Hewasfreenow。Eveninhismisery——forhewasverymiserable——hecouldnotrefrainfromtellinghimselfthat。Nooncecouldnowpressuncalled—forintohisstudy，contradicthiminthepresenceofthosebeforewhomhewasboundtobeauthoritative，androbhimofallhisdignity。Therewasnooneelseofwhomhewasafraid。Shehadatleastkepthimoutofthehandsofothertyrants。Hewasnowhisownmaster，andtherewasthefeeling——Imaynotcallitofrelief，forasyettherewasmoreofpaininitthanofsatisfaction——afeelingasthoughhehadescapedfromanoldtroubleataterriblecostofwhichhecouldnotasyetcalculatetheamount。Heknewthathemightnowgiveupallideaofwritingtothearchbishop。
Shehadinsomeways，andatcertainperiodsofhislife，beenverygoodtohim。Shehadkepthismoneyforhimandmadethingsgostraight，whentheyhadbeenpoor。Hisinterestshadalwaysbeenherinterests。Withoutherhewouldneverhavebeenabishop。So，atleast，hetoldhimselfnow，andsotoldhimselfprobablywithtruth。Shehadbeenverycarefulofhischildren。Shehadneverbeenidle。Shehadneverbeenfondofpleasure。Shehadneglectednoacknowledgedduty。Hedidnotdoubtthatshewasnowonherwaytoheaven。Hetookhishandsfromhishead，andclaspingthemtogether，saidalittleprayer。Itmaybedoubtedwhetherhequiteknewforwhathewaspraying。Theideaofgivinguphersoul，nowthatshewasdead，wouldhavescandalisedhim。Hecertainlywasnotprayingforhisownsoul。IthinkthathewasprayingthatGodmightsavehimfrombeinggladthathiswifewasdead。
Butshewasdead——and，asitwere，inamoment！Hehadnotstirredoutofthatroomsinceshehadbeentherewithhim。Thentherehadbeenangrywordsbetweenthem——perhapsmoredeterminedenmityonhispartthaneverhadexisted；andtheyhadpartedforthelasttimewithbitteranimosity。Buthetoldhimselfthathehadcertainlybeenrightinwhathehaddonethen。Hethoughthehadbeenrightthen。AndsohismindwentbacktotheCrawleyandThumblequestion，andhetriedtoalleviatethemiserywhichthelastinterviewwithhiswifenowcreatedbyassuringhimselfthatheatleastbeenjustifiedinwhathehaddone。
Butyethisthoughtswereverytendertoher。Nothingreopensthespringsoflovesofullyasabsence，andnoabsencesothoroughlyasthatwhichmustneedsbeendless。Wewantthatwhichwehavenot；andespeciallythatwhichwenevercanhave。Shehadtoldhimintheverylastmomentsofherpresencewithhimthathewaswishingsheweredead，andhehadmadenoreply。Atthemomenthehadfelt，withsavageanger，thatsuchwashiswish。Herwordshadnowcometopass，andhewasawidower——andheassuredhimselfthathewouldgiveallthathepossessedintheworldtobringherbackagain。
Yes，hewasawidower，andhemightdoashepleased。Thetyrantwasgone，andhewasfree。Thetyrantwasgone，andthetyrannyhaddoubtlessbeenveryoppressive。Whohadsufferedashehaddone？Butinthusbeingleftwithouthistyranthewaswretchedlydesolate。Mightitnotbethatthetyrannyhadbeengoodforhim？——thattheLordhadknownbestwhatwifewasfitforhim？Thenhethoughtofastorywhichhehadread——andhadwellmarkedashewasreading——ofsomemanwhohadbeenterriblyafflictedbyhiswife，whosewifehadstarvedhimandbeatenhimandreviledhim；andyetthismanhadbeenabletothankGodforhavingmortifiedhimintheflesh。Mightitnotbethatthemortificationwhichhehimselfhaddoubtlesssufferedinhisfleshhadbeenintendedforhiswelfare，andhadbeenverygoodforhim？Butifthiswereso，itmightbethatthemortificationwasnowremovedbecausetheLordknewthathisservanthadbeensufficientlymortified。Hehadnotbeenstarvedorbeaten，butthemortificationhadbeencertainlysevere。Thentherecamethesewords——intohismind，notintohismouth——’TheLordsentthethorn，andtheLordhastakenitaway。BlessedbetheLord。’Afterthathewasveryangrywithhimself，andtriedtopraythathemightbeforgiven。Whilehewassostrivingtherecamealowknockatthedoor，andMrsDraperagainenteredtheroom。