Lady Glencora, turning upon her
very sharply.

"Nobody has been talking to me;--not in the sense you mean."

"Plantagenet has spoken to you?"

"Not a word," said Miss Palliser. "You may be sure that he would not
utter a word on such a subject to anyone unless it were to yourself.
But, dear Glencora, you should not go there;--I mean it in all
kindness and love,--I do indeed." Saying this she offered her hand to
Glencora, and Glencora took it.

"Perhaps you do," said she in a low voice.

"Indeed I do. The world is so hard and cruel in what it says."

"I do not care two straws for what the world says."

"But he might care."

"It is not my fault. I do not want to go to Monkshade. Lady Monk was
my friend once, but I do not care if I never see her again. I did not
arrange this visit. It was Plantagenet who did it."

"But he will not take you there if you say you do not wish it."

"I have said so, and he told me that I must go. You will hardly
believe me,--but I condescended even to tell him why I thought it
better to remain away. He told me, in answer, that it was a silly
folly which I must live down, and that it did not become me to be
afraid of any man."

"Of course you are not afraid, but--"

"I am afraid. That is just the truth. I am afraid;--but what can I do
more than I have done?"

This was very terrible to Miss Palliser. She had not thought that
Lady Glencora would say so much, and she felt a true regret in having
been made to hear words which so nearly amounted to a confession.
But for this there was no help now. There were not many more words
between them, and we already know the result of the conversation.
Lady Glencora became so ill from the effects of her imprudent
lingering among the ruins that she was unable to go to Monkshade.

Mr Palliser remained three days at Monkshade, and cemented his
political alliance with Sir Cosmo much in the same way as he had
before done with the Duke of St Bungay. There was little or nothing
said about politics, and certainly not a word that could be taken as
any definite party understanding between the men; but they sat at
dinner together at the same table, drank a glass of wine or two out
of the same decanters, and dropped a chance word now and again about
the next session of Parliament. I do not know that anything more had
been expected either by Mr Palliser or by Sir Cosmo; but it seemed
to be understood when Mr Palliser went away that Sir Cosmo was of
opini