How suddenly were Mrs. Dexter’s wifely, unselfish and self-denying purposes in regard to her husband scattered upon the winds!  She had come to Newport, resolved to be all to him that it was possible for her to be—­even to the withdrawing of herself more from social circles in which attractive men formed a part.  The admonitions of Mrs. De Lisle sunk deeply into her heart.  She saw her relation to her husband in a new aspect.  He had larger claims upon her than she had admitted heretofore.  If she had been partly coerced into the compact, he had been deceived by her promises at the altar into expecting more than it was in her power to give.  She owed him not only a wife’s allegiance, but a wife’s tender consideration.

Alas! how suddenly had all these good purposes been withered up, like tender flowers in the biting frost!  And now there was strife between them—­bitterness, anger, scorn, alienation.  The uneasiness which her husband had manifested for some months previously, whenever she was in free, animated conversation with gentlemen, annoyed her slightly; but she had never regarded it as a very serious affection on his part, and, conscious of her own purity, believed that he would ere long see the evidence thereof, and cease to give himself useless trouble.  His conduct at Saratoga, followed by the conversations with Mrs. De Lisle and Mrs. Anthony, aroused her to a truer sense of his actual state of mind.  His singular, stealthy scanning of her countenance, immediately after their arrival at Newport, following, as she rightly concluded, his unexpected meeting with Hendrickson, considerably disturbed the balance of mind she had sought to gain, and this dimmed her clear perceptions of duty.  His direct reference to Mr. Hendrickson, after her hurried meeting with him, filled her with indignation, and simply prepared the way for this last defiant position.  She felt deeply outraged, and wholly estranged.

Icy reserve and distant formality now marked the intercourse of Mr. and Mrs. Dexter.  It was all in vain that he sought to win back that semblance of affection which he had lost.  Mrs. Dexter was too sincere a woman—­too earnest and true—­for broad disguises.  She could be courteous, regardful, attentive to all the needs of her husband; but she could not pretend to love, when daily her heart experienced new occasions of dislike.

On the next morning, Mrs. Dexter, on going into one of the parlors, met Mr. Hendrickson.  From his manner, it was evident that he had been waiting there in hopes to gain an interview.  Mrs. Dexter felt displeased.  She was a lawful wife, and it struck her as an implication on his part of possible dishonor on hers.  He came forward to meet her as she entered the room, with a pleased smile on his face, but she gave his warm greeting but a cold return.  An instant change in his manner, showed the effect upon his feelings.

“I shall leave to-day,” he said.

“So soon?  I thought you purposed remaining for several days.”