'
Miss Mohun sought her brother out the next day, and told him that they
had all been waiting in patience when thinking that his daughter's
residence at Silverton was an unsuccessful experiment. The explosion
she had predicted had come, and Dolores had been a different creature
ever since, owing to Lady Merrifield's management of her in the crisis;
and she added that the girl was most unwilling to leave her aunt, and
that she herself thought it would be much better to leave her for a few
years to the advantages of her present training, where her affections
had been gained. Mr. Mohun could not see it in the same light. The
intimacy with Constance Hacket was in his eyes a folly, consequent on
his sister's passion for Sunday schools and charities; and Jane, being
infected with the like ardour, he disregarded her explanations. The
underhand correspondence could not have been carried on without great
blindness and carelessness, or, at least, injudiciousness, on Lady
Merrifield's part, and there was no denying that she had trusted to a
sense of honour that was nonexistent. Nor did he appreciate Jane's
argument that the conquest of the heart and will had thus been far more
thoroughly gained than it would have been by constant thwarting and
watching. It was hard to forgive such an exposure as had taken place,
or to believe that it had not been brought about by unjustifiable
errors, more especially as Lady Merrifield was the first to accuse
herself of them.
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