CHAPTER II.


"Sorrow seems pleased to dwell with so much sweetness;
And now and then a melancholy smile
Breaks loose like lightning on a winter's night
And shows a moment's day."--_DRYDEN_


On the succeeding morning, when Lady Greville recovered sufficiently
from a succession of fainting fits to collect her remembrances of
the dreadful cause of her illness, she eagerly demanded of her
attendants in what manner, and by whom, she had been placed in her
usual sleeping-room. They replied, that Lord Greville had conveyed
her there insensible in his arms; and had summoned them in great
agitation to her assistance. He had since frequently sent to
inquire after her health, and had expressed great delight when the
last message, announcing her recovery, had reached him. But he came
not himself to watch over her; and though the shock she had received,
had brought on an alarming degree of fever, which confined her for
several days to her room, he never visited her chamber. Helen was
the more surprised and pained by this neglect, as she knew he made
frequent visits to the sick bed of old Alice, and she wept secretly
and bitterly over this fresh proof of his alienated love.


During the tedious hours of illness, the mental sufferings of the
neglected wife far exceeded those of her corporal frame. She could
reflect but on one subject--one idea, one pervading horrible idea