| PART V. | ||
| CHAPTER I. | [MR. PUDDICOMBE'S BOOT] | |
| CHAPTER II. | ['EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS'] | |
| CHAPTER III. | ["'AMO' IN THE COOL OF THE EVENING"] | |
| CHAPTER IV. | ["IT IS IMPOSSIBLE"] | |
| CHAPTER V. | [CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE PALACE] | |
| CHAPTER VI. | [THE JOURNEY] | |
| CHAPTER VII. | ["NOBODY HAS CONDEMNED YOU HERE"] | |
| CHAPTER VIII. | [LORD BRACY'S LETTER] | |
| CHAPTER IX. | [AT CHICAGO] | |
| CONCLUSION. | ||
| CHAPTER X. | [THE DOCTOR'S ANSWER] | |
| CHAPTER XI. | [MR. PEACOCKE'S RETURN] | |
| CHAPTER XII. | [MARY'S SUCCESS] | |
Part V.
CHAPTER I.
MR. PUDDICOMBE'S BOOT.
It was not to be expected that the matter should be kept out of the county newspaper, or even from those in the metropolis. There was too much of romance in the story, too good a tale to be told, for any such hope. The man's former life and the woman's, the disappearance of her husband and his reappearance after his reported death, the departure of the couple from St. Louis and the coming of Lefroy to Bowick, formed together a most attractive subject. But it could not be told without reference to Dr. Wortle's school, to Dr. Wortle's position as clergyman of the parish,—and also to the fact which was considered by his enemies to be of all the facts the most damning, that Mr. Peacocke had for a time been allowed to preach in the parish church. The 'Broughton Gazette,' a newspaper which was supposed to be altogether devoted to the interest of the diocese, was very eloquent on this subject. "We do not desire," said the 'Broughton Gazette,' "to make any remarks as to the management of Dr. Wortle's school. We leave all that between him and the parents of the boys who are educated there. We are perfectly aware that Dr. Wortle himself is a scholar, and that his school has been deservedly successful. It is advisable, no doubt, that in such an establishment none should be employed whose lives are openly immoral;—but as we have said before, it is not our purpose to insist upon this. Parents, if they feel themselves to be aggrieved, can remedy the evil by withdrawing their sons. But when we consider the great power which is placed in the hands of an incumbent of a parish, that he is endowed as it were with the freehold of his pulpit, that he may put up whom he will to preach the Gospel to his parishioners, even in a certain degree in opposition to his bishop, we think that we do no more than our duty in calling attention to such a case as this." Then the whole story was told at great length, so as to give the "we" of the 'Broughton Gazette' a happy opportunity of making its leading article not only much longer, but much more amusing, than usual. "We must say," continued the writer, as he concluded his narrative, "that this man should not have been allowed to preach in the Bowick pulpit. He is no doubt a clergyman of the Church of England, and Dr. Wortle was within his rights in asking for his assistance; but the incumbent of a parish is responsible for those he employs, and that responsibility now rests on Dr. Wortle."
There was a great deal in this that made the Doctor very angry,—so angry that he did not know how to restrain himself. The matter had been argued as though he had employed the clergyman in his church after he had known the history. "For aught I know," he said to Mrs. Wortle, "any curate coming to me might have three wives, all alive."
"That would be most improbable," said Mrs. Wortle.
"So was all this improbable,—just as improbable. Nothing could be more improbable. Do we not all feel overcome with pity for the poor woman because she encountered trouble that was so improbable? How much more improbable was it that I should come across a clergyman who had encountered such improbabilities." In answer to this Mrs. Wortle could only shake her head, not at all understanding the purport of her husband's argument.