throat, and the thick fur inher ears all haunted him.
Every one of her foxey ways was now so absolutely precious to him that Ibelieve that if he had known for certain she was dead, and had thoughtsof marrying a second time, he would never have been happy with a woman.No, indeed, he would have been more tempted to get himself a tame fox,and would have counted that as good a marriage as he could make.
Yet this all proceeded one may say from a passion, and a true conjugalfidelity, that it would be hard to find matched in this world. Andthough we may think him a fool, almost a madman, we must, when we lookcloser, find much to respect in his extraordinary devotion. Howdifferent indeed was he from those who, if their wives go mad, shut themin madhouses and give themselves up to concubinage, and nay, what ismore, there are many who extenuate such conduct too. But Mr. Tebrick wasof a very different temper, and though his wife was now nothing but ahunted beast, cared for no one in the world but her.
But this devouring love ate into him like a consumption, so that bysleepless nights, and not caring for his person, in a few months he wasworn to the shadow of himself. His cheeks were sunk in, his eyes hollowbut excessively brilliant, and his whole body had lost flesh, so thatlooking at him the wonder was that he was still alive.
Now that the hunting season was over he had less anxiety for her, yeteven so he was not positive that the hounds had not got her. For betweenthe time of his setting her free, and the end of the hunting season(just after Easter), there were but three vixens killed near. Of thosethree one was a half-blind or wall-eyed, and one was a very greydull-coloured beast. The third answered more to the description of hiswife, but that it had not much black on the legs, whereas in her theblackness of the legs was very plain to be noticed. But yet his fearmade him think that perhaps she had got mired in running and the legsbeing muddy were not remarked on as black. One morning the first weekin May, about four o'clock, when he was out waiting in the little copse,he sat down for a while on a tree stump, and when he looked up saw a foxcoming towards him over the ploughed field. It was carrying a hare overits shoulder so that it was nearly all hidden from him. At last, when itwas not twenty yards from him, it crossed over, going into the copse,when Mr. Tebrick stood up and cried out, "Silvia, Silvia, is it you?"
The fox dropped the hare out of his mouth and stood looking at him, andthen our gentleman saw at the first glance that this was not his wife.For whereas Mrs. Tebrick had been of a very bright red, this was aswarthier duller beast altogether, moreover it was a good deal largerand higher at the shoulder and had a great white tag to his brush. Butthe fox after the first instant did not stand for his portrait you maybe sure, but picked up his hare and made off like an arrow.
Then Mr. Tebrick cried out to himself: "Indeed I am crazy now! Myaffliction has made me lose what little reason I ever had. Here am Itaking every fox I see to be my wife! My neighbours call me a madman andnow I see that they are right. Look at me now, oh God! How foul acreature I am. I hate my fellows. I am thin and wasted by this consumingpassion, my reason is gone and I feed myself on dreams. Recall me to myduty, bring me back to decency, let me not become a beast likewise, butrestore me and forgive me, Oh my Lord."
With that he burst into scalding tears and knelt down and prayed, athing he had not done for many weeks.
When he rose up he walked back feeling giddy and exceedingly weak, butwith a contrite heart, and then washed himself thoroughly and changedhis clothes, but his weakness increasing he lay down for the rest of theday, but read in the Book of Job and was much comforted.
For several days after this he lived very soberly, for his weaknesscontinued, but every day he read in the bible, and prayed earnestly, sothat his resolution was so much strengthened that he determined toovercome his folly, or his passion, if he could, and at any rate to livethe rest of his life very religiously. So strong was this desire in himto amend his ways that he considered if he should not go to spread theGospel abroad, for the Bible Society, and so spend the rest of his days.
Indeed he began a letter to his wife's uncle, the canon, and he waswriting this when he was startled by hearing a fox bark.
Yet so great was this new turn he had taken that he did not rush out atonce, as he would have done before, but stayed where he was and finishedhis letter.
