At Barchester, the cathedral city of the county in which the Crawleys lived, opinion was violently against Mr Crawley.  In the city Mrs Proudie, the wife of the bishop, was the leader of opinion in general, and she was very strong in her belief of the man’s guilt.  She had known much of clergymen all her life, as it behoved a bishop’s wife to do, and she had none of that mingled weakness and ignorance which taught so many ladies in Barchester to suppose that an ordained clergyman could not become a thief.  She hated old Lady Lufton with all her heart, and old Lady Lufton hated her as warmly.  Mrs Proudie would say frequently that Lady Lufton was a conceited old idiot, and Lady Lufton would declare as frequently that Mrs Proudie was a vulgar virago.  It was known at the palace in Barchester that kindness had been shown to the Crawleys by the family at Framley Hall, and this alone would have been sufficient to make Mrs Proudie believe that Mr Crawley could be guilty of any crime.  And as Mrs Proudie believed, so did the bishop believe.  ’It is a terrible disgrace to the diocese,’ said the bishop, shaking his head, and patting his apron as he sat by his study fire.

‘Fiddlestick!’ said Mrs Proudie.

‘But, my dear—­a beneficed clergyman.’

’You must get rid of him; that’s all.  You must be firm whether he be acquitted or convicted.’

‘But if he’s acquitted, I cannot get rid of him, my dear.’

’Yes, you can, if you are firm.  And you must be firm.  Is it not true that he has been disgracefully involved in debt ever since he has been there; that you have been pestered by letters from unfortunate tradesmen who cannot get their money from him?’

‘That is true, my dear, certainly.’

’And is that kind of thing to go on?  He cannot come to the palace as all clergymen should do, because he has got no clothes to come in.  I saw him once about the lanes, and I never set my eyes on such an object in all my life!  I would not believe that the man was a clergyman till John told me.  He is a disgrace to the diocese, and he must be got rid of.  I feel sure of his guilt, and I hope he will be convicted.  One is bound to hope that a guilty man should be convicted.  But if he escapes conviction, you must sequestrate the living because of the debts.  The income is enough to get an excellent curate.  It would just do for Thumble.’  To all of which the bishop made no reply, but simply nodded his head and patted his apron.  He knew that he could not do exactly what his wife required of him; but if it should so turn out that poor Crawley was found to be guilty, then the matter would be comparatively easy.

’It should be an example to us, that we should look to our own steps, my dear,’ said the bishop.

‘That’s all very well,’ said Mrs Proudie, ’but it has become your duty, and mine too, to look upon the steps of other people; and that duty we must do.’

‘Of course, my dear, of course.’  That was the tone in which the question of Mr Crawley’s alleged guilt was discussed at the palace.