wounded to death, and Jenny was more of a
politician than Mercutio. She asked both houses to dinner--and took
pains that they should meet.

They met several times--with more pleasure to Mrs. Jepps than to the
Rector. He fought for conscience' sake, and for what he held true. So
did she--but the old lady liked the fighting for its own sake also.
Jenny's attitude was "I want to understand." She pitted them against one
another--Mrs. Jepps's "Letter of the Scriptures" against Alison's "Voice
of the Living Church," his "Primitive Usage and Teaching of the Fathers"
against her "Protestantism and Reformation Settlement." It is not
necessary to deny to Jenny an honest intellectual interest in these and
kindred questions, although her concern did not go very deep--but for
her an avowed object always gained immensely in attraction from the
possibility of some remoter and unavowed object attaching to it. If the
avowed object of these prolonged discussions was the settlement of
Jenny's religious convictions, the remoter and unavowed was to keep
herself still in a position to reward whichever of the disputants she
might choose finally to hail as victor. Policy and temperament both went
to foster this instinct in her; the position might be useful, and was
enjoyable; her security might be increased, her vanity was flattered.
Jenny stayed in bed!

In secular politics her course was no less skillfully taken. She did
indeed declare herself a Conservative--there was no doubt, even for
Jenny's cautious mind, about the wisdom of that step--and gave Bertram
Ware a very handsome contribution toward his Registration expenses; the
expenses were heavy, Ware was not a rich man, and he was grateful. But
at that time the question of Free Trade against Protection--or Free
Imports against Fair Trade, if those terms be preferred--was just coming
to the front, under the impetus given by a distinguished statesman.
Fillingford, the natural leader of the party in the county division, was
a convinced Free Trader. Ware had at least a strong inclination for Fair
Trade. After talks with Fillingford and talks with Ware, Jenny gave her
contribution, but accompanied it by an intimation that she hoped Mr.
Ware would do nothing to break up the party. The hint was significant.
Between the two sections which existed, or threatened to exist, in her
party, Jenny--with her estate and her money--became an object of much
interest. They united in giving her high rank in