'Contented, mamma!'

'Satisfied that what we tell you is true.'

'I shall never be contented again. If that is true, I will never believe anything. It can't be true. I suppose there is something, but it can't be that.'

The story was not altogether displeasing to Lady Carbury, though it pained her to see the agony which her daughter suffered. But she had no wish that Paul Montague should be her son-in-law, and she still thought that if Roger would persevere he might succeed. On that very night before she went to bed she wrote to Roger, and told him the whole story. 'If,' she said, 'you know that there is such a person as Mrs Hurtle, and if you know also that Mr Montague has promised to make her his wife, of course you will tell me.' Then she declared her own wishes, thinking that by doing so she could induce Roger Carbury to give such real assistance in this matter that Paul Montague would certainly be driven away. Who could feel so much interest in doing this as Roger, or who be so closely acquainted with all the circumstances of Montague's life? 'You know,' she said, 'what my wishes are about Hetta, and how utterly opposed I am to Mr Montague's interference. If it is true, as Felix says, that he is at the present moment entangled with another woman, he is guilty of gross insolence; and if you know all the circumstances you can surely protect us,--and also yourself.'




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