But everybody had not lived under the same roof with her.
IV
The fourth bad husband was a popular man and much sought after socially.
He was dearly loved by his relatives—his mother, his sister, and a young cousin who lived with his parents, and whose orphaned childhood he had made bright by his care. She was fourteen and his young sister sixteen, when he married the compelling woman.
He had always said he should never marry until he met one who swept away all other considerations, save possessing her. One day at a dinner party in the house of a charming hostess, he met her. And all considerations were at once swept aside, and to win this girl for his wife became the one thought of his heart.
It was impossible for any woman to have greater proof of a man's complete adoration for her than this man gave this girl. Everybody who knew him spoke of his absolute surrender to her charms.
She seemed equally in love, and the wedding followed closely on the announcement of the engagement.
The young wife was pleasing in appearance, cultivated and accomplished. Society thought she was eminently suited to be the wife of a man who had long been such a society favourite.