"But they still act for Bence's—they do everything for Mr. Bence."
"Yes," said Mr. Prentice contemptuously, "but who's Bence, when all's said and done?"
"Ah!" And Mrs. Marsden drew in her breath, as if she felt incapable of continuing the conversation.
"I grant you that Bence has done wonders—and proved me a bad prophet. But we haven't got to the last chapter of Bence yet. I don't believe Bence is really solid—and I never shall do, while I see him going in and out of Hyde & Collins's."
Mrs. Marsden meekly bore all reproaches; but she showed a stubbornness that no warnings could shake. She met direct questions with generalized vagueness. What is unwise in some circumstances may be not unwise in other circumstances. Life is complex—and so on.
When Mr. Prentice left her, he went back to his office full of the most dismal forebodings. She had placed herself in the hands of Hyde & Collins. She was indisputably done for.