egin; but Lady Ball sat
there solid, grave, and black, as though she thought that her very
presence, without any words, might be effective upon Margaret as a
preliminary mode of attack. Margaret herself could find nothing to
say to her aunt, and she, therefore, also remained silent. Lady Ball
was so far successful in this, that when three minutes were over her
niece had certainly been weakened by the oppressive nature of the
meeting. She had about her less of vivacity, and perhaps also less of
vitality, than when she first entered the room.

"Well, my dear," said her aunt at last, "there are things, you know,
which must be talked about, though they are ever so disagreeable;"
and then she pulled out of her pocket that abominable number of the
Littlebath _Christian Examiner_.

"Oh, aunt, I hope you are not going to talk about that."

"My dear, that is cowardly; it is, indeed. How am I to help talking
about it? I have come here, from Twickenham, on purpose to talk about
it."

"Then, aunt, I must decline; I must, indeed."

"My dear!"

"I must, indeed, aunt."

Let a man or a woman's vitality be ever so thoroughly crushed and
quenched by fatigue or oppression--or even by black crape--there will
always be some mode of galvanising which will restore it for a time,
some specific either of joy or torture which will produce a return
of temporary energy. This Littlebath newspaper was a battery of
sufficient power to put Margaret on her legs again, though she
perhaps might not be long able to keep them.

"It is a vile, lying paper, and it was written by a vile, lying man,
and I hope you will put it up and say nothing about it."

"It is a vile, lying paper, Margaret; but the lies are against my
son, and not against you."

"He is a man, and knows what he is about, and it does not signify to
him. But, aunt, I won't talk about it, and there's an end of it."

"I hope he does know what he is about," said Lady Ball. "I hope he
does. But you, as you say, are a woman, and therefore it specially
behoves you to know what you are about."

"I am not doing anything to anybody," said Margaret.

Lady Ball had now refolded the offensive newspaper, and restored it
to her pocket. Perhaps she had done as much with it as she had from
the first intended. At any rate, she brought it forth no more, and
made no further intentionally direct allusion to it. "I don't suppose
you really wish to do any injury to anybody," she said.

"Does anyb