w, and go down home with her."

There was then silence in the room for a few seconds, during which
Mrs. Furnival looked very sharply at her husband. "Oh! she's to be in
town, is she?" said Mr. Furnival, after a moment's consideration. He
was angry with Lady Mason at the moment for having put him into this
position. Why had she told her son that she was to be up in London,
thus producing conversation and tittle-tattle which made deceit on
his part absolutely necessary? Lady Mason's business in London was
of a nature which would not bear much open talking. She herself, in
her earnest letter summoning Mr. Furnival up from Birmingham, had
besought him that her visit to his chambers might not be made matter
of discussion. New troubles might be coming on her, but also they
might not; and she was very anxious that no one should know that
she was seeking a lawyer's advice on the matter. To all this Mr.
Furnival had given in his adhesion; and yet she had put it into her
son's power to come to his drawing-room and chatter there of her
whereabouts. For a moment or two he doubted; but at the expiration of
those moments he saw that the deceit was necessary. "She's to be in
town, is she?" said he. The reader will of course observe that this
deceit was practised, not as between husband and wife with reference
to an assignation with a lady, but between the lawyer and the outer
world with reference to a private meeting with a client. But then it
is sometimes so difficult to make wives look at such matters in the
right light.

"She's coming up for some shopping," said Lucius.

"Oh! indeed," said Mrs. Furnival. She would not have spoken if she
could have helped it, but she could not help it; and then there
was silence in the room for a minute or two, which Lucius vainly
endeavoured to break by a few indifferent observations to Miss
Furnival. The words, however, which he uttered would not take the
guise of indifferent observations, but fell flatly on their ears, and
at the same time solemnly, as though spoken with the sole purpose of
creating sound.

"I hope you have been enjoying yourself at Birmingham," said Mrs.
Furnival.

"Enjoyed myself! I did not exactly go there for enjoyment."

"Or at Romford, where you were before?"

"Women seem to think that men have no purpose but amusement when they
go about their daily work," said Mr. Furnival; and then he threw
himself back in his arm-chair, and took up the last Quarterly.

Lucius