"In a certain rank of life, perhaps," I answered, still loth to believe it; "but not surely in ours. Gentlemen do not knock down their wives and kick their teeth out." My Sibyl smiled. "No; there class tells," she admitted. "They take longer about it, and suffer more provocation. They curb their tempers. But in the end, one day, they are goaded beyond endurance; and then--a convenient knife--a rusty old sword--a pair of scissors--anything that comes handy, like that dagger this morning. One wild blow--half unpremeditated--and... the thing is done! Twelve good men and true will find it wilful murder." I felt really perturbed. "But can we do nothing," I cried, "to warn poor Hugo?" "Nothing, I fear," she answered. "After all, character must work itself out in its interactions with character. He has married that woman, and he must take the consequences. Does not each of us in life suffer perforce the Nemesis of his own temperament?" "Then is there not also a type of men who assault their wives?" "That is the odd part of it--no. All kinds, good and bad, quick and slow, can be driven to it at last. The quick-tempered stab or kick; the slow devise some deliberate means of ridding themselves of their burden." "But surely we might caution Le Geyt of his danger!" "It is useless. He would not believe us. We cannot be at his elbow to hold back his hand when the bad moment comes. Nobody will be there, as a matter of fact; for women of this temperament--born naggers, in short, since that's what it comes to--when they are also ladies, graceful and gracious as she is; never nag at all before outsiders. To the world, they are bland; everybody says, 'What charming talkers!' They are 'angels abroad, devils at home,' as the proverb puts it. Some night she will provoke him when they are alone, till she has reached his utmost limit of endurance--and then," she drew one hand across her dove-like throat, "it will be all finished." "You think so?" "I am sure of it. We human beings go straight like sheep to our natural destiny." "But--that is fatalism." "No, not fatalism: insight into temperament. Fatalists believe that your life is arranged for you beforehand from without; willy-nilly, you MUST act so. I only believe that in this jostling world your life is mostly determined by your own character, in its interaction with the characters