From the day almost of his marriage the miseries of life lost half their bitterness, nor had it returned at her death.

Instinctively he felt that outsiders, those even who respected him as an honest man, believed that, somehow or other, they could only conjecture how, he must be to blame for the circumstances he was in--either this, or providence did not take care of the just man.

Such was virtually the unuttered conclusion of many, who nevertheless imagined they understood the Book of Job, and who would have counted Warlock's rare honesty, pride or fastidiousness or unjustifiable free-handedness.

Hence they came to think and speak of him as a poor creature, and soon the man, through the keen sensitiveness of his nature, became aware of the fact.

But to his sense of the misprision of neighbours and friends, came the faith and indignant confidence of his wife like the closing and binding up and mollifying of a wound with ointment.
The man was of a far finer nature than any of those who thus judged him, of whom some would doubtless have got out of their difficulties sooner than he--only he was more honorable in debt than they were out of it.