And Kitty must have done something to bring down upon
her the wrath of the Puritanical mistress of the house.
Well, what was he to do? It was now July. The session would last
certainly till the middle of August, and though the American business
would be disposed of directly, there was fresh trouble in the Balkan
Peninsula, and an anxious situation in Egypt. Impossible that he should
think of leaving his post. And as for the chance of a dissolution, the
government was now a good deal stronger than it had been before
Easter--worse luck!
Of course he ought to take Kitty away. But short of resignation how was
it to be done? And what, even, would resignation do--supposing,
per
impossibile, it could be thought of--but give to gnawing gossip a
bigger bone, and probably irritate Kitty to the point of rebellion? Yet
how induce her to go with any one else? Lady Tranmore was out of the
question. Margaret French, perhaps?
Then, suddenly, Ashe was assailed by an inner laughter, hollow and
discomfortable. Things were come to a pretty pass when he must even
dream of resigning because a man whom he despised would haunt his house,
and absorb the company of his wife; when, moreover, he could not even
think of a remedy for such a state of things without falling back
dismayed from the certainty of Kitty's temper--Kitty's wild and furious
temper.
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