Later still that came to pass which Mary Wells had planned from the
first with deep malice, and that shrewd insight into human nature which
many a low woman has--the cooler she was the warmer did Richard Bassett
grow, till at last, contrasting his pale, meek little wife with this
glowing Hebe, he conceived an unholy liking for the latter. She met it
sometimes with coldness and reproaches, sometimes with affected alarm,
sometimes with a half-yielding manner, and so tormented him to her
heart's content, and undermined his affection for his wife. Thus she
revenged herself on them both to her heart's content.
But malice so perverse is apt to recoil on itself; and women, in
particular, should not undertake a long and subtle revenge of this
sort; since the strongest have their hours of weakness, and are
surprised into things they never intended. The subsequent history of
Mary Wells will exemplify this. Meantime, however, meek little Mrs.
Bassett was no match for the beauty and low cunning of her rival.
Yet a time came when she defended herself unconsciously. She did
something that made her husband most solicitous for her welfare and
happiness. He began to watch her health with maternal care, to shield
her from draughts, to take care of her diet, to indulge her in all her
whims instead of snubbing her, and to pet her, till she was the
happiest wife in England for a time.
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