My husband has ever since
conducted himself towards me as if I were a guilty and disgraced
thing. We occupy separate apartments; and though we sit together at
the same table, words rarely pass between us. Occasionally he comes
home under the influence of wine, and then his abuse of me is
fearful to think of. If any thing could waken a thoughtless creature
sleeping on enchanted ground, it was this.'
"'There has never been anything more than the semblance of love
between us,' she continued. 'The more intimately I came to know him,
after our marriage, the more did my soul separate itself from him,
until the antipodes were not farther apart than we. So we lived on;
I seeking a poor compensation in fashionable emulations and social
triumphs; and he in grand business enterprises--castles in the air
perhaps. Living thus, we have come to this point in our journey; and
now the crisis has arrived!'
"She paused.
"' What crisis?' I asked.
"'He demands a separation.' Her voice choked--'a divorce--'
"'On what ground?'
"'On legal ground.' She bent down, covered her face, and uttered a
groan so full of mental anguish, that I almost shuddered as the
sound penetrated my ears.
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