In addition to his physical discomfort he experienced much mental disturbance; and both together made him irritable and angry with himself and all the world. He was vexed with his uncle and cousin for being in Washington: with Richard Hammond for being always at hand to wait upon the beautiful heiress; with the old man in Brazil for dying and leaving the young spendthrift a fortune to recommend him; and, above all, with himself—not exactly for having married poor little Drusilla, but certainly for having by his own act put it out of his power to marry Anna; and worse than all, he was vexed in advance with his sweet little wife for the reception he felt sure she would give him when he should get home.
As he rode slowly through the woods he muttered to himself:
“I know she has been watching for me ever since noon to-day, just because I said that I would be home then. She has been watching more than twelve hours. And now of course she has worried herself into a fit of intense anxiety, and most likely of illness besides. And there she is, no doubt, sitting with a pale face and red eyes, weeping over a smouldering fire, or an extinguished one. And she will meet me either with tears or sorrowful reproaches, or both! And, after all, what can I say for myself? Ah, bah, why will women take such things so much to heart? As if it was not enough to have been driven almost to mental distraction for her sake to-day, without being subjected to a scene to-night.”
So growling within himself, the culprit rode slowly onward towards his home, and the nearer he got to it the more slowly he rode. He actually dreaded to meet Drusilla. But ride on slowly as he might, he could not put off forever the inevitable moment of arrival.
He soon saw the light of his home gleaming through the trees.
“There, I knew it!” he said to himself. “She is sitting up for me. There are the drawing-room windows all ablaze, and not a shutter closed. I had a faint hope that she might have gone to bed and cried herself to sleep, like a child as she is. But that’s all over now. I’ve got to meet her with her red eyes and pale face. Confound it all, if she does get up a scene, I’ll teach her a lesson she’ll not soon forget!” he growled, trying to work himself up into a fit of rage in anticipation of the dreaded meeting. And yet, in the midst of all his efforts, his heart reproached him, and he relented a little towards his young wife. So now it was half in anger and half in compunction he drew near his home.
To give himself more time, to postpone the evil hour as long as possible, he first rode around to the stable to put up his horse himself.
And then he walked slowly to the house and knocked at the front door.
It flew open on the instant.
And there stood Drusilla, warm, glad, beaming with delight, radiant with welcome.