ime, not knowing any means whereby she might release
herself from the society of her kinswoman, or put an end to the
indefatigable attentions of the popular Maida Hill doctor. She would have
gladly offered Mrs. Pallinson a liberal allowance out of her fortune to
buy that lady off, and be her own mistress once more, free to act and
think for herself, had she dared to make such a degrading proposition to
a person of Mrs. Pallinson's dignity. But she could not venture to do
this; and she felt that no one but John Saltram, in the character of her
future husband, could release her from the state of bondage into which
she had weakly suffered herself to fall. In the meantime she defended the
man she loved with an unflinching spirit, resolutely refusing to have
her eyes opened to the worthlessness of his character, and boldly
declaring her disbelief of those sad accounts which Theobald affected to
have heard from well-informed acquaintance of his own, respecting the
follies and dissipations of Mr. Saltram's career, his debts, his love of
gambling, his dealings with money-lenders, and other foibles common to
the rake's progress.

It was rather a hard battle for the lonely little woman to fight, but she
had fortune on her side; and at the worst, her kinsfolk treated her with
a certain deference, even while they were doing their utmost to worry her
into an untimely grave. If little flatteries, and a perpetual indulgence
in all small matters, such as a foolish nurse might give to a spoilt
child, could have made Adela happy, she had certainly no reason to
complain, for in this manner Mrs. Pallinson was the most devoted and
affectionate of companions. If her darling Adela looked a little paler
than usual, or confessed to suffering from a headache, or owned to being
nervous or out of spirits, Mrs. Pallinson's anxiety knew no bounds, and
Theobald was summoned from Maida Hill without a minute's delay, much to
poor Adela's annoyance. Indeed, she grew in time to deny the headaches,
and the low spirits, or the nervousness resolutely, rather than bring
upon herself a visitation from Mr. Theobald Pallinson; and in spite of
all this care and indulgence she felt herself a prisoner in her own
house, somehow; more dependent than the humblest servant in that spacious
mansion; and she looked out helplessly and hopelessly for some friend
through whose courageous help she might recover her freedom. Perhaps she
only thought of one champion as at all l