"
Mary opened this letter with a beating heart. She read it with tears and
smiles and utter amazement. She knew so little about the male character
that this way of receiving a knockdown blow astonished and charmed her.
She thought to herself, no wonder women look up to men. They _will_ have
their own way; they resist, _of course_. How sensible! We give in, right
or wrong. What a comfort I have got a man to back me, and not a poor
sorrowing, despairing, obeying thing like myself!
So she was comforted for the minute, and settled in her own mind that she
would be good and obedient, and Walter should do all the fighting. But
letters soon cease to satisfy the yearning hearts of lovers unnaturally
separated. Walter and Mary lived so near each other, yet now they never
met. Bartley took care of that. He told Mary she must not walk out
without a maid or ride without a servant; and he gave them both special
orders. He even obliged her with his own company, though that rather
bored him.
Under this severe restraint Mary's health and spirits suffered, and she
lost some of her beautiful color.
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