?" she asked, shortly.

"Well, because he evidently sees so little of her," said Mrs Winn. "It
has turned out exactly as I said it would. I said from the very first,
that sort of marriage never answers. It always creates discord. Of
course, it's a difficult position for Mrs Forrest, but she ought to
remember that the child owes duties and respect to Mr Goodwin. `Honour
thy father and mother,' and, of course, that applies to a grandfather
too."

"I believe Mr Goodwin is quite satisfied," answered Delia.

"Oh, I daresay," said Mrs Winn. "We all know he's a dear, meek, old
man, who could never say boo to a goose. But that doesn't make it
right. Now, I know for a fact that he expected Anna Forrest to tea with
him one evening, and she never came. I know all about it, because I
happened to send him some trout that morning, and Mrs Cooper went in to
cook them. Mrs Cooper chars for me, you know. `I was quite sorry,
ma'am,' she said, when she came the next day, `to see the poor, old
gentleman standing at the window with his watch in his hand, and the
trout done to a turn, and his flowers and all. It's hard on the old to
be disappointed.'"

Mrs Winn rolled out these sentences steadily, keeping her eyes firmly
fixed on Delia all the while. Now she waited for a reply.

"I heard about it," she said. "Anna was not able to go."

"Then she should have sent word sooner, or her aunt should have done so.
It was a great want of respect. I'm surprised, Delia, you should take
it so coolly, when you think so much of Mr Goodwin. Now, if _I_ should
see Anna Forrest, I shall make a point of putting her conduct in a right
light to her. I daresay no one has done so yet--and she is but a
child."

Delia shivered inwardly. She knew that Mrs Winn was quite capable of
doing as she said. How the Professor would shrink from such
interference! Yet she did not feel equal to saying much against it, for
Mrs Winn had always kept her and every one else in Dornton in order.
Her right to rebuke and admonish was taken as a matter of course.

"You don't know, you see," she began, "how it was that Anna was
prevented. Perhaps--"

Mrs Winn had now risen, and stood ready to depart, with her umbrella
planted firmly on the ground.

"My dear," she interrupted, raising one hand, "I know _this_. Wrong is
wrong, and right is right. That's enough for me, and always has been.
Now, I won't disturb your dear mother to say good-bye, for I think