edean was thinner now, even than he had been
then; he had a stoop in his shoulders, and his face and hair were
more gray. His eyes seemed to his visitor to be as sharp and almost
as red as those of ferrets. As she entered, he just rose from his
seat and pointed to the chair on which she was to sit.

"Well, ma'am," said he; "what's all this about the clergyman's house
at Hurst Staple? I don't understand it at all."

"No, my lord; I'm sure your lordship can't understand. That's why I
have thought it my duty to come all this way to explain it."

"All what way?"

"All the way from Hurst Staple, in Hampshire, my lord. When your
lordship was so considerate as to settle what my position in the
parish was to be--"

"Settle your position in the parish!"

"Yes, my lord--as to my having the income and the house."

"What does the woman mean?" said he, looking down towards the rug
beneath his feet, but speaking quite out loud. "Settle her position
in the parish! Why, ma'am, I don't know who you are, and what your
position is, or anything about you."

"I am the widow of the late vicar, Lord Stapledean; and when he
died--"

"I was fool enough to give the living to his son. I remember all
about it. He was an imprudent man, and lived beyond his means, and
there was nothing left for any of you--wasn't that it?"

"Yes, my lord," said Mrs. Wilkinson, who was so troubled in spirit
that she hardly knew what to say. "That is, we never lived beyond our
means at all, my lord. There were seven children; and they were all
educated most respectably. The only boy was sent to college; and I
don't think there was any imprudence--indeed I don't, my lord. And
there was something saved; and the insurance was always regularly
paid; and--"

The marquis absolutely glared at her, as she went on with her
domestic defence. The household at Hurst Staple had been creditably
managed, considering the income; and it was natural that she should
wish to set her patron right. But every word that she said carried
her further away from her present object.

"And what on earth have you come to me for?" said Lord Stapledean.

"I'll tell your lordship, if you'll only allow me five minutes. Your
lordship remembers when poor Mr. Wilkinson died?"

"I don't remember anything about it."

"Your lordship was good enough to send for Arthur."

"Arthur!"

"Yes, my lord."

"Who's Arthur?"

"My boy, my lord. Don't you remember? He was just in orders then, and