He was perpetually absent on shooting expeditions; but,
when at home, it was observed that he drank harder than ever, getting
sulky sometimes without apparent reason, and disagreeably quarrelsome.
Royston had only stated the simple fact when he said that Cecil was free
from any stain of actual guilt or dishonor. Whether the credit of having
borne her harmless was most due to her own prudence and remains of
principle, or to her tempter's self-restraint, we will not, if you
please, inquire. It is as well to be charitable now and then. Her escape
was little less than miraculous, considering how often she had trusted
herself unreservedly to the mercy of one who was wont to be as unsparing
in his love as in his anger. Let not this immunity be made an excuse for
credulous confidence, or induce others to emulate her rashness. The
Millenium will not come in our time, I fancy; and, till it arrives,
neither child nor maiden may safely lay their hand on the cockatrice's
den. The ballad tells us that Lady Janet was happy at last; but she paid
dearly through months of sorrow and shame for those three red roses
plucked in the Elfin Bower.
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