One year afterward, when I was in bed with my first
child, he brought his mistresses to the house. I was determined to
leave him on the spot. My mother brought about a reconciliation.
Soon after that he began to ill-treat me. I suffered that in silence
too, to avoid a public scandal, and more particularly for my
father's sake. He would have killed him if he had known. Later--
later--I must tell it you, so that you may grasp the whole
situation--the villain did all he could to direct King Amadeo's
attention to me--he had just come to Madrid. When I noticed his base
schemes--as I could not fail to do--that put the finishing touches.
I gave him the choice between a scandalous lawsuit, which would have
deprived him of my fortune, and voluntary banishment by accepting
some government post across the sea with half my income. He finally
chose exile and the money, and I was free. I left Madrid and settled
in Paris. You can imagine the circumstances--a young woman of
twenty-three--alone, whose life could not possibly be filled by the
care of two little children."
"Two children?" asked Wilhelm.
"Yes," she answered, and hung her head.
"There is cowardice of which even a courageous woman will be guilty
when, out of consideration for public opinion, she continues to live
under one roof with the father of her first child.
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