She had kept the letter from Jack to the actress in a box that
always accompanied her. Opening this box suddenly, her eye fell upon the
postmark, stamped upon the envelope. She had never noticed this before. She
knew that the date written above the letter itself was incomplete, the year
not being indicated. According to the postmark, the year was 1875.
That was four years before Jack married her; two years before he first saw
her.
She had always supposed the sending of the letter to her to be the act of
some jealous rival of Jack's for the actress's affection. Now she knew not
to what it might have been attributable.
When she arrived at the hospital where Craddock was recovering from the
effects of an unconscious attempt at suicide, she was ten years older, in
fact, than when she had left him; twenty years older in appearance. She
took him home and has been trying to make a man of him. She manifests
toward him limitless patience and tenderness, and she tolerates
uncomplainingly his bi-weekly carousals. But she can afford to, having come
into possession of a small fortune at her mother's recent death.
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