If he had been warned that he
was losing his wife's love, he would have scouted the idea, his
self-assurance was so strong, his vanity complete. If, however, he had
been told that another man was thinking of his wife, he would have
believed it, as he believed now that David had done; and he cherished
that belief, and let resentment grow. He was the Earl of Eglington, and
no matter what reputation David had reached, he was still a member of a
Quaker trader's family, with an origin slightly touched with scandal.
Another resentment, however, was steadily rising in him. It galled him
that Hylda should take so powerful an interest in David's work in Egypt;
and he knew now that she had always done so. It did not ease his vexed
spirit to know that thousands of others of his fellow-countrymen did the
same. They might do so, but she was his wife, and his own work was the
sun round which her mind and interest should revolve.
"Why should you be so keen about Egypt and Claridge Pasha?" he said to
her now.
Her face hardened a little.
Pages:
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442