“I always knew she was hysterical—yes—if that is what you mean;”—he answered—“The majority of women have no real feelings, no serious emotions—except one—vanity. They do not know what a great love means,—their chief desire is for conquest,—and failing in this, they run up the gamut of baffled passion to the pitch of frenetic hysteria, which with some becomes chronic. Lady Sibyl suffers in this way. Now listen to me. I will go off to Paris or Moscow or Berlin at once,—after what has happened, of course I cannot stay here,—and I give you my word I will not intrude myself into your domestic circle again. In a few days you will tide over this rupture, and learn the wisdom of supporting the differences that occur in matrimony, with composure——”
“Impossible! I will not part with you!” I said vehemently—“Nor will I live with her! Better the companionship of a true friend than that of a false wife!”
He raised his eyebrows with a puzzled half humorous expression—then shrugged his shoulders, as one who gives up a difficult argument. Rising, he put aside his mandoline and [p 379] came over to me, his tall imposing figure casting a gigantic shadow in the brilliant moonbeams.
“Upon my word, you put me in a very awkward position Geoffrey,—what is to be done? You can get a judicial separation if you like, but I think it would be an unwise course of procedure after barely four months of marriage. The world would be set talking at once. Really it is better to do anything than give the gossips a chance for floating scandal. Look here—don’t decide anything hastily,—come up to town with me for a day, and leave your wife alone to meditate upon her foolishness and its possible consequences,—then you will be better able to judge as to your future movements. Go to your room, and sleep till morning.”
“Sleep!” I repeated with a shudder—“In that room where she——” I broke off with a cry and looked at him imploringly—“Am I going mad, I wonder! My brain seems on fire! If I could forget! ... if I could forget! Lucio—if you, my loyal friend, had been false to me I should have died,—your truth, your honour have saved me!”
He smiled—an odd, cynical little smile.
“Tut——I make no boast of virtue”—he rejoined—“If the lady’s beauty had been any temptation to me I might have yielded to her charms,—in so doing I should have been no more than man, as she herself suggested. But perhaps I am more than man!—at anyrate bodily beauty in woman makes no sort of effect on me, unless it is accompanied by beauty of soul,—then it does make an effect, and a very extraordinary one. It provokes me to try how deep the beauty goes—whether it is impervious or vulnerable. As I find it, so I leave it!”
I stared wearily at the moonlight patterns on the floor.
“What am I to do?” I asked—“What would you advise?”
“Come up to town with me,”—he replied—“You can leave a note for your wife, explaining your absence,—and at one of the clubs we will talk over the matter quietly, and decide how best to avoid a social scandal. Meanwhile, go [p 380] to bed. If you won’t go back to your own room, sleep in the spare one next to mine.”