“But you speak as though you thought she had
been—been—”
“I think she was probably imprudent, but I believe
nothing worse than that. But who can say what
is absolutely wrong, and what only imprudent?
I think she was too proud to go really astray.
And then with such a man as that, so difficult and
so ill-tempered—! Sir Hugh thinks—”
But at that moment the door was opened and Sir Hugh
came in.
“What does Sir Hugh think?” said he.
“We were speaking of Lord Ongar,” said
Harry, sitting up and shaking hands with his cousin.
“Then, Harry, you were speaking on a subject
that I would rather not have discussed in this house.
Do you understand that, Hermione? I will have
no talking about Lord Ongar or his wife. We know
very little, and what we hear is simply uncomfortable.
Will you dine here to-day, Harry?”
“Thank you, no; I have only just come home.”
“And I am just going away. That is, I go
to-morrow. I cannot stand this place. I
think it the dullest neighborhood in all England, and
the most gloomy house I ever saw. Hermione likes
it.”
To this last assertion Lady Clavering expressed no
assent; nor did she venture to contradict him.
Lady Ongar’s Return
But Sir Hugh did not get away from Clavering Park
on the next morning, as he had intended. There
came to him that same afternoon a message by telegraph,
to say that Lord Ongar was dead. He had died at
Florence on the afternoon of Christmas-day, and Lady
Ongar had expressed her intention of coming at once
to England.
“Why the devil doesn’t she stay where
she is?” said Sir Hugh, to his wife. “People
would forget her there, and in twelve months time the
row would be all over.”
“Perhaps she does not want to be forgotten,”
said Lady Clavering.
“Then she should want it. I don’t
care whether she has been guilty or not. When
a woman gets her name into such a mess as that, she
should keep in the background.”
“I think you are unjust to her, Hugh.”
“Of course you do. You don’t suppose
that I expect anything else. But if you mean
to tell me that there would have been all this row
if she had been decently prudent, I tell you that
you’re mistaken.”
“Only think what a man he was.”
She knew that when she took him, and should have borne
with him while he lasted. A woman isn’t
to have seven thousand a year for nothing.”
“But you forget that not a syllable has been
proved against her, or been attempted to be proved.
She has never left him, and now she has been with
him in his last moments. I don’t think you
ought to be the first to turn against her.”
“If she would remain abroad, I would do the
best I could for her. She chooses to return home;
and as I think she’s wrong, I won’t have
her here—that’s all. You don’t
suppose that I go about the world accusing her?”
