The Duke may have been deeply annoyed, but not a line of his face betrayed him.
"Who is your brother-in-law, Mrs. Sanderson?"
Harriet told him.
"A very honest man"—the Duke checked a laugh—"I have been honored by a letter from him this morning."
Even the lacerated Harriet could not forbear to smile.
"I am sure," said she, "he will not let Mary marry Mr. Dinneford if he can help it."
"Why not?" sharply interposed Lady Wargrave.
"Why not, Charlotte?" Her brother took upon himself to answer the question. "Because Sergeant Kelly is a very sensible and enlightened man who evidently tries to see things in their right relation."
"Fiddle-de-dee!" said Charlotte, with the bluntness for which she was famous. "Depend upon it, he knows as well as anybody on which side his bread is buttered."
Her brother shook his head. "I think," he said, "if you had had the privilege of reading Sergeant Kelly's letter you would be agreeably surprised. At any rate, he seems quite to share your view of the sacredness of the social fabric."
"Let us look at the facts," said Charlotte. "This marriage has to be prevented at all costs. And I hope it is not too much to ask Mrs. Sanderson that she will give us any assistance which may lie in her power."
The look upon Lady Wargrave's face, as she made the request, clearly implied that help from such a quarter must, in the nature of things, be negligible. But in spite of the covert insult in the tone and manner of the dowager, Harriet replied very simply that there was nothing she would leave undone to prevent such a catastrophe.