Afterwards he said to himself that it was only a wild fox and sent bythe devil to mock him, and that madness lay that way if he shouldlisten. But on the other hand he could not deny to himself that it mighthave been his wife, and that he ought to welcome the prodigal. Thus hewas torn between these two thoughts, neither of which did he completelybelieve. He stayed thus tormented with doubts and fears all night.
The next morning he woke suddenly with a start and on the instant hearda fox bark once more. At that he pulled on his clothes and ran out asfast as he could to the garden gate. The sun was not yet high, the dewthick everywhere, and for a minute or two everything was very silent. Helooked about him eagerly but could see no fox, yet there was already joyin his heart.
Then while he looked up and down the road, he saw his vixen step out ofthe copse about thirty yards away. He called to her at once.
"My dearest wife! Oh, Silvia! You are come back!" and at the sound ofhis voice he saw her wag her tail, which set his last doubts at rest.
But then though he called her again, she stepped into the copse oncemore though she looked back at him over her shoulder as she went. Atthis he ran after her, but softly and not too fast lest he shouldfrighten her away, and then looked about for her again and called to herwhen he saw her among the trees still keeping her distance from him. Hefollowed her then, and as he approached so she retreated from him, yetalways looking back at him several times.
He followed after her through the underwood up the side of the hill,when suddenly she disappeared from his sight, behind some bracken.When he got there he could see her nowhere, but looking about him founda fox's earth, but so well hidden that he might have passed it by athousand times and would never have found it unless he had madeparticular search at that spot.
But now, though he went on his hands and knees, he could see nothing ofhis vixen, so that he waited a little while wondering.
Presently he heard a noise of something moving in the earth, and sowaited silently, then saw something which pushed itself into sight. Itwas a small sooty black beast, like a puppy. There came another behindit, then another and so on till there were five of them. Lastly therecame his vixen pushing her litter before her, and while he looked at hersilently, a prey to his confused and unhappy emotions, he saw that hereyes were shining with pride and happiness.
She picked up one of her youngsters then, in her mouth, and brought itto him and laid it in front of him, and then looked up at him veryexcited, or so it seemed.
Mr. Tebrick took the cub in his hands, stroked it and put it against hischeek. It was a little fellow with a smutty face and paws, with staringvacant eyes of a brilliant electric blue and a little tail like acarrot. When he was put down he took a step towards his mother and thensat down very comically.
Mr. Tebrick looked at his wife again and spoke to her, calling her agood creature. Already he was resigned and now, indeed, for the firsttime he thoroughly understood what had happened to her, and how farapart they were now. But looking first at one cub, then at another, andhaving them sprawling over his lap, he forgot himself, only watching thepretty scene, and taking pleasure in it. Now and then he would strokehis vixen and kiss her, liberties which she freely allowed him. Hemarvelled more than ever now at her beauty; for her gentleness with thecubs and the extreme delight she took in them seemed to him then to makeher more lovely than before. Thus lying amongst them at the mouth of theearth he idled away the whole of the morning.
First he would play with one, then with another, rolling them over andtickling them, but they were too young yet to lend themselves to anyother more active sport than this. Every now and then he would strokehis vixen, or look at her, and thus the time slipped away quite fast andhe was surprised w
hen she gathered her cubs together and pushed thembefore her into the earth, then coming back to him once or twice veryhumanly bid him "Good-bye and that she hoped she would see him soonagain, now he had found out the way."
So admirably did she express her meaning that it would have beensuperfluous for her to have spoken had she been able, and Mr. Tebrick,who was used to her, got up at once and went home.
But now that he was alone, all the feelings which he had not troubledhimself with when he was with her, but had, as it were, put aside tillafter his innocent pleasures were over, all these came swarming back toassail him in a hundred tormenting ways.
Firstly he asked himself: Was not his wife unfaithful to him, had shenot prostituted herself to a beast? Could he still love her after that?But this did not trouble him so much as it might have done. For now hewas convinced inwardly that she could no longer in fairness be judged asa woman, but as a fox only. And as a fox she had done no more than otherfoxes, indeed in having cubs