"Thank you, sir. My dear parents have always taught me that there could
be no occasion for ceremony where people feel kindly, and mean only what
is right. They will be pleased to hear that you do not think ceremony
necessary between us."

"The circumstances are too urgent for it in the present case;--that is
what I mean," said Philip. "I am confident, Mr Walcot, from what you
say about feeling kindly and meaning rightly, that you cannot be aware
what is the real state of affairs in Deerbrook, or you could not have
been induced to think of settling here."

"Oh, I assure you, sir, you are mistaken. Mrs Rowland herself was the
person who told me all about it; and I repeated all she said to my
parents. They strongly advised my coming; and I am sure they would
never recommend me to do anything that was not right."

"Then, if I tell you what I know to be the true state of the case here,
will you represent it fully to your parents, and see what they will say
then?"

"Certainly. I can have no objection to that. They will be very sorry,
however, if any difficulty should arise. I had a letter from them this
very morning, in which they say that they consider me a fortunate youth
to have fallen in with such a friend as Mrs Rowland, who promises she
will be a mother, or rather, I should say, a sister to me, and to have
stepped at once into such practice as Mrs Rowland says I shall
certainly have here. They say what is very true, that it is a singular
and happy chance to befall a youth who has only just finished his
education."

"That is so true, that you ought not to be surprised if it should turn
out that there is something wrong at the bottom of the affair. I am
going to show you what this wrong is, that you may take warning in time,
and not discover, when it is too late, that you have been injuring an
honourable man, who has been too hardly treated already."

"I should be sorry to do that: but I cannot think what you can mean."

"I dare say not. Pray have you been told of a Mr Hope who lives here?"

"Oh, yes; we saw the people breaking his windows as we drove past,
yesterday evening. He must be a very improper, disagreeable man. And
it is very hard upon the ladies and gentlemen here to have no one to
attend them but that sort of person."

"That is one account of Mr Hope: now you must hear the other." And Mr
Enderby gave a full statement of Hope's character, past services, and
present position, in terms