"
"There is no possibility of a mistake on my part, papa. I am not in the
habit of making statements which I cannot support."
"Who told you of these visits? Clarissa herself?"
"O dear, no; Clarissa is not in the habit of telling me her affairs. I
heard it from Warman; not in reply to any questioning of mine, I can assure
you. But the thing has been so frequent, that the servants have begun
to talk about it. Of course, I always make a point of discouraging any
speculations upon my stepmother's conduct."
The servants had begun to talk; his wife's intimacy with people of whom he
knew scarcely anything had been going on so long as to provoke the gossip
of the household; and he had heard nothing of it until this moment! The
thought stung him to the quick. That domestic slander should have been busy
with her name already; that she should have lived her own life so entirely
without reference to him! Both thoughts were alike bitter. Yet it was no
new thing for him to know that she did not love him.
He looked at his watch meditatively.
"Has she gone there this afternoon, do you think?" he asked.
"I think it is excessively probable. Warman tells me she has been there
every afternoon during your absence."
"She must have taken a strange fancy to these people. Austin's wife is some
old schoolfellow of Clary's perhaps."
Miss Granger shook her head doubtfully.
"I should hardly think that," she said.
Pages:
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571