She had told her mother that she would tell
"Frederic" what she thought about his proposed bride, and she had now come
to carry out her threat. She had asked her brother to come and dine with
her, but he had declined. His engagements hardly admitted of his dining
with his relatives. She had called upon him at the rooms he occupied in
Victoria Street, but of course she had not found him. She could not very
well go to his club; so now she had hunted him down at his office. From
the very commencement of the interview Mrs. Hittaway was strong-minded.
She began the subject of the marriage, and did so without a word of
congratulation. "Dear Frederic," she said, "you know that we have all got
to look up to you."
"Well, Clara, what does that mean?"
"It means this--that you must bear with me, if I am more anxious as to
your future career than another sister might be."
"Now I know you are going to say something unpleasant."
"Yes, I am, Frederic. I have heard so many bad things about Lady Eustace!"
The Under-Secretary sat silent for a while in his great armchair. "What
sort of evil things do you mean, Clara?" he asked at last.
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