"I don't like to hear you depreciate yourself, papa," Elsie said. "Edward
may have that disposition without having got it from you. And I am sure
mamma would indignantly repel the insinuation that you were ever a
domineering husband."
"Perhaps so; my daughter was the safety-valve in my case. Well, daughter,
my advice is, wait till to-morrow at all events. I must say she doesn't
seem to me one of the kind to submit tamely to oppression. I did not like
her behavior last evening, and it may be that she needs the lesson her
husband seems to be giving her. He certainly has been affectionate enough
in the past to make it reasonable to suppose he is not abusing her now."
"Oh, I could never think he would do that!" exclaimed his mother, "and I
believe in my heart he would hurry home at once if he knew how she is
fretting over his absence."
It was near the dinner hour when Elsie returned from her drive, and
stealing on tiptoe into Zoe's bedroom she found her fast asleep. Her
eyelashes were still wet, and she looked flushed and feverish.
Elsie gazed at her in tender pity and some little anxiety; the face was so
young and child-like, and even in sleep wore a grieved expression that
touched the kind mother heart.
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