Then came the odious task of getting rid of their unhappy mother.
Ernest's heart smote him at the notion of the shock the break-up would
be to her. He was always thinking that people had a claim upon him for
some inestimable service they had rendered him, or for some
irreparable mischief done to them by himself, the case however was
so clear, that Ernest's scruples did not offer serious resistance.
I did not see why he should have the pain of another interview
with his wife, so I got Mr. Ottery to manage the whole business. It
turned out that we need not have harrowed ourselves so much about
the agony of mind which Ellen would suffer on becoming an outcast
again. Ernest saw Mrs. Richards, the neighbour who had called him down
on the night when he had first discovered his wife's drunkenness,
and got from her some details of Ellen's opinions upon the matter. She
did not seem in the least conscience-stricken; she said: "Thank
goodness, at last!" And although aware that her marriage was not a
valid one, evidently regarded this as a mere detail which it would not
be worth anybody's while to go into more particularly. As regards
his breaking with her, she said it was a good job both for him and for
her.
Pages:
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585