ions arrived later in the day at Mr. Quincey's chambers, with, to
use his own expression, all the cards in his hand. It was Mr. Quincey
who, professing himself unable to comply with Mr. Onion's suggestion,
arranged the interview with Miss Bulstrode. And it was Miss Bulstrode
herself who, on condition that Mr. Onions added to the undertaking the
further condition that he would marry Miss Price before the end of the
month, offered to make it two hundred. It was in their joint
interest--Mr. Onions regarding himself and Miss Price as now one--that
Mr. Onions suggested her making it three, using such arguments as,
under the circumstances, naturally occurred to him--as, for example,
the damage caused to the lady's reputation by the whole proceedings,
culminating in a night spent by the lady, according to her own account,
on Ham Common. That the price demanded was reasonable Mr. Onions
considers as proved by Miss Bulstrode's eventual acceptance of his
terms. That, having got out of him all that he wanted, Mr. Quincey
should have "considered it his duty" to communicate the entire details
of the transaction to Miss Price, through the medium of Mr. Andrews,
thinking it "as well she should know the character of the man she
proposed to marry," Mr. Onions considers a gross breach of etiquette as
between gentlemen; and having regard to Miss Price's after behaviour,
Mr. Onions can only say that she is not the girl he took her for.

Mr. Aaron Andrews, on whom our representative called, was desirous at
first of not being drawn into the matter; but on our representative
explaining to him that our only desire was to contradict false rumours
likely to be harmful to Mr. Parable's reputation, Mr. Andrews saw the
necessity of putting our representative in possession of the truth.

She came back on Tuesday afternoon, explained Mr. Andrews, and I had a
talk with her.

"It is all right, Mr. Andrews," she told me; "they've been in
communication with my young man, and Miss Bulstrode has seen the
magistrate privately. The case will be dismissed with a fine of forty
shillings, and Mr. Quincey has arranged to keep it out of the papers."

"Well, all's well that ends well," I answered; "but it might have been
better, my girl, if you had mentioned that young man of yours a bit
earlier."

"I did not know it was of any importance," she explained. "Mr. Parable
told me nothing. If it hadn't been for chance, I should never have
known what was