Yes, Clara quite saw all that, but—­and here she sank her voice so that there was hardly any left—­as Felix was going over there, she really must put him au courant with the heart of this matter.  Lady Malloring had told her the whole story.  It appeared there were two cases:  A family called Gaunt, an old man, and his son, who had two daughters—­one of them, Alice, quite a nice girl, was kitchen-maid here at Becket, but the other sister—­Wilmet—­well! she was one of those girls that, as Felix must know, were always to be found in every village.  She was leading the young men astray, and Lady Malloring had put her foot down, telling her bailiff to tell the farmer for whom Gaunt worked that he and his family must go, unless they sent the girl away somewhere.  That was one case.  And the other was of a laborer called Tryst, who wanted to marry his deceased wife’s sister.  Of course, whether Mildred Malloring was not rather too churchy and puritanical—­now that a deceased wife’s sister was legal—­Clara did not want to say; but she was undoubtedly within her rights if she thought it for the good of the village.  This man, Tryst, was a good workman, and his farmer had objected to losing him, but Lady Malloring had, of course, not given way, and if he persisted he would get put out.  All the cottages about there were Sir Gerald Malloring’s, so that in both cases it would mean leaving the neighborhood.  In regard to village morality, as Felix knew, the line must be drawn somewhere.

Felix interrupted quietly: 

“I draw it at Lady Malloring.”

“Well, I won’t argue that with you.  But it really is a scandal that Tod’s wife should incite her young people to stir up the villagers.  Goodness knows where that mayn’t lead!  Tod’s cottage and land, you see, are freehold, the only freehold thereabouts; and his being a brother of Stanley’s makes it particularly awkward for the Mallorings.”

“Quite so!” murmured Felix.

“Yes, but my dear Felix, when it comes to infecting those simple people with inflated ideas of their rights, it’s serious, especially in the country.  I’m told there’s really quite a violent feeling.  I hear from Alice Gaunt that the young Tods have been going about saying that dogs are better off than people treated in this fashion, which, of course, is all nonsense, and making far too much of a small matter.  Don’t you think so?”

But Felix only smiled his peculiar, sweetish smile, and answered: 

“I’m glad to have come down just now.”

Clara, who did not know that when Felix smiled like that he was angry, agreed.

“Yes,” she said; “you’re an observer.  You will see the thing in right perspective.”

“I shall endeavor to.  What does Tod say?”

“Oh!  Tod never seems to say anything.  At least, I never hear of it.”

Felix murmured: 

“Tod is a well in the desert.”

To which deep saying Clara made no reply, not indeed understanding in the least what it might signify.