but ill of me?"

"I am to be your friend."

"But you think ill of me."

"I have not said so, Mary."

"Then say at once that you think no ill, and do not threaten me that I
am to be taken into the country for protection. And when you tell me of
the bold-faced villany of that young woman, speak of her with the
disgust that she deserves; and say that your sister Susanna is
suspicious and given to evil thoughts; and declare your brother to be a
wicked slanderer if he has said a word against the honour of your wife.
Then I shall know that you think no ill of me; and then I shall know
that I may lean upon you as my real friend."

Her eyes flashed fire as she spoke, and he was silenced for the moment
by an impetuosity and a passion which he had not at all expected. He
was not quite disposed to yield to her, to assure her of his conviction
that those to whom she alluded were all wrong, and that she was all
right; but yet he was beginning to wish for peace. That Captain De
Baron was a pestilential young man whose very business it was to bring
unhappiness into families, he did believe; and he feared also that his
wife had allowed herself to fall into an indiscreet intimacy with this
destroyer of women's characters. Then there was that feeling of Caesar's
wife strong within his bosom, which he could, perhaps, have more fully
explained to her but for that unfortunate letter from Mrs. Houghton.
Any fault, however, of that kind on his part was, in his estimation,
nothing to a fault on the part of his wife. She, when once assured
that he was indifferent about Mrs. Houghton, would find no cause for
unhappiness in the matter. But what would all the world be to him if
his wife were talked about commonly in connection with another man?
That she should not absolutely be a castaway would not save him from a
perpetual agony which he would find to be altogether unendurable. He
was, he was sure, quite right as to that theory about Caesar's wife,
even though, from the unfortunate position of circumstances, he could
not dilate upon it at the present moment. "I think," he said, after a
pause, "that you will allow that you had better drop this gentleman's
acquaintance."

"I will allow nothing of the kind, George. I will allow nothing that
can imply the slightest stain upon my name or upon your honour. Captain
De Baron is my friend. I like him very much. A great many people know
how intimate we are. They shall never be taught to suppose tha