' And then," added Mrs. Pendennis, "Ethel said, 'I hope
you respect your husband, Laura: depend on it, you will be happier if you
do.' Was not that a fine discovery of Ethel's, Mr. Pen?
"'Clara's terror of Barnes frightened me when I stayed in the house,'
Ethel went on. 'I am sure I would not tremble before any man in the world
as she did. I saw early that she used to deceive him, and tell him lies,
Laura. I do not mean lies of words alone, but lies of looks and actions.
Oh! I do not wonder at her flying from him. He was dreadful to be with:
cruel, and selfish, and cold. He was made worse by marrying a woman he
did not love; as she was, by that unfortunate union with him. Suppose he
had found a clever woman who could have controlled him, and amused him,
and whom he and his friends could have admired, instead of poor Clara,
who made his home wearisome, and trembled when he entered it? Suppose she
could have married that unhappy man to whom she was attached early? I was
frightened, Laura, to think how ill this worldly marriage had prospered.
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