vivisectionist; he certainly had methods of cruelty, masterly in their
ingenuity. He could make a whole class raw with punishment in a few
words; and many a scorching bit of Latin verse was written about his
hooked nose and fishy eye.

"But his highest talents in this direction were reserved for his wife.
His distorted idea of his own importance made him view her as a chattel,
an inferior being; the more so, I believe, because she brought him little
money when he married her. She was too much the woman to pretend to
kneel to him, and because she would not be his slave, she had a hard time
of it. He began by insisting that she should learn science, that she
might assist him in his experiments. She knew that she had no taste for
it, that it was no part of her wifely duty, and she did what suited her
better--followed the hounds. It was a picture to see her riding across
country. She could take a fence with a sound hunter like a bird. And so
it happened that, after a time, they went their own ways pretty well; he
ignoring her, neglecting her, deprecating her by manner, if not by
speech, and making her life more than uncomfortable.

"She was always kind to me. I was the youngest chap in the college, and
was known as 'Marmy' by every one; and because I was fonder of science
than most other men in the different years, Valiant was more gracious to
me than the rest, though I did not like him. One day, when I called,
I heard her say to him, not knowing that I was near: 'Whatever you feel,
or however you act towards me in private, I will have respect when others
are present.'

"It was the custom for the professors to invite each student to luncheon
or dinner once during term-time. Being somewhat of a favourite of both
Professor and Mrs. Valiant however, I lunched with them often. I need