To add to the bitterness of her fate, she had just received, from
one of her "county" relatives, a legacy of a couple of thousand
pounds.
This money, which became his own, Otway invested in a newspaper then
being started by certain of his friends; a paper, as it seemed,
little likely to have commercial success, but which, after many
changes of editorship, ultimately became an established organ of
Liberalism. The agitator retained an interest in this venture, and
the small income it still continued to yield him was more than
enough for his personal needs; it enabled him to set a little aside,
year after year, thus forming a fund which, latterly, he always
thought of as destined to benefit his youngest son--the child of
his second marriage.
For he did not long remain solitary, and his next adventure was
somewhat in keeping with the character he had earned in public
estimate. Living for a time in Switzerland, he there met with a
young Englishwoman, married, but parted from her husband, who was
maintaining herself at Geneva as a teacher of languages; Jerome was
drawn to her, wooed her, and won her love. The husband, a Catholic,
refused her legal release, but the irregular union was a true
marriage. It had lasted for about four years when their only child
was born. In another twelvemonth, Jerome was again a widower. A
small sum of money which had belonged to the dead woman, Jerome, at
her wish, put out at interest for their boy, if he should attain
manhood.
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