No, her quarrel, she began to see, was not so
much with him as with the Powers above. Why should HER husband alone not
be as robust and hardy as all the other husbands in the place? None of
THEIR healths threatened to fail, nor did any of them find the
conditions of the life intolerable. That was another shabby trick Fate
had played Richard in not endowing him with worldly wisdom, and a
healthy itch to succeed. Instead of that, he had been blessed with ideas
and impulses that stood directly in his way.--And it was here that Mary
bore more than one of her private ambitions for him to its grave. A new
expression came into her eyes, too--an unsure, baffled look. Life was
not, after all, going to be the simple, straightforward affair she had
believed. Thus far, save for the one unhappy business with Purdy, wrongs
and complications had passed her by. Now she saw that no more than
anyone else could she hope to escape them.
Out of this frame of mind she wrote a long, confidential letter to John:
John must not be left in ignorance of what hung over her; it was also a
relief to unbosom herself to one of her own family. And John was good
enough to travel up expressly to talk things over with her, and, as he
put it, to "call Richard to order." Like every one else he showed the
whites of his eyes at the latter's flimsy reasons for seeking a change.
But when, in spite of her warning, he bearded his brother-in-law with a
jocose and hearty: "Come, come, my dear Mahony! what's all this? You're
actually thinking of giving us the slip?" Richard took his interference
so badly, became so agitated over the head of the harmless question that
John's airy remonstrance died in his throat.
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