After Mr Curtis had been buried by the side of his dead wife, the
heiress went home to her richly-furnished house, and after passing a
certain period in mourning, engaged a companion, and once more took
her position in society.

Her suitors--numerous and persistent as those of Penelope--soon
returned to her feet, and she found she could choose a husband from
men of all kinds--rich and poor, handsome and ugly, old and young.
One of these, a penniless young Englishman, called Randolph
Villiers, payed her such marked attention, that in the end Miss
Curtis, contrary to the wishes of her friends, married him.

Mr Villiers had a handsome face and figure, a varied and extensive
wardrobe, and a bad character. He, however, suppressed his real
tastes until he became the husband of Miss Curtis, and holder of the
purse--for such was the love his wife bore him that she
unhesitatingly gave him full control of all her property, excepting
that which was settled on herself by her father, which was, of
course, beyond marital control. In vain her friends urged some
settlement should be made before marriage. Miss Curtis argued that
to take any steps to protect her fortune would show a want of faith
in the honesty of the man she loved, so went to the altar and
reversed the marriage service by endowing Mr Randolph Villiers with
all her worldly goods.

The result of this blind confidence justified the warnings of her
friends--for as soon as Villiers found himself in full possession of
his wife's fortune, he immediately proceeded to spend all the money
he could lay his hands on. He gambled away large sums at his club,