‘Sophy, what is this?  What are you about?’

‘Let me alone,’ said Sophy, straining against her detaining hand, ’I do not know when I shall recover again, and I will go at once to tell the Osborns that I have done with them.  I stuck to them because I thought they were my mother’s friends; I did not guess that they would make an unworthy use of my friendship, and invent wicked stories of my father and you.’

’Please don’t make me laugh, Sophy, for I don’t want to affront you.  Yes, it is generous feeling; I don’t wonder you are angry; but indeed silly nonsense like this is not worth it.  It will die away of itself, it must be dead already, now they have seen we have not run away to Canada.  Your heroics only make it more ridiculous.’

‘I must tell Loo never to come here with her hypocrisy,’ repeated Sophy, standing still, but not yielding an inch.

Miss Meadows pursued them at the same moment with broken protestations that they must forget it, she never meant to make mischief, &c., and the confusion was becoming worse confounded when Mr. Kendal emerged from the study, demanding what was the matter, to the great discomfiture of Maria, who began hushing Sophy, and making signs to Albinia that it would be dangerous for him to know anything about it.

But Albinia was already exclaiming, ’Here’s a champion wanting to do battle with Louisa Osborn in our cause.  Oh, Edmund! our neighbours could find no way of accounting for my taking French leave, but by supposing that I took advantage of being shut in there, while poor little Maurice was squalling so furiously, to rifle your secrets, and detect something so shocking, that away I was fleeing to William in Canada.’

‘Obliging,’ quietly said Mr. Kendal.

’Now, dear Edmund—­I know—­for my sake—­for everything’s sake, remember you are a family man, don’t take any notice.’

‘I certainly shall take no notice of such folly,’ said Mr. Kendal, ‘and I wish that no one else should.  What are you about, Sophia?’

‘Tell mamma to let me go, papa,’ she exclaimed, ’I must and will tell Louisa that I hate her baseness and hypocrisy, and then I’ll never speak to her again.  Why will mamma laugh?  It is very wicked of them.’

‘Wrong in them, but laughing is the only way to treat it,’ said Mr. Kendal.  ’Go back to your sofa and forget it.  Your aunt and I have heard Bayford reports before.’

Sophy obeyed unwillingly, she was far too much incensed to forget.  On her aunt’s taking leave, and Mr. Kendal offering his escort up the hill, she rose up again, and would have perpetrated a denunciation by letter, had not Albinia seriously argued with her, and finding ridicule, expediency, and Christian forgiveness all fail of hitting the mark, said, ’I don’t know with what face you could attack Louisa, when you helped her to persecute poor Genevieve because you thought she had an instrument of torture in her drawer.’