‘Oh, well, perhaps that is one way of looking at it,’ said the Rector, ‘but, my dear, the noble family to which in fact you belong——’
‘And which show their belief in me so nobly,’ said Lady William, this time permitting herself to laugh.
‘The noble family to which you belong,’ repeated Mr. Plowden with a little irritation, ‘will be very much benefited by this money. That nice young Lord Will as good as said so: and your own daughter, Emily, if all goes well, and we are able to establish your rights——’
‘If!—--’ she cried, with a flash of her eyes which seemed for the moment to set the room aflame.
‘You know what I mean. I at least have no doubt what your rights are: the question now is what is the best thing to do.’
‘Yes,’ said Lady William, ‘we are in front of something definite at last. I have done little but think about it, as you may suppose, ever since you brought me that crushing news: and it seems to me that there are several ways that are open to us: the first——’
‘Emily,’ said the Rector, ‘by far the best, and first step to take, in my opinion, is to consult Perowne—which we should have done long ago.’
‘What could Mr. Perowne do? He could not rebuild the chapel and restore the books and bring back poor Mr. Gepps to life again. He might put my answer into formal words, but that is quite unnecessary. I have not the least inclination to consult Mr. Perowne——’
‘Still, he must know how such things are managed better than we can do,’ murmured the Rector.
‘Such things—what things? You speak as if this was a common case.’