a country gentleman. But in Lyon Berners'
apprehension, work was duty; and so to work he went, as if he had had to
get his living by it.
Every day he left home at nine o'clock in the morning, in order to be
present at the opening of the court at ten. He reached home again at
four in the afternoon, and dined with Sybil and Rosa. After dinner he
retired to his study, and spent the evening in working up his briefs and
preparing for the next day's business.
Thus he was entirely separated from his guest, who never saw him except
at the table, with the breadth of the board between them, and almost
entirely from his wife, who only had his company to herself at night.
Yet Sybil was content. Her love, if, in some of its phases, it was a
jealous and exacting passion, in others was a noble and generous
principle. She would not spare a glance, a smile, a caress of his, to
any other woman; yet she would give him wholly up to his duty, his
profession, his country, or to any grand impersonal object. And the
few hours out of the twenty-four when she could enjoy his society apart
from her dreaded rival, compensated her for the many when he was absent
or engaged upon his professional duties.
But ah! this could not last!
It happened, very naturally, that while Mr. Lyon Berners spent his
mornings in the court-house, Mrs. Lyon Berners spent hers in receiving
the calls and congratulations of her friends, to whom she always
presented her permanent visitor, Mrs. Blondelle.
At length two unconnected events happened at the same time. The court
adjourned, and the last visit of ceremony was paid.
Sybil, at the instance of Mr. Berners, gave a dinner-party, and they
entertained the judges and barristers of the court. And upon that
occasion, Mrs. Blondelle of course was introduced, and equally of
course, her beauty made a very great sensation. And Sybil was well
pleased. She was perfectly willing that her protégé should outshine her
in every company, if only she did not outrival her in her husband's
admiration.