“But feeling supremely miserable, he was stung to the quick to see his wife in such exuberant spirits, presiding at a sumptuous supper, which he very well knew she was not able to afford.
“Around the table were seated many young men of gay celebrity, drinking wine and joking.
“Madame was decked out in all the fashions of the season, and when her husband arrived she rose very quietly, handed him a chair, and whispered very lovingly,
“‘A few of your friends, dear!’
“When the company had dispersed, Redgill, who was now intoxicated with wine and passion, broke forth into one of his habitual fits of furious brutality, and threatened to kill his wife.
“He tossed over the supper table.
“He struck Fanny a severe blow with a decanter, and then fell upon the floor helplessly intoxicated among the ruins of the feast—eatables, drinkables, plate, glass, and costly etceteras.
“When the moon peeped above the houses, and threw a faint light into the apartment, he awoke in a maudlin state, and staggered up to bed.
“Everything seemed in confusion; the drawers and chests were rifled, and their contents strewn about the floor.
“The bed had no occupant, and by the lighted lamp which stood upon the dressing-table, he perceived a note addressed to him, in Fanny’s handwriting.