Fielding pointed out with the elaborate calmness of intense exasperation that there could be no finality in a refusal given by Miss Le Mesurier.  Mrs. Willoughby replied that they had differed before in their views of Clarice, and that the point he mentioned was one upon which Mr. Mallinson must be left to judge for himself.  ‘Exactly,’ said Fielding with emphasis, ‘he should be left to judge for himself,’ and was for marching off with colours flying.  But Mrs. Willoughby could not refrain from declaring that the unprecedented interest which Mr. Fielding took in his friend Mr. Mallinson had raised that friend to a very different position in her esteem from that which he had held before.

The combat was renewed more than once, but with no different result, and upon the same lines.  Mrs. Willoughby received his attacks with a patient humility, and rushed out to catch him a flout as he was retiring.  Finally, however, she shifted her position, and became the aggressor.  She suggested that Fielding was really in love with Clarice, and trying to gain favour with her by bringing an admirer back to her feet.  Fielding was furious at the suggestion, and indignantly repudiated it.  She ignored the repudiation, and quietly insisted in pointing out the meanness of such a system of making love.  The unfortunate gentleman’s dignity constrained him to listen in silence, for he felt that he would have spluttered had he opened his lips.  The only course open to him was a retreat with a high head, and he declared that it was no longer possible for him to continue a discussion which he had begun as much in her true interests as on behalf of justice and her particular friend Miss Le Mesurier, and went home.  By return of post he received a pen-and-ink drawing of himself and Clarice ‘pairing off.’  He was figured in the costermonger’s dress, with his arm tucked under the girl’s, and her hat on his head.

Meanwhile Mallinson was still in bed, completely ignorant of the battle which had been waged for the possession of him.

Fielding thought more than once of calling at his flat, since his determination had been sharpened rather than overcome by the victories of Mrs. Willoughby.  He was more than ever convinced that Mallinson ought to have a fair chance with Miss Le Mesurier—­an equal chance with Drake.  The name of Drake made him pause.  Miss Le Mesurier knew everything there was to be known about Mallinson, but there were certain facts in Drake’s history of which she was ignorant.  The question sprang into his mind, ’Could Mallinson have a fair chance unless she was made acquainted with those facts?’ Fielding knew Members of Parliament who had been returned over the heads of residents in the constituency because they entered it too late for the electors to become intimate with their defects.  Drake’s career might provide an analogy unless Clarice was told.  He argued to convince himself that he felt she ought to be told, but he could not bring himself to the point of telling.  He decided finally upon an alternative which would, he imagined, secure his purpose, while relieving him of the responsibility.  He would tell Mallinson of the Gorley episode, for the rival surely had a right to know.  Whether Clarice was to be informed or not, Mallinson should be allowed to judge.