to spread a damnably malicious report of which he did not
believe a word himself."

"But, my dear, he will believe it."

"Why? How? On what evidence? He couldn't believe it. Let a man be
ever such a fool, he can't believe a thing without some reason.
I dislike Lord Trowbridge very much; and you might just as well
say that because I dislike him I shall believe that he is a hard
landlord. He is not a hard landlord; and were he to stick dissenting
chapels all about the county, I should be a liar and a slanderer were
I to say that he was."

"But then, you see, you are not a fool, Frank."

This brought the conversation to an end. The Vicar was willing enough
to turn upon his heel and say nothing more on a matter as to which
he was by no means sure that he was in the right; and his wife felt
a certain amount of reluctance in urging any arguments upon such a
subject. Whatever Lord Trowbridge might say or think, her Frank must
not be led to suppose that any unworthy suspicion troubled her own
mind. Nevertheless, she was sure that he was imprudent.

When the fortnight was near at an end, and nothing had been done, he
went again over to Salisbury. It was quite true that he had business
there, as a gentleman almost always does have business in the county
town where his banker lives, whence tradesmen supply him, and in
which he belongs to some club. And our Vicar, too, was a man fond of
seeing his bishop, and one who loved to move about in the precincts
of the cathedral, to shake hands with the dean, and to have a
little subrisive fling at Mr. Chamberlaine, or such another as Mr.
Chamberlaine, if the opportunity came in his way. He was by no means
indisposed to go into Salisbury in the ordinary course of things; and
on this occasion absolutely did see Mr. Chamberlaine, the dean, his
saddler, and the clerk at the Fire Insurance Office,--as well as Mrs.
Stiggs and Carry Brattle. If, therefore, anyone had said that on this
day he had gone into Salisbury simply to see Carry Brattle, such
person would have maligned him. He reduced the premium on his Fire
Insurance by 5_s._ 6_d._ a year, and he engaged Mr. Chamberlaine to
meet Mr. Quickenham, and he borrowed from the dean an old book about
falconry; so that in fact the few minutes which he spent at Mrs.
Stiggs's house were barely squeezed in among the various affairs of
business which he had to transact at Salisbury.

All that he could say to Carry Brattle was this,--that hithert