“Oh, I should be overjoyed to hear that, if only you were free from him, sweet mother!”
“My darling, the arm that delivered you is not shortened that it cannot save. For, Odalite, whatever the instrument might have been, it was the hand of Providence that saved you.”
“I know it, mamma. And I will hope and trust. You never did any evil in your life. You have only suffered from evildoers. Why, on that account, should you continue to suffer? Yes, I will hope and trust. And, mamma, I have roused myself, and am going down to dinner to surprise papa. And then, oh, do let us try to recover the good, old days of peace and gladness that we had before the tempter and destroyer came. Who is downstairs besides our own family?”
“Dr. Peters is here. He brought confirmation of that monster’s Californian marriage.”
“Oh, I am very glad of that! I would have it confirmed and reconfirmed forever and ever. Who else is downstairs, mamma?”
“Mrs. Anglesea. Your father asked her to the house, that we might hear her statement in more detail. And she seems to like her quarters so well that I am inclined to think that she will stay just as long as she is permitted to do so.”
“Well, mamma, let her stay. Poor woman! To be deserted by her husband! Is she very unhappy?”
“Not she! I should say that she is the most happily constituted human being I ever saw. She has the soundest health, the finest appetite, the keenest senses and the dullest sensibilities that I ever heard of. She has no more sentiment than if she ran upon four feet, instead of two! Give her full bodily comforts and pleasures, which she can feel and enjoy, and she will be perfectly happy.”
“Oh, mamma, what a character!”
“But that she is very—what shall I say of her that will not seem harsh or uncharitable?”