"Always thinking of your duty!" murmured Aunt admiringly.
"If I wrote to his firm about it," said Charlie's wife, "they would dismiss him."
"Ah! and he sends you his pay, you say?" said Uncle Henry, seizing the point like a business man.
"What a position for a conscientious woman like you!" mourned Aunt.
"You are quite right, my dear," said Uncle Henry. "You have three children and no other means of sustenance, and you cannot afford to do as I should otherwise advise you."
"Besides, he will come back," said Charlie's wife gently. "Men are soon sickened of these women."
"Of course," agreed Aunt.
"Well! Well!" said Uncle Henry, "you are very magnanimous, my dear, and one day Charles will fully appreciate it. And I hope he will be duly thankful to you for your great goodness. Yes! You will soon have Master Charles creeping back, very ashamed of himself, and when he comes, I for one, intend to give him the biggest talking to he has ever had in his life. But I really think the Vicar too, should be told, in confidence, so that he may decide upon the right course of action for himself."
"Because he could not allow your husband to communicate, my love," said Aunt, "without being sure of his genuine repentance."
"I have been thinking of that too," said Charlie's wife. "It would not be right."