"Unquestionably."
"Dear, dear, dear, dear… and — and will there be a scandal?"
"Why should there be a scandal, ma'am?"
"Oh, don't be so dull-witted! This is the most abominable and — and — incredible thing I have ever heard. I can't believe it. Poor, dear Mr. Depping…
why, the filthy wretch! The—"
Tap-tap-tap-tap, as measured as the ticking of a clock, Dr. Fell's pencil clicked on the table. Hugh Donovan wished he could see his face. The doctor was gathered together into a great mass, his head down.
"Mrs. Standish," he said, "who was the lady whom Depping had persuaded to elope with him?"
CHAPTER XV
A Man Walks in the Dark
The bishop got up abruptly from his chair, went to one window, and pushed it open for more air. Mrs. Standish did not seem to grasp the question. After a sideways glance, she repeated: