Page:A hairdresser's experience in high life.djvu/119

Rh bidding his wife affectionately farewell, he left the house.

"Again was Mrs. D. taken sick, and James was sent for to sit with her, to be ready to go for anything that was wanted. About eleven o'clock, I saw Mr. D. going up stairs; how he got in I know not—the doors were all locked—but that matters not, there he was; and I watched him with anxiety as I saw him stop at his wife's door. It was locked. He broke it open with one blow. I was fearful of the consequences. Mrs. D. was lying in bed, and near her sat James, reading. My master, much to my astonishment, simply ordered him down stairs; when he went out, the door was closed, and I could hear nothing that passed inside.

"The next morning, James asked me to see Mr. D., and request him to give him a recommendation. Mr. D.'s countenance did not change in the least (and I watched him closely), as he replied, 'Tell him if he is here at breakfast, I will give him one.' I delivered the message to James, and his face grew pale as he listened to it; he left the room, and I have seen nothing of him from that day to this. Mr. D. has treated his wife since with the greatest attention before the eyes of others, but alone he never exchanges a word with her. Notwithstanding the care that was taken, the thing leaked out through the servants, and is now pretty generally known."

I listened to the girl's story with some interest, but with very little surprise, for I had seen and heard of so many more marvelous circumstances, that I was prepared to believe that ladies could be guilty of