"I have always thought he didn't, sir. But how—"
Then after all the young fox had not been so full of craft as the elder one, thought Mr. Prendergast to himself. But nevertheless, he still liked the old fox best. There are foxes that run so uncommonly short that you can never get a burst after them.
"I suppose, Mrs. Swan," continued Mr. Prendergast, "that you have heard the name of Fitzgerald?"
The poor woman sat silent and amazed, but after a moment the daughter answered him. "My mother, sir, would rather that you should ask her no questions."
"But, my good girl, your mother, I suppose, would wish to protect your father, and she would not wish to answer these questions in a court of law."
"Heaven forbid!" said the poor woman.
"Your father has behaved very badly to an unfortunate lady whose friend I am, and on her behalf I must learn the truth."
"He has behaved badly, sir, to a great many ladies," said Mrs. Swan, or Mrs. Mollett as we may now call her.
"You are aware, are you not, that he went through a form of marriage with this lady many years ago?" said Mr. Prendergast, almost severely.
"Let him answer for himself," said the true wife. "Mary, go up stairs, and ask your father to come down."