"The doctrine of expediency," inaudibly muttered Julian through his teeth.
It was a doctrine that had never failed to rouse him to wrath.
Fairfax Fuller's deep, angry voice broke out suddenly:
"I should like to know what the girl is being accused of, that we should send away the best worker we've ever struck."
No one replied, until Edna said solemnly, "I accuse no one."
"I beg your pardon, Lady Rossiter, but it is too late to say that now. The girl has been accused, and she knows it, and everyone else knows it. The whole thing is in the air. The place stinks of it," said Mr. Fuller with reckless candour. "There was some talk of my being sent off to Gloucester on business, but I don't leave this place until this mess is cleared up. Why, the atmosphere is like a barrel of gunpowder, simply waiting for a lighted match."
"Then why light it, Mr. Fuller?" sweetly enquired Lady Rossiter. "Why insist upon having things put into words?"
"Because it's common justice," said Mr. Fuller doggedly. "We can't send the girl away without giving her a reason, and there isn't a reason to give, that I can see."
"That question will rest with the directors, surely," Lady Rossiter reminded him. She looked straight at Alderman Bellew.
"She'll know fast enough what the reason is, without being told," the Alderman gloomily supported the lady. "She's not a chicken. A girl with any business experience knows very well that this sort of thing isn't tolerated in any office. Nothing serious, of course, as Lady Rossiter has just said, but it makes talk, and it won't do."