Malory dropped her voice, ‘with a lady whose husband is in America, Mrs. Brown-Smith.’
‘A lady for whom I have the very highest esteem,’ said Merton, for, indeed, Mrs. Brown-Smith was one of his references or Lady Patronesses; he knew her well, and had a respect for her character, au fond, as well as an admiration for her charms.
‘You console me indeed,’ said Mrs. Malory. ‘I had heard—’
‘People talk a great deal of ill-natured nonsense,’ said Merton warmly. ‘Do you know Mrs. Brown-Smith?’
‘We have met, but we are not in the same set; we have exchanged visits, but that is all.’
‘Ah!’ said Merton thoughtfully. He remembered that when his enterprise was founded Mrs. Brown-Smith had kindly offered her practical services, and that he had declined them for the moment. ‘Mrs. Malory,’ he went on, after thinking awhile, ‘may I take your case into my consideration—the marriage is not till October, you say, we are in June—and I may ask for a later interview? Of course you shall be made fully aware of every detail, and nothing shall be done without your approval. In fact all will depend on your own co-operation. I don’t deny that there may be distasteful things, but if you are quite sure about this gentleman’s—’
‘Character?’ said Mrs. Malory. ‘I am so sure that it has cost me many a wakeful hour. You will earn my warmest gratitude if you can do anything.’
‘Almost everything will depend on your own energy, and tolerance of our measures.’
‘But we must not do evil that good may come,’ said Mrs. Malory nervously.
‘No evil is contemplated,’ said Merton. But Mrs. Malory, while consenting, so far, did not seem quite certain that her estimate of ‘evil’ and Merton’s would be identical.