"I hope he will not have deceived you, my dear. 'More money;' yes, it is probable that he will want more money. There is your letter, Fanny. I am very sorry for it. I can say nothing more." And she folded up the letter and gave it back to Mrs. Robarts.
"I thought it right to show it you," said Mrs. Robarts.
"It did not much matter whether you did or no; of course I must have been told."
"He especially begs me to tell you."
"Why, yes; he could not very well have kept me in the dark in such a matter. He could not neglect his own work, and go and live with gamblers and adulterers at the Duke of Omnium's without my knowing it."
And now Fanny Robarts's cup was full, full to the overflowing. When she heard these words she forgot all about Lady Lufton, all about Lady Meredith, and remembered only her husband,—that he was her husband, and, in spite of his faults, a good and loving husband;—and that other fact also she remembered, that she was his wife.
"Lady Lufton," she said, "you forget yourself in speaking in that way of my husband."
"What!" said her ladyship; "you are to show me such a letter as that, and I am not to tell you what I think?"
"Not if you think such hard things as that. Even you are not justified in speaking to me in that way, and I will not hear it."
"Heighty-tighty," said her ladyship.
"Whether or no he is right in going to the Duke of Omnium's, I will not pretend to judge. He is the judge of his own actions, and neither you nor I."
"And when he leaves you with the butcher's bill unpaid and no money to buy shoes for the children, who will be the judge then?"
"Not you, Lady Lufton. If such bad days should ever come—and neither you nor I have a right to expect them—I will not come to you in my troubles; not after this."
"Very well, my dear. You may go to the Duke of Omnium if that suits you better."
"Fanny, come away," said Lady Meredith. "Why should you try to anger my mother?"
"I don't want to anger her; but I won't hear him abused in that way without speaking up for him. If I don't defend him, who will? Lady Lufton has said terrible things about him; and they are not true."
"Oh, Fanny!" said Justinia.
"Very well, very well!" said Lady Lufton. "This is the sort of return that one gets."
"I don't know what you mean by return, Lady Lufton: but would you wish me to stand by quietly and hear such things said of my husband? He does not live with such people as you have named. He does not neglect his duties. If every clergyman were as much in his parish, it
