'But I have not——'
'I know. I told him that, I told him everything; that I was dying, like the idiot I was, for the love of a man who didn't care for me. He has taken to drink—much worse than before—and he is impatient, savage, and won't listen to reason. He will do nothing but repeat, again and again, "He said he would answer for it, and he shall."'
'But he doesn't even know I have returned.'
'He said you were sure to fly back to the old nest, and—listen, Mr. Maude, for I know this is true; he has gone up there to lie in wait for you. And remember, a man who has one crazed idea and won't listen to anything but his own mad impulses, is more dangerous than one who is angry with good cause.'
'Poor fellow, I think he has good cause.'
'But, Mr. Maude, you don't know what ridiculous things he says!'
'What things?'
'He says that you ought not to have consulted my caprices, but to have married me yourself straight away!'
She began to laugh as she finished, but I stopped her.
'He is quite right. So I ought to have done. Unluckily, there was one thing in the way.'