did they say anything against me?”

“Not a word, Mr. Eager — not a single word.”

“Oh, I thought they had been libelling me to you. But I suppose it is only their personal charms that makes you defend them.”

“I'm not defending them,” said Lucy, losing her courage, and relapsing into the old chaotic methods. “They're nothing to me.”

“How could you think she was defending them?” said Miss Bartlett, much discomfited by the unpleasant scene. The shopman was possibly listening.

“She will find it difficult. For that man has murdered his wife in the sight of God.”

The addition