ied,
they must put up with something;--at least, most always." This she
added, lest it might be for a moment imagined that she had had any
cause for complaint with her Mr. Outhouse.

"Pray excuse me, Mrs. Outhouse; but I cannot discuss that. The
question between us is this,--can you consent to receive your two
nieces till their father's return;--and if so, in what way shall I
defray the expense of their living? You will of course understand
that I willingly undertake the expense not only of my wife's
maintenance and of her sister's also, but that I will cheerfully
allow anything that may be required either for their comfort or
recreation."

"I cannot take my nieces into my house as lodgers," said Mr.
Outhouse.

"No, not as lodgers; but of course you can understand that it is for
me to pay for my own wife. I know I owe you an apology for mentioning
it;--but how else could I make my request to you?"

"If Emily and Nora come here they must come as our guests," said Mrs.
Outhouse.

"Certainly," said the clergyman. "And if I am told they are in want
of a home they shall find one here till their father comes. But I am
bound to say that as regards the elder I think her home should be
elsewhere."

"Of course it should," said Mrs. Outhouse. "I don't know anything
about the law, but it seems to me very odd that a young woman should
be turned out in this way. You say she has done nothing?"

"I will not argue the matter," said Trevelyan.

"That's all very well, Mr. Trevelyan," said the lady, "but she's my
own niece, and if I don't stand up for her I don't know who will. I
never heard such a thing in my life as a wife being sent away after
such a fashion as that. We wouldn't treat a cookmaid so; that we
wouldn't. As for coming here, she shall come if she pleases, but I
shall always say that it's the greatest shame I ever heard of."

Nothing came of this visit at last. The lady grew in her anger; and
Mr. Trevelyan, in his own defence, was driven to declare that his
wife's obstinate intimacy with Colonel Osborne had almost driven
him out of his senses. Before he left the parsonage he was brought
even to tears by his own narration of his own misery;--whereby Mr.
Outhouse was considerably softened, although Mrs. Outhouse became
more and more stout in the defence of her own sex. But nothing at
last came of it. Trevelyan insisted on paying for his wife, wherever
she might be placed; and when he found that this would not be
p