"Yes, and I did so. I yield every thing she desires; and why not, as I am not certain that her affections wander?" "Quite correct; but did any thing occur there?" "Perhaps you deem it nothing. She hung on the arm of Colonel Foreshore for a couple of hours." "The old Indian colonel?" "Yes." "Well, really, I do not see any thing in that. I happened to be at that show myself with Mrs. Forrester and a distinguished relative of ours. I remember that among the flowers were several Oriental plants, which our florists have succeeded in naturalising. This is one of the most common incidents of a flower-show." "I wish I could look upon these things as you do. A single incident of the kind might not have aroused my apprehensions; but so many, and at various times furnish a collective evidence impossible to resist." "How long have you been married?" "A little more than two years." "Any family?" "No." I was quite convinced, as the reader must be, that there was really nothing in the conduct of Mrs. Percival to justify the cruel suspicions of her husband. His employment of me would, I saw, be one of the absurdest things he could very well do. Should I allow him to employ me? Ought I to permit myself to be used as a spy upon his wife's movements--being so firmly convinced, as I was, of her innocence? The mystery of this jealousy was capable of a simple explanation. The lady had been endowed by nature with a somewhat mercurial disposition, which her education had done little to check. The very scenes in which her girlhood had been spent had inspired her with a wild or playful tendency. Nothing in her married life had yet happened to curb or control the innocent gaiety, or it might be waywardness, of her disposition. Had her union with Mr. Percival been blessed by offspring (of which, it is needless to say, there was yet no ground for despair), it is most probable that at dinner-parties she would have been a less attractive member, at public breakfasts she would have been less chatty or facetious, at flower-shows a less anxious inquirer. But should I, or should I not, undertake to confirm or remove the unjust husband's suspicions? Upon this I could not make up my mind. I required time for consideration. It was arranged that Mr. Percival should see me again in three days.