"Say?" Lady Myrie repeated. "What did he not say! His lordship
declared that he had a great mind not to grant the Divorce at
all. He spoke of this dreadful woman who has deceived us in the
severest terms; he said she had behaved in a most improper
manner. She had encouraged the abominable governess; and if her
husband had yielded to temptation, it was her fault. And more
besides, that I don't remember."

Mr. Romsey's wife appealed to him in despair. "What am I to do?"
she asked, helplessly.

"Do nothing," was the wise reply. "Didn't you say she was going
away to-morrow?"

"That's the worst of it!" Mrs. Romsey declared. "Her little girl
Kitty gives a farewell dinner to-morrow to our children; and I've
promised to take them to say good-by."

Lady Myrie pronounced sentence without hesitation. "Of course
your girls mustn't go. Daughters! Think of their reputations when
they grow up!"

"Are you in the same scrape with my wife?" Mr. Romsey asked.

Lady Myrie corrected his language. "I have been deceived in the
same way," she said. "Though my children are boys (which perhaps
makes a difference) I feel it is my duty as a mother not to let
them get into bad company. I do nothing myself in an underhand
way. No excuses! I shall send a note and tell Mrs. Norman why she