'That is more, my lord, than we any of us can be sure of,' said Mr Slope; 'I cannot, however, force Mrs Proudie to leave the room; nor can I refuse to remain here, if it be your lordship's wish that I should do so.'
'It is certainly his lordship's wish,'said Mrs Proudie.
'Mr Slope,' began the bishop, in a solemn, serious voice, 'it grieves me to have to find fault. It grieves me much to find fault with a clergyman; but especially so with a clergyman in your position.'
'Why, what have I done amiss, my lord?' demanded Mr Slope, loudly.
'What have you done amiss, Mr Slope?' said Mrs Proudie, standing erect before the culprit, and raising that terrible forefinger. 'Do you dare to ask the bishop what you have done amiss? does not your conscience—'
'Mrs Proudie, pray let it be understood, once for all, that I will have no words with you.'
'Ah, sire, but you will have words,' said she; 'you must have words. Why have you had so may words with that Signora Neroni? Why have you disgraced yourself, you a clergyman, by constantly consorting with such a woman as that—with a married woman—with one altogether unfit for a clergyman's society?'
'At any rate, I was introduced to her in your drawing-room,' returned Mr Slope.
'And shamefully you behave there,' said Mrs Proudie, 'most shamefully. I was wrong to allow you to remain in the house a day after what I then saw. I should have insisted on your instant dismissal.'
'I have yet to learn, Mrs Proudie, that you have the power to insist either on my going from hence or on my staying here.'