into the
most private chambers, and never would retire unless she thought fit to
do so of her own will. It was for this reason that Cargrim suggested the
good lady should call upon Mrs Mosk, for he knew well that neither the
father, nor the daughter, nor the whole assembled domestics of the
hotel, would be able to stop her from making her way to the bedside of
the invalid; and in the devastated rear of Mrs Pansey the chaplain
intended to follow.

His principal object in seeing Mrs Mosk was to discover what she knew
about the man called Jentham. He was lodging at The Derby Winner, as
Cargrim ascertained by later inquiry, and it was probable that the
inmates of the hotel knew something as to the reasons of his stay in
Beorminster. Mr Mosk, being as obstinate as a mule, was not likely to
tell Cargrim anything he desired to learn. Bell, detesting the chaplain,
as she took no pains to conceal, would probably refuse to hold a
conversation with him; but Mrs Mosk, being weak-minded and ill, might be
led by dexterous questioning to tell all she knew. And what she did know
might, in Cargrim's opinion, throw more light on Jentham's connection
with the bishop. Therefore, the next morning, Cargrim called on the
archdeacon's widow to inveigle her into persecuting Mrs Mosk with a
call. Mrs Pansey, with all her acuteness, could not see that she was
being made use of--luckily for Cargrim.

'I hear the poor woman is very ill,' sighed the chaplain, after he had
introduced the subject, 'and I fear that her daughter does not give her
all the attention an invalid should have.'

'The Jezebel!' growled Mrs Pansey. 'What can you expect from that
flaunting hussy?'

'She is a human being, Mrs Pansey, and I expect at least human
feelings.'

'Can you get blood out of a stone, Mr Cargrim? No, you can't. Is that
red-cheeked Dutch doll a pelican to pluck her breast for the benefit of
her mother? No, indeed! I daresay she passes her sinful hours drinking
with young men. I'd whip her at a cart's tail if I had my way.'

'Gabriel Pendle is trying to bring the girl to a sense of her errors.'

'Rubbish! She's trying to bring him to the altar, more like. I'll go
with you, Mr Cargrim, and see the minx. I have long thought that it is
my duty to reprove her and warn her mother of such goings-on. As for
that weak-minded young Pendle,' cried Mrs Pansey, shaking her head
furiously, 'I pity his infatuation; but what can you expect from such a
mother as hi