Drusilla went to her own room, wept a little, and blamed herself for that weakness, and then she called her maid to help her, and she spent the whole day in preparing her husband’s wardrobe for his journey.
It happened for once that Mr. Lyon could keep his word to his wife without much personal inconvenience, and so he kept it.
When he reached the city that day he made a morning call upon his uncle and his cousin. He found the General was engaged to dine that evening with a veteran brother officer, and Miss Lyon would be occupied with the preparations for her journey, so that neither the old gentleman nor the young lady would be at liberty to entertain him longer than the morning.
After lunching with his relatives, and arranging to join them at nine the next morning, he bade them good day.
He went to his own hotel where he called for his bill, settled it in full, gave up the keys of his rooms, and so closed his connection with the house.
From the hotel he went to the livery stable, mounted his horse and rode homeward.
He reached Cedarwood at seven o’clock. He found his trunk ready packed, corded and labelled for his journey, and standing in the hall. He found the drawing-room as cozy and inviting as his wife always made it for his reception; the fire burning brightly, and the tea-table standing before it spread with all the dainties he most liked; and, above all, he found her, pretty, well-dressed, and cheerful as she could command herself to be.
This was the first time for many weeks that he had taken tea with his wife, and she made it a festive occasion. He began again to realize that he loved her; he felt like pressing her to his heart as in the first days of their marriage, before the witchery of the world came between them, or he had discovered what he supposed to be the illegality of their marriage. Yes, he would have liked to have shown her these proofs of reviving affection; but he did not. He had decided, in the secrecy of his own insane mind, that she was henceforth to be only as a sister to him until he should be able to part with her entirely; and so he treated her now very gently but very coldly.
After tea, which he took care should be prolonged as far into the evening as possible, he asked her to sing and play for him.
And she very gladly sat down to the piano, and executed some of his favorite pieces in her very best style.