“But they did not go together, Bayard. You will not understand it. Neither did I, but Fair absolutely refused to have anything to say to her husband. She never saw him again.”
And as briefly as she could, she told him the story of the day after the interrupted wedding, of the stand she had taken against Fair, and of her successful flight from the villa.
Bayard Lorraine looked at Mrs. Howard in angry wonder.
“She hated and feared the prince—she was not willing to live with him,” he said, “and she begged you to take her part and defend her against his claim? Yet you hardened your heart against her—you tried to drive her into his arms. Oh, Mrs. Howard, how could you do it? How could you be so cruel and so heartless?”
She started in surprise, and exclaimed:
“Do you mean that I did wrong in trying to make peace between Fair and the husband she had treated so badly?”
He flushed slightly, but did not hesitate to answer:
“Yes, I mean that. If she hated and feared him, it was not right to force her to live with him.”
“I did not force her. I only washed my hands of the whole matter,” she replied, with natural resentment.
“You refused her your protection, and thus virtually gave her over into a bad man’s power. Yes, he must have been a bad man, or, ambitious as she was, she would not have refused all that he was able to bestow upon her. Mrs. Howard, what if that poor girl has been misjudged and wronged?”