'Tis wisest, then, to fight in light,
For you can judge your foeman's skill;
And though in armour he be dight,
Your lance may find some place to kill."
The interview which had taken place between Mrs. Belswin and her Italian lover had been productive of a curious change in the demeanour of the latter. From being master he became slave, from commanding he changed to obeying; and taking advantage of this astonishing transformation, Mrs. Belswin ordered her quondam master about like a dog. She saw that by a single flash of her fierce eyes at a critical moment she had inculcated the superstitious Italian with the idea that she was possessed of the evil eye, and had by so doing taken all the manhood out of him. This son of the south, who was decidedly brave in the presence of physical danger, was so completely the slave of superstition that he firmly believed Mrs. Belswin's eyes exercised a malignant influence upon him, against which he was powerless to struggle. Notwithstanding this terrible feeling, he was too much in love with her to think of removing himself from the dread fascination of her presence, and therefore, he accepted his new position with superstitious resignation. Once or twice, indeed, he attempted to exert his former authority; but the ominous gleam in Mrs. Belswin's eyes, and the significant sneer on her lips, soon reduced him to obedience, and he cowered at the feet of his sometime slave in abject terror. It was not physical fear, it was not a want of manliness: it was simply the effect of a supernatural terror acting upon a nature singularly prone, both by birth and training, to yield to such weird superstitions.
Having thus reduced Ferrari to such a state of bondage, Mrs. Belswin thought that there would be no difficulty in making him put her husband out of the way in some stealthy manner. Here, however, she was entirely wrong, as Ferrari, being afraid of the English law, absolutely refused to lend himself to the committal of a crime even at the command of his evil genius. In vain, with all the artistic craft of a woman, she prayed, implored, cursed, ordered. Ferrari would not be moved from the position which he had taken up, in holding himself aloof from the power of the law. Afraid of her in every other way, he did exactly as she asked him, but in this special case his fear of the visible power of justice was greater than his fear of supernatural visitation from the glance of the evil eye, and after a fortnight's battling Mrs. Belswin was obliged to confess herself beaten by the steady refusal of her slave to obey her in what she desired most of all things to be done.
By means of Belk she had kept herself thoroughly well acquainted with all that had taken place at Thornstream during her absence. The bailiff employed his mother, who was always haunting the great house, to find out what was going on. So, the information she gave her son, he, in his turn, retailed by letter to Mrs. Belswin in London. From this source, therefore, the latter learned all about Sir Rupert's return, the discovery of the engagement, and the dismissal of Archie Maxwell by the angry baronet. On hearing all this news, Mrs. Belswin, with rare resolution, made up her mind to go down to Thornstream and see her husband face to face. She saw plainly that she could do nothing criminal against him, and so determined to have an interview with him, and throw herself on his mercy. If he granted her this all would be well; if, however, he spurned her--well---- Mrs. Belswin knitted her brows, clenched her hands, and drew a long breath. She was a despairing, reckless woman, and would stop at nothing to gain her ends, so it seemed as though Sir Rupert was in a very dangerous position. The baronet was no coward, but he would certainly have felt a thrill of fear had he known this meditated attack by his terribly savage wife.
One effect of Ferrari's newly-born dread of Mrs. Belswin's supernatural powers was that he followed her like a dog, and seemed afraid to let her out of his sight. Formerly, having a full belief in his power to draw her back to himself, he had not minded her being away for certain periods; but now that he deemed his dominating power was gone, he was afraid lest she should leave him altogether, and kept a close watch upon all her actions. He was with her all day, and at night, when forced to attend to his business, insisted that she should come to the theatre and stay in a private box, where he could see her during the performance. Mrs. Belswin did not wish to abuse her newly-gained power over him, so acquiesced in his somewhat unreasonable demands; but when she made her preparations to return to Thornstream, he insisted upon accompanying her there.
"But what about your business?" objected Mrs. Belswin.
"That will be right, cara mia," he replied rapidly. "See you--we will go down on Sunday--I do not sing that night; and I will return on Monday--with you."