Fitz. I—I drew up the advertisement, put it in, and paid for it. It’s a dodge, I’ve put him on a wrong scent.
Mrs. V. B. How am I to understand this?
Fitz. That’s just it; you are not to understand—at present. You are to do me justice to believe that, when you do understand it, you will like it very much. I’ve put him on a wrong scent, and if I’m not very much mistaken, it will have the effect of taking him in his own toils. For the present it is enough to tell you that his advertisement has been answered, and that the person who answered it is to meet him here this afternoon.
Mrs. V. B. Here? Why does he come to me?
Fitz. Because he conceives, with some reason, that you are not likely to go to him. But don’t be alarmed, I shall accompany him, as per usual.[Exit Fitz Partington.
Mrs. V. B. (covering her face). Oh, the shame of it! Oh, the shame of it! To know that my terrible story is the common gossip of every plow-boy in the village; to feel that there is not a flighty servant-girl who does not gather her skirts about her as she passes me; to be certain when women cross the road it is to escape the contamination of my presence; and when they meet me face to face, it is that they may toss their head and tell each other that they knew it from the first! Oh, the shame of it! Oh, the shame of it!
Eve. But Mr. Smailey can do nothing. His wicked schemes must recoil upon himself. We will leave Locroft; we will leave this fearful place. Dr. Athelney sails in a fortnight, and he has made arrangements that we may accompany him. There, in a new world, with new friends and new duties, we shall forget all that is bitter in the past, and gather new stores of happiness from the future that is before us. (They embrace.)
Enter Dr. Athelney, L. D. Crosses to Eve.
Dr. A. Mrs. Van Brugh; Eve, my dear, prepare yourself for a surprise. This morning, Mrs. Van Brugh and I were discussing Frederick Smailey’s probable course of action. That very good or very bad young man is at this moment crossing the lawn with my son, Ted. He is coming with the view, no doubt, of setting all future discussion on that point at rest. Let us suspend judgment on that admirable or detestable lad until he has explained himself.