never kept any secret--frightful as might be
the cost to his honour--even Mrs. Twemlow shook her head sometimes, when
the arrangement of her hair permitted it, and doubted whether any of the
Carne Castle Carnes would have borne with such indignity.

"Prosecute him, prosecute him," this good lady always said. "You ought
to have been a magistrate, Joshua--the first magistrate in the Bible was
that--and then you would have known how to do things. But because you
would have to go to Sir Charles Darling--whose Sir can never put him on
the level of the Carnes--you have some right feeling against taking out
a summons. In that I agree with you; it would be very dreadful here. But
in London he might be punished, I am sure; and I know a great deal
about the law, for I never had any one connected with me who was not
a magistrate; the Lord Mayor has a Court of his own for trying the
corporation under the chair; and if this was put properly before him by
a man like Mr. Furkettle, upon the understanding that he should not be
paid unless he won his case, I am sure the result would be three years'
imprisonment. By that time he would have worn out his coat with jailer's
keys upon it, which first attracted our poor Eliza; or if he was not
allowed to wear it, it would go out of fashion, and be harmless. No one
need know a word about it here, for Captain Stubbard would oblige us
gladly by cutting it out of the London papers. My dear, you have nobody
ill in the parish; I will put up your things, and see you off to-morrow.
We will dine late on Friday, to suit the coach; and you will be quite
fit for Sunday work again, if you keep up your legs on a chair all
Saturday."

"If ever I saw a straightforward man," Mr. Twemlow used to answer, "it
was poor Percival Shargeloes. He is gone to a better world, my dear.
And if he continued to be amenable to law, this is not a criminal, but a
civil case."

"A nice case of civility, Joshua! But you always stand up for your sex.
Does the coach take people to a better world? A stout gentleman, like
him, was seen inside the coach, muffled up in a cravat of three colours,
and eating at frequent intervals."

"The very thing poor Percival never did. That disposes to my mind of
that foolish story. My dear, when all truth comes to light, you will do
justice to his memory."

"Yes, I dare say. But I should like to do it now. If you entertain any
dark ideas, it is your duty to investigate them. Also to let me sh