They each went pretty much their own
way.
The old man, who had not listened very closely,
took up his tale. For days Adam lived in blank, unrelieved misery. He had settled a
scruple, but he hadstill to face the litter of a broken life.
Then had come a final recklessness, sowild that she
was afraid to approach her husband again. A faint smell of incense hung in the air
and the fragrance ofhothouse flowers.
But I never considered that she hadthe mind of a
canary.
He blamed himself bitterly for his folly and
blindness.
And now thishappy activity, this happier
companionship, was gone for ever. If you dont derive profits, no royalty is due. I
saw her in the witness-box, said the lawyer. It was a joy tosee his hard little legs
twinkle as he ran shouting in the ripplesof the tide. I suppose we may say that
Melfort has got off easily, said thelawyer. The facts were not in doubt, and he made
no attemptto dispute them. So he schooled himself to make reparation. He was a
disgracedman to whom all honourable careers were closed.
He discovered, too, that her tenderness was only
skin-deep.
Such a wheel would have broken thebutterfly. It
seemed to me that his mouth had now something of theportraits delicate complacence.
I suppose theres no chance of an acquittal.
Disillusion came in the first year of marriage.