“You have heard what I have said?” said the lawyer, in continuation. “Indubitable proofs! If you doubt this I will bring an officer who will convince you of the fact.”
Still no reply.
“Mr. Gatliffe is, at the present time, living with a lady of the name of Laura Stanbridge.”
“He must be strangely altered,” said Aveline—“so altered that I find it difficult to believe that he should have so far forgotten himself.”
“We are dealing with facts,” returned the lawyer; “facts which have come to our knowledge by chance or accident. Nevertheless, such facts are quite incontrovertible. We have the clearest and most unanswerable evidence of your husband’s guilty intercourse with the woman Stanbridge, and I presume my word will suffice for the purpose, without entering into all the painful details.”
Aveline leaned forward, placed her elbow on the table, and, burying her face in her hands, she burst into a passionate flood of tears. Her hysterical sobs touched the heart of the lawyer, who placed his hand kindly on one of her shoulders, and standing over her, said in a sympathetic tone of voice:
“My dear Lady Aveline, I cannot express to you the sorrow I feel at seeing you thus borne down. Believe me, nothing but the imperative necessity of making the revelation has induced me to be thus outspoken. I had no other alternative left, and have been constrained to enter thus fully into this business. Do, pray, try and bear up, and meet the case with becoming fortitude.”
“You have said enough, Mr. Chicknell. You have convinced me. I feel hurt. My pride is wounded, but I shall not offer any opposition to the proceedings you have taken at the instigation of the earl, my grandfather. Release me as speedily as possible from this odious bondage. I desire to be disunited from a man who is so utterly unworthy of my consideration.”
“Do not think that I have sought you for the purpose of maligning the man who is at the present moment your lawful husband. He is not worthy of such a distinction. I say this most emphatically—he is not worthy of even a passing thought.”
“Enough, sir,” interrupted the unhappy wife. “It is hardly worth while pouring out your vials of wrath upon him. It will suffice for our purpose that you bring the suit to as speedy a termination as possible.”