He was absolutely faithful to his ideals, I am glad to say, and never wavered in his allegiance to his wife, however disappointed he may have been in her; going over regularly to spend his long vacations in America, although she never seemed to wish to see him.

At last she fell into a state of hopeless melancholia; and it was rather a relief to us all to feel that we had judged her too severely, and that her unreasonableness and her extraordinary caprices had been born of mental disorder more than of moral obliquity.

Gerald gave up everything to nurse her and rouse her from her apathy; but she faded away without ever once coming back to a more normal self, and that was the end of it all.

Gerald's father had died meanwhile, and he had fallen heir to the property and the estates.
They were very much encumbered, but he is gradually getting affairs into a less chaotic state; and while his fortune would seem a small one to you extravagant Americans, he is what we Irish paupers would call well to do." Lady Killbally was suspiciously willing to give me all this information,--so much so that I ventured to ask about the children.
"They are captivating, neglected little things," she said.

"Madame La Touche, an aged aunt, has the ostensible charge of them, and she is a most easy-going person.