"Thank you," Mrs. Trevennack answered low, with tears standing in her
eyes. "I'm--I'm so glad you've SEEN him. It makes your opinion so much
more valuable to me. But you thought his delusion wholly due to the
accident, then?"
"Wholly due to the accident, dear lady. Yes, wholly, wholly due to it.
You may go home quite relieved. Your doubts and fears are groundless.
Miss Trevennack may marry with a clear conscience."
CHAPTER X.
A BOLD ATTEMPT.
During the next ten or eleven months poor Mrs. Trevennack had but one
abiding terror--that a sudden access of irrepressible insanity might
attack her husband before Cleer and Eustace could manage to get
married. Trevennack, however, with unvarying tenderness, did his best
in every way to calm her fears. Though no word on the subject passed
between them directly, he let her feel with singular tact that he meant
to keep himself under proper control. Whenever a dangerous topic
cropped up in conversation, he would look across at her affectionately,
with a reassuring smile. "For Cleer's sake," he murmured often, if she
was close by his side; "for Cleer's sake, dearest!" and his wife,
mutely grateful, knew at once what he meant, and smiled approval sadly.
Her heart was very full; her part was a hard one to play with fitting
cheerfulness; but in his very madness itself she couldn't help loving,
admiring, and respecting that strong, grave husband who fought so hard
against his own profound convictions.
Ten months passed away, however, and Eustace Le Neve didn't seem to get
much nearer any permanent appointment than ever. He began to tire at
last of applying unsuccessfully for every passing vacancy. Now and then
he got odd jobs, to be sure; but odd jobs won't do for a man to marry
upon; and serious work seemed always to elude him. Walter Tyrrel did
his best, no doubt, to hunt up all the directors of all the companies
he knew; but no posts fell vacant on any line they were connected with.
It grieved Walter to the heart, for he had always had the sincerest
friendship for Eustace Le Neve; and now that Eustace was going to marry
Cleer Trevennack, Walter felt himself doubly bound in honor to assist
him. It was HE who had ruined the Trevennacks' hopes in life by his
unintentional injury to their only son; the least he could do in
return, he thought, and felt, was to make things as easy as possible
for their daughter and her intended husband.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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