moment, I was simply conscious that I was in the presence of a very
handsome woman, and that she was asking me the reasons for my visit.
I had not quite understood until that instant how delicate my mission
was. I started off rather clumsily, saying that I knew her father,
which did not please her, and she firmly told me that there was nothing
in common between her father & herself. When I said that it was about
Sir Charles that I had come to see her, she appeared nervous. She
admitted that she owed a great deal to his kindness in helping her to
support herself, but she became angry when I asked if she had corresponded
with him. When I said that the object of my questions was to avoid a
public scandal, she turned defiant. She had written once or twice to
Sir Charles, she said, to thank him for his generosity she had also met
him once or twice when he was in Coombe Tracey, but he had been a very
