Page:The Romance of Isabel, Lady Burton.djvu/215

Rh "I could have thrown my arms around his neck and kissed him, but I did not; he might have been surprised. I had to go and sit out in the Green Park till the excitement wore off; it was more to me than if he had given me a large fortune."

In December Burton returned home after an absence of eighteen months, and his wife went to Liverpool to meet him. We may imagine her joy. Christmas was spent at Wardour Castle (Lord Arundell's), a large family gathering; then they went to Garswood to stay with Lord Gerard; he was Isabel's uncle, and always her staunch friend.

Burton's leave sped all too soon; and when the time came for his departure, his wife told him that she could not possibly go on living as she had been living. "One's husband in a place where I am not allowed to go, and I living with my mother like a girl. I am neither maid, nor wife, nor widow." So he arranged to take her with him as far as Teneriffe at any rate. As they were to leave from Liverpool, they stayed at Garswood, which was hard by, until the day came for them to sail.