"Who's the man?" he asked.
"Yes, and that's another thing!" answered Mrs. Hamps solemnly, in her extreme weakness. "It's the barman at the Vaults, of all people. She wouldn't admit it, but I know."
"What are you going to do?"
"She must leave my house at once."
"Where does she live--I mean her people?"
"She has no parents." Auntie Hamps reflected for a few moments. "She has an aunt at Axe."
"Well, she can't get to Axe to-night," said Edwin positively. "Does Maggie know about it?"
"Maggie!" exclaimed Mrs. Hamps scornfully. "Maggie never notices anything." She added in a graver tone: "And there's no reason why Maggie should know. It's not the sort of thing that Maggie ought to know about. You can speak to the girl herself. It will come much better from you. I shall simply tell Maggie I've decided the girl must go."
"She can't go to-night," Edwin repeated, humouringly, but firmly.
Auntie Hamps proved the sincerity of her regard for him by yielding.