"How can I leave Maude to battle alone
with the exposure, should it come?"
"It is a great deal less likely to come if you are a few thousand miles
away."
"I question it. Should Gorton turn up he is just the one to frighten a
defenceless woman, and purchase his own silence. No; my place is beside
Maude."
"As you please. I have spoken for the last time. By the way, any letters
bearing a certain postmark, that come addressed to me during my absence,
Taylor has orders to send to you. Fare you well, Hartledon; I wish I
could help you to peace."
Hartledon watched the cab rattle away, and then turned homewards. Peace!
There was no peace for him.
Lady Hartledon was not to be thwarted on all points, and she insisted
on a ceremonious christening. The countess-dowager would come over for
it, and did so; Lord Hartledon could not be discourteous enough to deny
this; Lord and Lady Kirton came from Ireland; and for the first time
since their marriage they found themselves entertaining guests. Lord
Hartledon had made a faint opposition, but Maude had her own way. The
countess-dowager was furiously indignant when she heard of the intended
sponsors--its father and mother, and that cynical wretch, Thomas Carr!
Val played the hospitable host; but there was a shadow on his face that
his wife did not fail to see.
It was the evening before the christening, and a very snowy evening
too.
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