He had married a poor ignorant woman, who
had served as a waitress at some low eating-house, who had unexpectedly
come into a little money, and whose small inheritance he had mercilessly
squandered to the last farthing. In plain terms, he was an incorrigible
scoundrel; and he had now added one more to the list of his many
misdemeanors by impudently breaking the conditions on which Mrs.
Vanstone had hitherto assisted him. She had written at once to the
address indicated on his card, in such terms and to such purpose as
would prevent him, she hoped and believed, from ever venturing near the
house again. Such were the terms in which Mrs. Vanstone concluded that
first part of her letter which referred exclusively to Captain Wragge.
Although the statement thus presented implied a weakness in Mrs.
Vanstone's character which Miss Garth, after many years of intimate
experience, had never detected, she accepted the explanation as a matter
of course; receiving it all the more readily inasmuch as it might,
without impropriety, be communicated in substance to appease the
irritated curiosity of the two young ladies. For this reason especially
she perused the first half of the letter with an agreeable sense of
relief.
Pages:
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53