There is much more value in the many "cures" that we take nowadays than is at first apparent to the eye. One cannot take a cure for the renovation of any part of one's body without, at the same time, renovating part of one's mind.
The immediate effect of going home again was to make Regina more convinced than ever that the hussy had a very real and tangible existence. On the very first day Alfred made haste to catch the earlier of the two trains by which he had been in the habit of traveling to town. There was nothing in that circumstance--oh no. He had been away for a full month, and Regina's opinion of her husband's partner was but small. He had brought the bulk of the money into the firm, while Alfred had supplied the major part of the brains, and had, in fact, built up the business to its present flourishing state; so, of course, there was nothing in the actual circumstance that Alfred should hurry through his breakfast so as to catch the earlier train. He fussed and fumed a little, too, and let fall a word to the effect that he knew he should find everything at sixes and sevens, and that he wanted to have one or two things settled before the Chamberlains went away for their autumn holiday. Regina too, on her side, was naturally extremely busy that morning. She had to look after her housekeeping, to lay in supplies, to hold consultations with each of her servants, and to look out a couple of dresses of slightly more solid material than those which she had worn at Dieppe--not that she needed them for warmth, for the weather was, as the weather so frequently is in September, mild even to sultriness. The sun and the sea air had made the gowns which Regina had taken to Dieppe appear to her worn and shabby, and she therefore would have to fall back upon a couple of spring gowns until she could get her new autumn clothes, the clothes with which she was to win back Alfred. Now, the hussy had been for some time far from Regina's thoughts, her suspicions had been lulled to rest, not only by Alfred's devotion, but by his naturalness of demeanor. In a sort of gush of tenderness toward him she almost determined that she would do nothing to regain his allegiance; she would only be herself. Then her tidy eye fell upon a piece of paper lying on the carpet between Alfred's chair and the door. She went across the room and picked it up, following the house-wifely instinct which moves nine women out of ten, and glanced at it to see whether it was something to keep or something to throw away. It was only a folded sheet of paper on which was written in a woman's handwriting, 27 Terrisina Road, St. John's Wood, N. W. For a moment Regina was almost too stunned to speak; she stared at the paper. Luckily, Julia had already gone down to that part of the Park called the town to get some flowers with which to deck the house. All the doubts and suspicions of the past came back in great waves, and broke cruelly upon Regina's palpitating heart. There was a hussy! This had been written by the hussy! This was where the hussy dwelt, 27 Terrisina Road, St. John's Wood, N. W. It was far removed from the side of London on which the Park was situate; he had laid his plans carefully and well--or she had. Well, 27 Terrisina Road should not get him or keep him without a struggle; it should be war to the knife. Doubtless this was a little soft-eyed creature young enough to be Regina's child. But Regina would be soft-eyed, Regina would rejuvenate herself, Regina would win all along the line. It was in this spirit that Regina went upstairs and examined her wardrobe. She would leave the house to take care of itself, merely throwing out a few hints as to dinner, and betake herself to town in order to consult the specialists whom she had had in her mind during the last month. She picked out the smartest of the frocks which she had not taken away with her, and, casting off her white cambric wrapper in which she had breakfasted, she began to dress herself with feverishly eager fingers.