Chapter 26 - Page 2

matters a€œDona€™t ask me anythinga€ so imploringly, that I didna€™t ask her anything. Youa€™ll think me an old fool, I know, sir. If ita€™s any relief to call me one, pray do.a€™

a€˜I am greatly disturbed by what you tell me,a€™ said Mr Haredale, after a silence. a€˜What meaning do you attach to it?a€™

The locksmith shook his head, and looked doubtfully out of window at the failing light.

a€˜She cannot have married again,a€™ said Mr Haredale.

a€˜Not without our knowledge surely, sir.a€™

a€˜She may have done so, in the fear that it would lead, if known, to some objection or estrangement. Suppose she married incautiouslya€" it is not improbable, for her existence has been a lonely and monotonous one for many yearsa€"and the man turned out a ruffian, she would be anxious to screen him, and yet would revolt from his crimes. This might be. It bears strongly on the whole drift of her discourse yesterday, and would quite explain her conduct. Do you suppose Barnaby is privy to these circumstances?a€™

a€˜Quite impossible to say, sir,a€™ returned the locksmith, shaking his head again: a€˜and next to impossible to find out from him. If what you suppose is really the case, I tremble for the lada€"a notable person, sir, to put to bad usesa€"a€™

a€˜It is not possible, Varden,a€™ said Mr Haredale, in a still lower tone of voice than he had spoken yet, a€˜that we have been blinded and deceived by this woman from the beginning? It is not possible that this connection was formed in her husbanda€™s lifetime, and led to his and my brothera€™sa€"a€™

a€˜Good God, sir,a€™ cried Gabriel, interrupting him, a€˜dona€™t entertain such dark thoughts for a moment. Five-and-twenty years ago, where was there a girl like her? A gay, handsome, laughing, bright-eyed damsel! Think what she was, sir. It makes my heart ache now, even now, though Ia€™m an old man, with a woman for a daughter, to think what she was and what she is. We all change, but thata€™s with Time; Time does his work honestly, and I dona€™t mind him. A fig for Time, sir. Use him well, and hea€™s a hearty fellow, and scorns to have you at a disadvantage. But care and suffering (and those have changed her) are devils, sira€"secret, stealthy, undermining devilsa€" who tread down the brightest flowers in Eden, and do more havoc in a month than Time does in a year. Picture to yourself for one minute what Mary was before they went to work with her fresh heart and facea€"do her that justicea€"and say whether