“The revulsion of feeling has been tremendous. Everybody will be delighted.”
And so it turned out. People had not at all liked the idea of a real, live lord becoming an unreal, dead lord by such means. The Home Secretary sent the order for my release the same afternoon. The dead Lord Gascoyne became a monster of iniquity, and I was congratulated by everyone on the dénouement.
But to this day, there is a sadness in my wife’s manner, and although she tries to hide a shuddering aversion for me when we are alone, it shows itself unexpectedly in trifles. In some way she has grasped the truth. Indeed, she must have done, for there can be no other explanation of her conduct. We have two children, and perhaps there is something pathetic in the amount of moral training she gives them. I am sure there is no need for Hammerton to turn out other than well. I have done the work. He has only to reap the benefit and the reward. The second boy is a gentle little creature, Oriental in his nature, and most devoted to his father, as they both are, but the second boy especially so.
Sibella is still—Sibella.
The End
Transcriber’s Note
This transcription follows the text of the Chatto & Windus edition published in 1907. Three unambiguous misspellings have been corrected (namely, “Halward,” “memorist,” and “possiblity”), but any other seeming errors have been left unchanged.