She evidently had a certain affection for her husband; and it was the more piteous that in his present state he only regarded her as the tempter who had ruined his life—his false Duessa, who had led him away from Una. On one unhappy evening he had been almost maddened by her insisting on arguing with him; he called her a hag, declared she had been the death of his children, the death of that dear one—could she not let him alone now she had been the death of himself? When Martyn took her away, she wept bitterly, and told enough to make the misery of their life apparent, when the gaiety was over, and regrets and recriminations set in. However, there came a calmer interval, when the suffering passed off, but in the manner which made the German doctor intimate that hope was over. Would life last till his mother came? His brothers had striven from the first to awaken thoughts of higher things, and turn remorse into repentance; but every attempt resulted in strange, sad wanderings about Esau, the birthright, and the blessing. Indeed, these might not have been entirely wanderings, for once he said, ‘It is better this way, Bill. You don’t know what you wish in trying to bring me round. Don’t be hard on me. She drove me to it. It is all right now. The Jews will be disappointed.’ For even at the crisis in London, he had concealed that he had raised money on _post obits_, so that, had he outlived my father, Chantry House would have been lost. Lady Peacock’s fortune had been undermined when she married him; extravagance and gambling had made short work of the rest.