no longer endure her presence, which was grown distasteful to him.

This did not at all suit Mrs. Trotter, who had now hoped to become
the legal mistress of the Dombey mansion. But all her tears were of
no avail, the bitter pangs of remorse were tearing Dombey's bosom,
and he would hear of nothing but, her immediate departure for the
United States. He determined that however he might have blighted the
life of the wife whose excellent qualities he had only now begun to
appreciate, nothing should stand in the way of her children's
advancement; and the voice of a scandal having already been heard
concerning Mrs. Trotter, he felt that her immediate departure was a
necessity. She argued and entreated, but it was of no avail, and she
accordingly made the best of her case and got from him a liberal
allowance. Hers was not of a nature to reform, however; she went
from bad to worse, and finally took to smoking opium as a means to
relieve her gnawing conscience, ending her days prematurely.

Dombey survived her but a short time. He tried hard to make amends
for the past by increased attention to the children of his late wife,
but he never fully recovered himself, and finally succumbed to a
wasting fever, superinduced by late hours and immoderate drinking.
To his last hour his conscience smote him at the triple wrong he had
inflicted on his children, his natural daughter, and his confiding
wife.




CHAPTER III.