in
the clergyman's guilt. He was by no means alone in his willingness
to accept Mr. Walker's opinion as the true opinion. Silverbridge,
generally, was endeavouring to dress itself in Mr. Walker's glass,
and to believe as Mr. Walker believed. The ladies of Silverbridge,
including the Miss Prettymans, were aware that Mr. Walker had been
very kind both to Mr. and Mrs. Crawley, and argued from this that Mr
Walker must think the man to be innocent. But Henry Grantly, who did
not dare to ask a direct question of the solicitor, went cunningly
to work, and closeted himself with Mrs. Walker,--with Mrs. Walker, who
knew well of the good fortune which was hovering over Grace's head
and was so nearly settling itself upon her shoulders. She would have
given a finger to be able to whitewash Mr. Crawley in the major's
estimation. Nor must it be supposed that she told the major in plain
words that her husband had convinced himself of the man's guilt. In
plain words no question was asked between them, and in plain words
no opinion was expressed. But there was the look of sorrow in the
woman's eye, there was the absence of reference to her husband's
assurance that the man was innocent, there was the air of settled
grief which told of her own conviction; and the major left her,
convinced that Mrs. Walker believed Mr. Crawley to be guilty.

Then he went to Barchester; not open-mouthed with inquiry, but rather
with open ears, and it seemed to him that all men in Barchester were
of one mind. There was a county-club in Barchester, and at this
county-club nine men out of ten were talking about Mr. Crawley. It was
by no means necessary that a man should ask questions on the subject.
Opinion was expressed so freely that no such asking was required;
and opinion in Barchester,--at any rate in the county-club,--seemed
now to be all of one mind. There had been every disposition at
first to believe Mr. Crawley to be innocent. He had been believed
to be innocent, even after he had said wrongly that the cheque had
been paid to him by Mr. Soames; but he had since stated that he had
received it from Dean Arabin, and that statement was also shown to be
false. A man who has a cheque changed on his own behalf is bound at
least to show where he got the cheque. Mr. Crawley had not only failed
to do this, but had given two false excuses. Henry Grantly, as he
drove home to Silverbridge on the Sunday afternoon, summed up all the
evidence in his own mind, and br