Some said that Lady Arleigh was insane, and that he had not discovered it until the afternoon of his wedding-day.

Others said that she had a fierce temper, and that he was unaware of it until they were traveling homeward.

These were the most innocent rumors; others were more scandalous.

It was said that he had discovered some great crime that she had committed.

Few such stories; Lord Arleigh, they declared, was not the man to make so terrible a mistake.
Then, after a time, all the sensation and wonder died away, society accepted the fact that Lord Arleigh was unhappily married and had separated from his wife.
He went abroad, and then returned home, sojourning at quiet watering places where he thought his story and himself would be unknown.
Afterward he went to Normandy, and tried to lose the remembrance of his troubles in his search after the picturesque.