eagerly to her being one-and-twenty, for he had made ducks and drakes of his own property, and tried to do the same with mine.  He would have done so with his wife’s; but a few weeks before Olivia’s twenty-first birthday, she disappeared mysteriously.  There her fortune lies, and Richard has no more power than I have to touch it.  He cannot even claim the money lying in the Bank of Australia, which has been remitted by her trustees; nor can Olivia claim it without making herself known to him.  It is accumulating there, while both of them are on the verge of poverty.”

“But he must have been very cruel to her before she would run away!” said my mother in a very pitiful voice.  Poor mother! she had borne her own sorrows dumbly, and to leave her husband had probably never occurred to her.

“Cruel!” repeated Kate Daltrey.  “Well, there are many kinds of cruelty.  I do not suppose Richard would ever transgress the limits of the law.  But Olivia was one of those girls who can suffer great torture—­mental torture I mean.  Even I could not live in the same house with him, and she was a dreamy, sensitive, romantic child, with as much knowledge of the world as a baby.  I was astonished to hear she had had daring enough to leave him.”

“But there must be some protection for her from the law,” I said, thinking of the bold, coarse woman, no doubt his associate, who was in pursuit of Olivia.  “She might sue for a judicial separation, at the least, if not a divorce.”

“I am quite sure nothing could be brought against him in a court of law,” she answered.  “He is very wary and cunning, and knows very well what he may do and what he may not do.  A few months before Olivia’s flight, he introduced a woman as her companion—­a disreputable woman probably; but he calls her his cousin, and I do not know how Olivia could prove her an unfit person to be with her.  Our suspicions may be very strong, but suspicion is not enough for an English judge and jury.  Since I saw her this morning I have been thinking of her position in every light, and I really do not see any thing she could have done, except running away as she did, or making up her mind to be deaf and blind and dumb.  There was no other alternative.”

“But could he not be induced to leave her in peace if she gave up a portion of her property?” I asked.

“Why should he?” she retorted.  “If she was in his hands the whole of the property would be his.  He will never release her—­never.  No, her only chance is to hide herself from him.  The law cannot deal with wrongs like hers, because they are as light as air apparently, though they are as all-pervading as air is, and as poisonous as air can be.  They are like choke-damp, only not quite fatal.  He is as crafty and cunning as a serpent.  He could prove himself the kindest, most considerate of husbands, and Olivia next thing to an idiot.  Oh, it is ridiculous to think of pitting a girl like her against him!”