It was a
new thing that she should constantly propose to walk with him, to
drive with him, to read aloud to him, to make herself not only a
part of his heart but a part of his occupations. Had the change
come gradually, he would not have distrusted her motives. He liked
his wife's company and conversation, but as they each had things
to do which could not conveniently be done together, he had made
up his mind to the existence which was good enough for his
companions in society. Other men did not think of spending the
afternoon in their wives' carriages, leaving cards or making
visits, or driving round and round the Villa Borghese and the
Pincio. To do so was to be ridiculous in the extreme, and besides,
though he liked to be with Corona, he detested visiting, and hated
of all things to stop a dozen times in the course of a drive in
order to send a footman upstairs with cards. He preferred to walk
or to lounge in the club or to stay at home and study the problems
of his improvements for Saracinesca. Corona's manner irritated him
therefore, and made him think more than ever of the subject which
he would have done better to abandon from the first.
Nevertheless, he would not show that he was wearied by his wife's
attention, still less that he believed her behaviour to be
prompted by a desire to deceive him.
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