104
A Marriage Below Zero.
of coffee, buttered a slice of toast for me, helped me to some cold partridge, and went back to his seat. He had looked just a trifle uneasy, I fancied, when I entered, but he had now completely recovered. The awful idea occurred to me that he would make no comments whatever on his absence last night. As I had always heard that between husband and wife there should be complete confidence, I resolved that I would do violence to my feelings and broach the subject, as a matter of principle, if for no other reason I did not want abject apologies, but I was not going to be treated with such sublime disrespect.
"Will you have half my newspaper, Elsie?" asked Arthur, as I sat silently devouring my partridge, with all my good temper rapidly vanishing.
"Thank you." He handed me a couple of sheets.
"They have given a splendid account of the wedding," he said, "and I suppose that all England knows about it now."
"Why are you so anxious for all England to