nd too--wants him especially when she is young--as
Chloe was."

"Mrs. Carstairs decided for her child?"

"Yes. They kept her in India as long as they dared--longer than some
people thought prudent--and then Chloe brought her home to the old
place. Iris was at school then, but Chloe used to come in to see my
sister and me frequently, and we congratulated ourselves that we'd got
such a pleasant neighbour. You know Cherry Orchard is really the nearest
house as the crow flies."

"I suppose it is; though I hadn't realized it. And then--the crash
came?"

"Yes. When first those horrible letters began to fly about the parish
they were put down as the work of some spiteful servant, dismissed for
dishonesty, perhaps. But little by little Mrs. Carstairs' name began to
be whispered in connection with them--no one knew how the rumour
started, though I have always held the belief that the Vicar's wife
herself was the first to suggest it."

"But Mrs. Carstairs and the woman were friends?"

"They had been--and in the first burst of friendship the foolish woman
had poured out all her silly, sordid secrets to Chloe Carstairs, and
then, possibly, repented having done so. They fell out, you see, and I
suppose Mrs. Ogden, being a woman of a small and petty character
herself, was only too ready to suspect her former friend. She swore, you
know, that no one but Chloe could have known some of the details which
were mentioned in the letters. I can't tell you how vile the whole thing
was--and it was quite evidently the intention of the anonymous writer to
drive Mrs. Ogden out of the parish by those libellous documents."

"But the matter was thoroughly sifted? And there could be no evidence
against Mrs. Carstairs?"

"Well, when things had gone on for some time in a desultory kind of
fashion--a letter here, another there, and then an interval of a few
weeks--there came a perfect avalanche of the things, and the Vicar,
although he had really wished to hush the matter up, was advised to take
steps to find out the culprit."

"Even then I don't see how Mrs. Carstairs could be suspected----"

"Well, in a matter of this kind, when once a woman's name has been
mentioned, it is very hard for her to clear herself. At first, guided, I
confess, by me, she refused to take any notice of the affair. In the
end, of course, she had to come forward to clear herself of a specific
charge."

"But what weight had the evidence against her?"

"Well, cert