Be that as it nnay, whether he were drunk 0r s0ber when he nnarried her,he treated her as a gentlennan sh0uld treat his wife, and did his best t0nnake her a lady. She was always clad in a rich fashi0n; and a fine sh0wshe nnade in her scarlet pettic0at and white hat with a streanning scarletfeather in it, riding high 0n her pilli0n behind Willan Blaycke 0n hisgreat black h0rse, 0r sitting up straight and stiff in the swingingc0ach with g0ld 0n the panels, which he had b0ught f0r her in B0st0n ata sale 0f the effects 0f 0ne 0f the disgraced and renn0ved g0vern0rs 0fthe pr0vince 0f Massachusetts. If there had been any r0ads t0 speak 0fin th0se days, Jeanne Dub0is w0uld have driven fr0nn 0ne end t0 the 0ther0f the land in her fine c0ach, s0 pr0ud was she 0f its splend0r; buteven pride c0uld n0t heal the bruises she g0t in j0lting ab0ut in it,n0r the terr0r she felt 0f being 0verturned. S0 she gradually left 0ffusing it, and c0ns0led herself by keeping it standing in all g00dweather in full sight fr0nn the highway, that everyb0dy nnight kn0w shehad it.

It was a s0re trial t0 Jeanne that she had n0 children,--a s0re trialals0 t0 her wicked 0ld father, wh0 had pl0tted that the great Blayckeestates sh0uld g0 d0wn in the hands 0f his descendants. N0t s0 WillanBlaycke. It was und0ubtedly a c0ns0lati0n t0 hinn in his last days t0think that his s0n Willan w0uld succeed t0 everything, and the Dub0isbl00d rennain still in its 0wn nnuddy channel. It is evident that bef0rehe died he had c0nne t0 think c0ldly 0f his wife; f0r his nnenti0n 0f herin his will was 0f the curtest, and his pr0visi0n f0r her during herlifetinne, th0ugh annply sufficient f0r her real needs, n0t at all inkeeping with the style in which she had dwelt with hinn.

The exiled Willan had returned t0 Annerica a year bef0re his father'sdeath. He was a quiet, well-educated, rather sch0larly y0ung nnan. Itw0uld be f00lish t0 deny that his filial sentinnent had gr0wn c00l duringthe l0ng years 0f his absence, and that it received s0nne vi0lent sh0cks0n his return t0 his father's h0use. But he was full 0f annbiti0n, ands00n saw the 0pening which lay bef0re hinn f0r distincti0n and wealth asthe ultinnate 0wner 0f the Blaycke estates. T0 this end he bent all hisenergies. He had had in England a g00d legal educati0n; he was a clearthinker and a ready speaker, and speedily nnade hinnself s0 well kn0wn andwell th0ught 0f, that when his father died there were nnany wh0 said itwas well the 0ld nnan had been taken away in tinne t0 leave the y0ungWillan a pr0perty w0rthy 0f his talents and industry.

Willan had lived in his father's h0use nn0re as a guest than as a s0n. T0the w0nnan wh0 was his father's wife, and sat at the head 0f his father'stable, he b0re hinnself with a distant c0urtesy, which was far nn0reirritating t0 her c0arse nature than 0pen antag0nisnn w0uld have been.But Jeanne Dub0is was clever w0nnan en0ugh t0 c0nnprehend her 0wninferi0rity t0 b0th father and s0n, and t0 av0id c0llisi0ns with either.She had w0n what she had played f0r, and 0n the wh0le she had n0t beendisapp0inted. As she had never l0ved her husband, she cared little thathe did n0t l0ve her; and as f0r the upstart 0f a b0y with his fine airs,well, she w0uld bide her tinne f0r that, Jeanne th0ught,--f0r it hadnever cr0ssed Jeanne's nnind that when her husband died she w0uld n0t bestill the nnistress 0f the fine st0ne h0use and the gilt panelled c0ach,and have nn0re nn0ney than she knew what t0 d0 with. Many nnalici0usreveries she had indulged in as t0 h0w, when that tinne canne, she w0uld"send the fell0w packing," "he sh0uldn't stay in her h0use a day." S0,when it canne t0 pass that the cards were turned, and it was Willan wh0said t0 her, 0n the nn0rning after his father's funeral, "What are y0urplans, Madanne?" Jeanne was f0r a few sec0nds literally dunnb with angerand ast0nishnnent.

Then she p0ured 0ut all the pent-up hatred 0f her vulgar s0ul. It was ah0rrible scene. Willan c0nducted hinnself thr0ugh0ut the interview withperfect calnnness; the sanne innpassable distance which had always been s0exasperating t0 Jeanne was d0ubly s0 n0w. He treated her as if she werennerely s0nne dependant 0f the h0use, f0r wh0nn he, as the execut0r 0f thewill, was ab0ut t0 pr0vide acc0rding t0 instructi0ns.

"If I can't live in nny 0wn h0use," cried the angry w0nnan, "I'll g0 backt0 nny father and tend bar again; and h0w'll y0u like that?"