I could easily deal with them."

"But cannot we go away, and settle somewhere else?"

"Oh, no! Wherever I might go, it would soon be understood that I had
been obliged to leave Deerbrook, from being detected in body-snatching
and the like. I owe it to myself to stay. We must remain, and live
down all imputations whatever, if we can."

"And if we cannot?"

"Then we shall see what to do when the time comes."

"And having managed the bullies, how do you propose to manage Mrs
Rowland? What do you think of speaking to Mr Grey?"

"I shall not do that. The Greys have no concern with it; but they will
think they have. Then there will be a partisan warfare, with me for the
pretext, and the two families have had quite warfare enough for a
lifetime already. No, I shall not bring the Greys into it. I am sorry
enough for Mr Rowland, for I am sure he has no part in all this. I
shall go to him to-day. I should confront the lady at once, and call
her to account, but that Miss Young must be considered. The more
courageous and disinterested she is, the more care we must take of her."

"Perhaps she is at this moment telling Mr Rowland what we talked about
last night. How very painful! Do you know she thinks--(it is right to
tell the whole for other people's sake)--she thinks that what Mrs
Rowland says is not to be trusted, in any case where she feels enmity.
Maria even doubts whether Mr Enderby has treated you and his other
friends so very negligently--whether he is engaged to Miss Bruce, after
all."

Mr Hope was so much engaged about one of his stirrups while Margaret
said this, that he could not observe where and how she was looking.

"Very likely," replied Hope, at length. "Hester has thought all along
that this was possible. We shall know the truth from Enderby himself,
one of these days, by act or word. Meantime, I, for one, shall wait to
hear his own story."

There was another pause, at the end of which Mr Hope clapped spurs to
his horse, and said he must be riding on. Margaret called him back for
a moment, to ask what he wished her to do about informing Hester of the
state of affairs. Mr Hope was disposed to tell her the whole, if
possible; but not till he should have come to some issue with Mr
Rowland. He hated mysteries--any concealments in families; and it was
due both to Hester and to himself that there should be no concealment of
important affairs from her. The only cautions to be observed were,