stasy.

Mrs. Dixon was a great, coarse, vulgar woman, and Guy perceived why his
uncle had been so averse to taking him to his home, and how he must have
felt the contrast between such a wife and his beautiful sister. She
had a sort of broad sense, and absence of pretension, but her manner of
talking was by no means pleasant, as she querulously accused her husband
of being the cause of all their misfortunes, not even restrained by the
presence of her child from entering into a full account of his offences.

Mrs. Dixon said she should not say a word, she should not care if it was
not for the child, but she could not see her wronged by her own father,
and not complain; poor little dear! she was the last, and she supposed
she should not keep her long.

It then appeared that on her husband's obtaining an engagement for a
series of concerts at the chief county town, Mrs. Dixon had insisted
on coming with him to St. Mildred's in the hope that country air might
benefit Marianne, who, in a confined lodging in London, was pining and
dwindling as her brothers and sisters had done before her. Sebastian,
who liked to escape from his wife's grumbling and rigid supervision, and
looked forward to amusement in his own way at the races, had grudgingly
allowed her to come, and, as she described it, had been reluctant to go
to even so slight an expense in the hope of saving his child's life. She
had watched him as closely as she could; but he had made his escape, and
the consequences Guy already knew.

If anything could have made it worse, it was finding that after parting
last night, he had returned, tried to retrieve his luck, had involved
himself further, had been drinking more; and at the very hour when his
nephew was getting up to see what could be done for him, had come
home in a state, which made it by no means likely that he would be
presentable, if his wife called him, as she offered to do.

Guy much preferred arranging with her what was to be done on the present
emergency. She was disappointed at finding thirty pounds was all the
help he could give; but she was an energetic woman, full of resources,
and saw her way, with this assistance, through the present difficulty.
The great point was to keep the gambling propensities out of sight of
the creditors; and as long as this was done, she had hope. Dixon would
go the next morning to the town where the musical meeting was to be
held, and there he would be with his employers, wher