the lady; but I do fear that she is in a position of much jeopardy, and that great care will be necessary.'
'Good heavens! Do you mean to say that an innocent person can under such circumstances be in danger in this country?'
'An innocent person, Sir Peregrine, may be in danger of very great annoyance, and also of very great delay in proving that innocence. Innocent people have died under the weight of such charges. We must remember that she is a woman, and therefore weaker than you or I.'
'Yes, yes; but still———. You do not say that you think she can be in any real danger?' It seemed, from the tone of the old man's voice, as though he were almost angry with Mr. Furnival for supposing that such could be the case. 'And you intend to tell her all this?' he asked.
'I fear that, as her friend, neither you nor I will be warranted in keeping her altogether in the dark. Think what her feelings would be if she were summoned before a magistrate without any preparation!'
'No magistrate would listen to such a charge,' said Sir Peregrine.
'In that he must be guided by the evidence.'
'I would sooner throw up my commission than lend myself in any way to a proceeding so iniquitous.'
This was all very well, and the existence of such a feeling showed great generosity, and perhaps also poetic chivalry on the part of Sir Peregrine Orme; but it was not the way of the world, and so Mr. Furnival was obliged to explain. Magistrates would listen to the charge—would be forced to listen to the charge,—if the evidence were apparently sound. A refusal on the part of a magistrate to do so would not be an act of friendship to Lady Mason, as Mr. Furnival endeavoured to explain. 'And you wish to see her?' Sir Peregrine asked at last.
'I think she should be told; but as she is in your house, I will, of course, do nothing in which you do not concur.' Upon which Sir Peregrine rang the bell and desired the servant to take his compliments to Lady Mason and beg her attendance in the library if it were quite convenient. 'Tell her,' said Sir Peregrine, 'that Mr. Furnival is here.'
When the message was given to her she was seated with Mrs. Orme, and at the moment she summoned strength to say that she would obey the invitation, without displaying any special emotion while the servant was in the room; but when the door was shut, her friend looked at her and saw that she was as pale as death. She was pale and her limbs quivered, and that look of agony, which now so often marked her face, was settled on her brow. Mrs. Orme had never yet seen her with such manifest signs of suffering as she wore at this instant.
