ed woman. She had all the prejudices, all the
diffidences of her age and position. Her own heart cried out against
this expedient with a horror which she had done her best to overcome.
For the first time she faltered and hesitated as she replied--

"There can be no hard-and-fast rule; our Lord did not do it, and how can
we? It is odious to me as much as to any one. But what would you have
him do? He cannot take that wretched creature, that poor unhappy girl."

"You mean that shameless, horrible thing, that abandoned----"

"There must be some good in her," said Mrs. Warrender, with a shudder.
"She had tried to do what she could to set him free. It was not her
fault if it proved more than useless. I can't prolong this discussion,
Minnie. Eustace and you can please yourselves by making out your
fellow-creatures to be as bad as possible. To me it is almost more
terrible to see the good in them that might, if things had gone
differently---- But that is enough. I am going to take Chatty away."

"Away! where are you going to take her? For goodness' sake don't: they
will think you are going after him--they will say----"

"I am glad you have the grace to stop. I am going to take her abroad. If
she can be amused a little and delivered from herself---- At all events,"
said Mrs. Warrender, "we shall be free from the stare of the world, which
we never did anything to attract."

"Going away?" Minnie repeated. "Oh, I think, and I am sure Eustace would
say, that you ought not to go away. You should live it down. Of course
people will blame _you_, they must, I did myself: but after all that is
far better than to be at a place abroad where everybody would say, Oh,
do you know who that is? that is Mrs. Warrender, whose eldest daughter
married one of the Thynnes, whose youngest was the heroine of _that_
story, you know about the marriage. Oh, mamma, this is exactly what
Eustace said he was afraid you would do. For goodness' sake don't! stay
at home and live it down. We shall all stand by you," said Minnie. "I am
sure Frances will do her very best, and though Eustace is a clergyman
and ought always to show an example, yet in the case of such near
relations--we----"

Mrs. Warrender only turned her back upon these generous promises, walking
away without any answer or remark. She was too angry to say anything:
and to think that there was a germ of reality in it all, a need of some
one to stand by them, a possibility that Chatty might be