That visit had been very short, and Miss
Palliser had been left alone at the hall. We already know how Mr.
Spooner took advantage of her solitude. After that, Miss Palliser was
to accompany the Chilterns to London, and she was there with them
when Phineas Finn was acquitted. By that time she had brought herself
to acknowledge to her friend Lady Chiltern that it would perhaps be
desirable that Mr. Maule should return. If he did not do so, and that
at once, there must come an end to her life in England. She must go
away to Italy,--altogether beyond the reach of Gerard Maule. In such
case all the world would have collapsed for her, and she would become
the martyr of a shipwreck. And yet the more that she confessed to
herself that she loved the man so well that she could not part with
him, the more angry she was with him for having told her that, when
married, they must live at Boulogne.
The house in Portman Square had been practically given up by Lord
Brentford to his son; but nevertheless the old Earl and Lady Laura
had returned to it when they reached England from Dresden.
Pages:
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129
1130
1131
1132
1133