'Can any woman,' he cried, 'be justified in going back
to an utterly unworthy husband until he has proved a complete change?
What if she had received a thousand letters of penitence? Penitence
should be shown by acts, not words: she should have waited.' He wrote
her a letter, which he showed me. 'Is there,' he asked, 'anything in
the letter which could justly offend her?' I could find nothing. He
told her, but I fear too late, that she risks degradation--perhaps
worse, if there is anything worse--if she persists in returning to her
unworthy husband. If she refuses to be guided by his advice, on the
last occasion on which he would presume to offer any device, he begged
that she would not answer. Let her silence say--No. That was the
substance of his letter. Up to the present moment no answer has been
received from Lady Harry. Nor has he received so much as an
acknowledgment of the letter. What can be understood by this silence?
Clearly, refusal.
"You must return by way of Paris, though it is longer than by Basle and
Laon. Mr. Mountjoy, I know, will send you the money you want. He has
told me as much. 'I have done with Lady Harry,' he said. 'Her movements
no longer concern me, though I can never want interest in what she
does.
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