“Well, Josepha, Antony hed a visit from Lawyer Wetherall and he told Antony Annis that he hes not a particle of right to the seat in The House of Commons, as matters stand now. He says the new borough will be contested, and that Colonel Frobisher of Annis is spoken of for the Liberals, and Sir John Conyers or John Thomas Bradley are likely candidates for the Tory side of affairs. They hed a long talk and it wasn’t altogether a pleasant one, and Wetherall went away in a huff, and Antony came to me in one of his still passions, and I hev been heving a varry disagreeable hour or two; and I do think Antony’s ignorance on this matter quite shameful. He ought to hev known, on what right or title he held such an honor. I am humiliated by the circumstance.”
“Well, then, thou needn’t be so touchy. A great many lords and earls and men of high degree hev been as ignorant as Antony. Thy husband stands in varry good company. Antony isn’t a bit to blame. Not he! Antony held his right from the people of Annis—his awn people—he did not even buy it, as some did. It had been his, with this authenticity, for centuries. Thou shared with him all of the honor and profit it brought, and if there was any wrong in the way it came, thou sanctioned and shared it. And if I was Antony I would send Wetherall to the North Pole in his trust or esteem. If he knew different he ought to hev told Antony different long ago. I shall take ivery bit of business I hev given Wetherall out of his hands to-morrow morning. And if he charges me a penny-piece too much I’ll give him trouble enough to keep on the fret all the rest of his life. I will that!”
“I hev no doubt of it.”
“Where is Antony now?”
“Wheriver that weary mill is building, I suppose.”
“Well, thou ought to be a bit beyond ‘supposing.’ Thou ought to know. It is thy place to know, and if he is in trouble, to be helping him to bear it.”
“Josepha, there is no use in you badgering and blaming me. What would you hev done if Wetherall hed said such and such things, in your presence, as he did in mine?”
“I would hev told him he was a fool, as well as a rascal, to tell at the end what he ought to hev told at the beginning. If Antony hed no right to the seat, why did he take money, year after year, for doing business connected with the seat; and niver open his false mouth? I shall get mysen clear of him early to-morrow morning.”
“Don’t go away now, Josepha. I will send someone to look for the squire.”
“I will go mysen, Annie. Thank you!”