“Admirable!” I repeated with scorn; “why, in my country, such conduct would damn a woman eternally, no matter what angelic qualities she might possess. She would be shown no quarter in any society—save the very lowest.”
“And how about her counterpart of the other sex?” asked Severnius, slyly.
I disregarded this, and returned:
“Did he not get a divorce?”
“No; the law does not grant a divorce in such a case. There was where Claris was shrewder than her husband; she made herself safe by confessing her misdeeds to him, and cajoling him into marrying her in spite of them.”
“I beg your pardon, but what a fool he was!”
Severnius acquiesced in this. “I tried to dissuade him,” he said, “before the miserable business was consummated,—he made me his confidant,—but it was too late, she had him under her influence.”
Another silence fell upon us, which I broke by asking, “Who were those pretty youngsters we saw lounging about on the lawn back there?” I referred to several handsome young men whom I had observed strolling through the beautiful grounds.
He looked at me in evident surprise at the question, and replied: