Ernest knew
she was with child, and thinking this might have something to do
with the matter, would have sent for a doctor if Ellen had not
begged him not to do so.
Anyone who had had experience of drunken people would have seen at a
glance what the matter was, but my hero knew nothing about them-
nothing, that is to say, about the drunkenness of the habitual
drunkard, which shows itself very differently from that of one who
gets drunk only once in a way. The idea that his wife could drink
had never even crossed his mind, indeed she always made a fuss about
taking more than a very little beer, and never touched spirits. He did
not know much more about hysterics than he did about drunkenness,
but he had always heard that women who were about to become mothers
were liable to be easily upset and were often rather flighty, so he
was not greatly surprised, and thought he had settled the matter by
registering the discovery that being about to become a father has
its troublesome as well as its pleasant side.
The great change in Ellen's life consequent upon her meeting
Ernest and getting married had for a time actually sobered her by
shaking her out of her old ways.
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