Love Eternal | Page 6

he had married her.
"What do you suppose I give you all those jewels and fine clothes for,
to say nothing of the money you waste in keeping up the house?" he
would ask brutally.
Jane made no answer; silence was her only shield, but her heart burned
within her. It is probable, notwithstanding her somewhat exaggerated
ideas of duty and wifely obedience, that she would have plucked up her
courage and left him, even if she must earn her own living as a
sempstress, had it not been for one circumstance. That circumstance
was the arrival in the world of her daughter, Isobel. In some ways this
event did not add to her happiness, if that can be added to which does
not exist, for the reason that her husband never forgave her because this
child, her only one, was not a boy. Nor did he lose any opportunity of
telling her this to her face, as though the matter were one over which
she had control. In others, however, for the first time in her battered
little life, she drank deep of the cup of joy. She loved that infant, and
from the first it loved her and her only, while to the father it was
indifferent, and at times antagonistic.
From the cradle Isobel showed herself to be an individual of character.
Even as a little girl she knew what she wanted and formed her own
opinions quite independently of those of others. Moreover, in a certain
way she was a good-looking child, but of a stamp totally different from
that of either of her parents. Her eyes were not restless and prominent,
like her father's, or dark and plaintive, like her mother's, but large, grey
and steady, with long curved lashes. In fact, they were fine, but it was
her only beauty, since the brow above them was almost too pronounced

for that of a woman, the mouth was a little large, and the nose
somewhat irregular. Her hair, too, though long and thick, was straight
and rather light-coloured. For the rest she was well-ground and
vigorous, with a strong, full voice, and as she approached maturity she
developed a fine figure.
When she was not much more than ten Isobel had her first trouble with
her father. Something had gone wrong with one of his shipping
speculations, and as usual, he vented it upon his wife. So cruelly did he
speak to her on a household matter for which she was not the least to
blame, that the poor woman at last rose and left the room to hide her
tears. Isobel, however, remained behind, and walking up to her father,
who stood with his back to the fire, asked him why he treated her
mother thus.
"Mind your own business, you impertinent brat," he answered.
"Mummy is my business, and you are--a brute," she exclaimed,
clenching her little fists. He lifted his hand as though to strike her, then
changed his mind and went away. She had conquered. Thenceforward
Mr. Blake was careful not to maltreat his wife in Isobel's presence. He
complained to her, however, of the child's conduct, which, he said, was
due to her bringing up and encouragement, and Lady Jane in turn,
scolded her in her gentle fashion for her "wicked words."
Isobel listened, then asked, without attempting to defend herself,
"Were not father's words to you wicked also, Mummy? It was not your
fault if James forgot to bring round the dog-cart and made him miss the
train to London. Ought you to be sworn at for that?"
"No, dear, but you see, he is my husband, and husbands can say what
they wish to their wives."
"Then I will never have a husband; at least, not one like father," Isobel
announced with decision.
There the matter ended. Or rather it did not end, since from that

moment Isobel began to reflect much on matrimony and other civilized
institutions, as to which at last she formed views that were not common
among girls of her generation. In short, she took the first step towards
Radicalism, and entered on the road of rebellion against the Existing
and Acknowledged.
During the governess era which followed this scene Isobel travelled far
and fast along that road. The lady, or rather the ladies, hired by her
father, for his wife was allowed no voice in their selection, were of the
other known as "determined"; disciplinarians of the first water. For one
reason or another they did not stay. Isobel, though a quick and able
child, very fond of reading moreover, proved unamenable under
discipline as understood by those formidable females, and owing to her
possession of a curious tenacity of purpose, ended by wearing them
down. Also they did not care for the atmosphere of