"I have not a friend in all the county. That villain has only to
say 'Mad,' and all turn from me, as if an angel of truth had said
'Criminal.' We have no friend but one, and she is my servant. Now go
and envy wealth and titles. No wife in this parish is so poor as I;
powerless in the folds of a serpent. I can't see my husband without an
order from _him._ He is all power, I and mine all weakness." She raised
her clinched fists, she clutched her beautiful hair as if she would
tear it out by the roots. "I shall, go mad! I shall go mad! No!" said
she, all of a sudden. "That will not do. That is what he wants--and
then my darling _would_ be defenseless. I will not go mad." Then
suddenly grinding her white teeth: "I'll teach him to drive a lady to
despair. I'll fight."
She descended, almost without a break, from the fury of a Pythoness to
a strange calm. Oh! then it is her sex are dangerous.
"Don't look so pale," said she, and she actually smiled. "All is fair
against so foul a villain. You and I will defeat him. Dress me, Mary."
Mary Wells, carried away by the unusual violence of a superior mind,
was quite bewildered.
Lady Bassett smiled a strange smile, and said, "I'll show you how to
dress me;" and she did give her a lesson that astonished her.
"And now," said Lady Bassett, "I shall dress you.
Pages:
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256