Their reciprocal disgust was physical, mental, moral. It could not be
concealed from their friends; all Polterham smiled over it; yet the
Mumbrays were regarded as a centre of moral and religious influence, a
power against the encroaches of rationalism and its attendant
depravity. Neither of them could point to dignified ancestry; by steady
persistence in cant and snobbishness--the genuine expression of their
natures--they had pushed to a prominent place, and feared nothing so
much as depreciation in the eyes of the townsfolk. Raglan and Serena
were causing them no little anxiety; both, though in different ways,
might prove an occasion of scandal. When Eustace Glazzard began to
present himself at the house, Mr. Mumbray welcomed the significant
calls. From his point of view, Serena could not do better than marry a
man of honourable name, who would remove her to London. Out of mere
contrariety, Mrs. Mumbray thereupon began to encourage the slow
advances of her Rector, who thought of Serena's fortune as a means to
the wider activity, the greater distinction, for which he was hungering.

Glazzard's self-contempt as he went home this evening was not unmingled
with pleasanter thoughts. For a man in his position, Serena Mumbray and
her thousands did not represent a future of despair. He had always
aimed much higher, but defeat after defeat left him with shaken nerves,
and gloomy dialogues with his brother had impressed upon him the
necessity of guarding against darkest possibilities. His state of mind
was singularly morbid; he could not trust the fixity of his purposes
for more than a day or two together; but just at present he thought
without distaste of Serena herself, and was soothed by the
contemplation of her (to him modest) fortune. During the past month he
had been several times to and from London; to-morrow he would return to
town again, and view his progress from a distance.

On reaching his brother's house, he found a letter waiting for him; it
bore the Paris postmark. The contents were brief.

"DEAR GLAZZARD:

"I announce to you the fact of our marriage. The L.s will hear of it
simultaneously. We are enjoying ourselves.

"Ever yours,
"D.Q."

He went at once to the room where William was sitting, and said, in a
quiet voice:

"Quarrier has just got married--in Paris."

"Oh? To whom?"

"An English girl who has been a governess at Stockholm. I knew it was
impending."

"Has he made a fool of hims