rey for having
sent her a letter marked "Private," now that she was married.

"If you mean it not to be private, you shall tell me about it when I
come back," said her husband. "If I see Mrs Enderby to-night, I must
be gone."

It was not twenty minutes before he was seated by his own fireside
again. His wife looked disturbed; and was so; she even forgot to
inquire after Mrs Enderby.

"There is Mrs Grey's precious letter!" said she. "She may mean to be
very kind to me: I dare say she does: but she might know that it is not
kindness to write so of my husband."

"I do not see that she writes any harm of me, my dear," said he, laying
the letter open upon the table. "She only wants to manage me a little:
and that is her way, you know."

"So exceedingly impertinent!" cried Hester, turning to Margaret. "She
wants me to use my influence, quietly, and without betraying her, to
make my husband--," she glanced into her husband's face, and checked her
communication. "In short," she said, "Mrs Grey wants to be meddling
between my husband and one of his patients."

"Well, what then?" said Margaret.

"What then? Why, if she is to be interfering already in our affairs--if
she is to be always fancying that she has anything to do with Edward,--
and we living so near,--I shall never be able to bear it."

And Hester's eyes overflowed with tears.

"My dear! is it possible?" cried Edward. "Such a trifle--."

"It is no trifle," said Hester, trying to command her voice; "it can
never be a trifle to me that any one shows disrespect to you. I shall
never be able to keep terms with any one who does."

Margaret believed that nothing would be easier than to put a stop to any
such attempts--if indeed they were serious. Mrs Grey was so fond of
Hester that she would permit anything from her; and it would be easy for
Hester to say that, not wishing to receive any exclusively private
letters, she had shown Mrs Grey's to her husband, though to no one
else: and that it was to be the principle of the family not to
interfere, more or less, with Mr Hope's professional affairs.

"Or, better still, take no notice of the matter in any way whatever,
this time," said Mr Hope. "We can let her have her way while we keep
our own, cannot we? So, let us put the mysterious epistle into the
fire--shall we? I wait your leave," said he, laughing, as he held the
letter over the flame.

"It is your property."

Hester signed to have it burned;