An Alpine Divorce Page #2

"An Alpine Divorce" by Robert Barr is a clever and engaging romantic comedy that delves into the complexities of love and relationships amidst the backdrop of stunning alpine scenery. The story unfolds as a couple navigates the tumultuous waters of their marriage, leading to unexpected twists and turns that test their commitment. With Barr's witty prose and sharp observations about human nature, the novel explores themes of desire, misunderstandings, and the quest for happiness, all while keeping readers entertained with its lighthearted yet poignant narrative.

• Short story

								

Mrs. Bodman stopped and shuddered. Bodman looked at her through the
narrow slits of his veiled eyes, and wondered again if she had any
suspicion. No one can tell, when two people walk closely together, what
unconscious communication one mind may have with another.

"What is the matter?" he asked gruffly. "Are you tired?"

"John," she cried, with a gasp in her voice, calling him by his
Christian name for the first time in years, "don't you think that if
you had been kinder to me at first, things might have been different?"

"It seems to me," he answered, not looking at her, "that it is rather
late in the day for discussing that question."

"I have much to regret," she said quaveringly. "Have you nothing?"

"No," he answered.

"Very well," replied his wife, with the usual hardness returning to her
voice. "I was merely giving you a chance. Remember that."

Her husband looked at her suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" he asked, "giving me a chance? I want no chance nor
anything else from you. A man accepts nothing from one he hates. My
feeling towards you is, I imagine, no secret to you. We are tied
together, and you have done your best to make the bondage
insupportable."

"Yes," she answered, with her eyes on the ground, "we are tied
together--we are tied together!"

She repeated these words under her breath as they walked the few
remaining steps to the Outlook. Bodman sat down upon the crumbling
wall. The woman dropped her alpenstock on the rock, and walked
nervously to and fro, clasping and unclasping her hands. Her husband
caught his breath as the terrible moment drew near.

"Why do you walk about like a wild animal?" he cried. "Come here and
sit down beside me, and be still."

She faced him with a light he had never before seen in her eyes--a
light of insanity and of hatred.

"I walk like a wild animal," she said, "because I am one. You spoke a
moment ago of your hatred of me; but you are a man, and your hatred is
nothing to mine. Bad as you are, much as you wish to break the bond
which ties us together, there are still things which I know you would
not stoop to. I know there is no thought of murder in your heart, but
there is in mine. I will show you, John Bodman, how much I hate you."

The man nervously clutched the stone beside him, and gave a guilty
start as she mentioned murder.

"Yes," she continued, "I have told all my friends in England that I
believed you intended to murder me in Switzerland."

"Good God!" he cried. "How could you say such a thing?"

"I say it to show how much I hate you--how much I am prepared to give
for revenge. I have warned the people at the hotel, and when we left
two men followed us. The proprietor tried to persuade me not to
accompany you. In a few moments those two men will come in sight of the
Outlook. Tell them, if you think they will believe you, that it was an
accident."

The mad woman tore from the front of her dress shreds of lace and
scattered them around. Bodman started up to his feet, crying, "What are
you about?" But before he could move toward her she precipitated
herself over the wall, and went shrieking and whirling down the awful
abyss.

The next moment two men came hurriedly round the edge of the rock, and
found the man standing alone. Even in his bewilderment he realised that
if he told the truth he would not be believed.
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