more pressingly because he knew that Lady Eveline did not wish it She was so agreeable and so sympathising, that he confided in her his discovery of Lady Eveline's previous attachment, and she said nothing to mitigate his wrath. It was a relief to have a person to talk to who took such a right view of a woman's duty to her husband. He could not help thinking that he might have done better if he had been less ambitiously matched, but now in the hazy distance of the past, he forgot that the offer had been his own voluntary act, and only recollected how anxious the Darlington family had been to secure him. Miss Hope was too willing to believe that he had been entrapped, and to give Lady Eveline credit for duplicity; and perhaps Lady Eveline had as much right to be offended at the manner in which they spoke of her, and at the tender reminiscences they called up of old days at Stanmore, as John had at her emotion in parting with Gerald Staunton. But Miss Hope was prudent; she shortened her visit and went to Hastings, where her mother had recently taken up her abode, although it was not nearly so convenient for the business she had to do, and then entered on her new situation with a determination to be very careful of her heart.
It was not so good a situation in any respect
