ANOTHER OLD ACQUAINTANCE. 159

Williams drank wine and made the most violent
efforts to look composed, and to a great degree he
succeeded. His wife remembered what had passed
between them on the subject before their marriage,
and his agitation appeared natural ; she began a most
cheerful conversation with him, and used every effort
in her power to drive away all unpleasant thoughts.

The next day they left the inn. Mrs. Williams
was expecting to become a mother in a few months ;
they, therefore, took a suite of rooms for the summer,
intending before winter to remove to Florence, where
they proposed taking up their abode.

One thought for ever haunted Williams, and that
was his father, and the discovery which, sooner or
later, his wife would make. He loved her extremely ;
Mademoiselle Angela was no longer her rival; he
would have given thousands, that he only had never
deceived her ; but every day made it more difficult
now to confess the truth. His letters never came to
the house ; he dreaded going into public lest he should
be recognised in some way ; he was become the slave
of perpetual apprehension. He bought a horse and
rode violently ; it was the only thing that seemed to
remove him from himself; yet he never returned
home without fearing that the frightful secret was
out. All this preyed upon his health ; he looked ill
and haggard ; his wife grew anxious about him ; he
assumed spirits which he did not feel, and was all the
time miserable. To add to his anxiety, Reynolds
still pursued him with letters, and at length came in
person. He came with the most resolute purpose of
dragging from Williams the secret of his father’s
residence. He came with tidings for which Williams