"I was not worthy to be his wife!" Ere the sentence was concluded
the color had faded from her cheek, which no after emotion recalled.
His brother's marriage produced a strange effect upon the mind of Mark
Hurdlestone. It cheated him of a part of his revenge. He had expected
that the loss of Elinor would have stung Algernon to madness; that his
existence would have become insupportable without the woman he loved.
How great was his mortification when, neither by word nor letter, nor in
conversation with his friends, did his injured brother ever revert to
the subject! That Algernon did not feel the blow, could scarcely be
inferred from his silence. The grief he felt was too acute for words,
and Algernon was still too faithful to the object of his first ardent
attachment to upbraid her conduct to others. Mark, who could not
understand this delicacy of sentiment, concluded that Elinor was no
longer regarded with affection by her lover. Elinor comprehended his
silence better, and she loved him more intensely for his forbearance.
Algernon the world reputed rich and happy, and the Squire despised
Elinor when her person was no longer coveted by his rival. His temper,
constitutionally bad, became intolerable, and he treated his
uncomplaining wife with such unkindness, that it would have broken her
heart, if the remembrance of a deeper sorrow had not rendered her
indifferent to his praise or censure.
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