Colonel, for which
neither her niece nor her sister-in-law could fairly be held to
be responsible. It was perhaps the plainest characteristic of all
the Stanburys that they were never wilfully dishonest. Ignorant,
prejudiced, and passionate they might be. In her anger Miss Stanbury,
of Exeter, could be almost malicious; and her niece at Nuncombe
Putney was very like her aunt. Each could say most cruel things, most
unjust things, when actuated by a mistaken consciousness of perfect
right on her own side. But neither of them could lie,--even by
silence. Let an error be brought home to either of them,--so as to
be acknowledged at home,--and the error would be assuredly confessed
aloud. And, indeed, with differences in the shades, Hugh and Dorothy
were of the same nature. They were possessed of sweeter tempers than
their aunt and sister, but they were filled with the same eager
readiness to believe themselves to be right,--and to own themselves
to others to be wrong, when they had been constrained to make such
confession to themselves. The chances of life, and something probably
of inner nature, had made Dorothy mild and obedient; whereas, in
regard to Hugh, the circumstances of his life and disposition had
made him obstinate and self-reliant. But in all was to be found the
same belief in self,--which amounted almost to conceit,--the same
warmth of affection, and the same love of justice.

When Miss Stanbury had again perused the correspondence, and had come
to see, dimly, how things had gone at Nuncombe Putney,--when the
conviction came upon her mind that Priscilla had entertained a horror
as to the coming of this Colonel equal to that which she herself
had felt,--when her imagination painted to her all that her niece
had suffered, her heart was softened somewhat. She had declared to
Dorothy that pitch, if touched, would certainly defile; and she had,
at first, intended to send the same opinion, couched in very forcible
words, to her correspondents at the Clock House. They should not
continue to go astray for want of being told that they were going
astray. It must be acknowledged, too, that there was a certain
amount of ignoble wrath in the bosom of Miss Stanbury because her
sister-in-law had taken the Clock House. She had never been told, and
had not even condescended to ask Dorothy, whether the house was taken
and paid for by her nephew on behalf of his mother, or whether it
was paid for by Mr. Trevelyan on behalf of h