He had made his bed and he must lie upon it. Ernest had felt all
this and had seldom come near me till now, one evening late in 1860,
he called on me, and with a very woe-begone face told me his troubles.
As soon as I found that he no longer liked his wife I forgave him at
once and was as much interested in him as ever. There is nothing an
old bachelor likes better than to find a young married man who
wishes he had not got married- especially when the case is such an
extreme one that he need not pretend to hope that matters will come
all right again, or encourage his young friend to make the best of it.
I was myself in favour of a separation, and said I would make
Ellen an allowance myself- of course intending that it should come out
of Ernest's money; but he would not hear of this. He had married
Ellen, he said, and he must try to reform her. He hated it, but he
must try; and finding him as usual very obstinate I was obliged to
acquiesce, though with little confidence as to the result. I was vexed
at seeing him waste himself upon such a barren task, and again began
to feel him burdensome. I am afraid I showed this, for he again
avoided me for some time, and, indeed, for many months I hardly saw
him at all.
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